Comparison Is the Beginning of Suffering

📖Master’s Reading

Comparison is often the start of suffering; it makes one forget one's true worth. We habitually place our gaze on others, watching them be richer, prettier or more successful than ourselves. If life is always lived in this comparison and distinction, the heart can never find true satisfaction.

In truth, "do not compare, and there will be no jealousy." Worldly jealousy and hatred all come from opposition. We often form the habit of "I am high, you are low" — for instance disliking the rich because we have no money; but if both held ten billion, what would there be to dislike? Human nature's blind spot is: "Jealousy needs the other to fare badly for me to be glad." Once this mind that cannot bear another's good arises, it ties evil bonds everywhere. A jealous mind is often more fearsome than a ghost.

So we should use the great wisdom of Mañjuśrī Bodhisattva to dissolve inner opposition. When you understand that "without comparison there is no hatred," you can set down calculation and no longer fix your eyes on others' achievements. Practice is, after all, returning to your own path. When you are willing to withdraw the outward gaze and learn to focus on tending your own life, the jealousy within disperses, the soul naturally abides, and true happiness follows.

🌱Reflection for Daily Life

• Unable to bear another's good, you will not fare well yourself.
• Understand that comparison is the start of suffering.
• Stop opposition and make no pointless comparison.
• Use Mañjuśrī's wisdom to dissolve jealousy.
• Focus on yourself, and the soul abides in happiness.