The Sutra
"Be the unsame same to friend as to stranger, in honor and dishonor."
Paul Reps translation, Zen Flesh, Zen Bones (1957)
Understanding
Be the "unsame same" - not identical in your response (that would be mechanical) but same in your essential quality of awareness. With a friend, you are warm. With a stranger, perhaps distant. In honor, proud. In dishonor, hurt. But underneath all these different responses, can you maintain the same quality of awareness? Not the same reaction, but the same consciousness? The unsame same - different on the surface, identical in depth.
Original Sanskrit
स एवैषा भैरवी मुद्रा उक्ता सर्वत्र सर्वदा ।
sa evaishaa bhairavee mudraa uktaa sarvatra sarvadaa |
Vijnanabhairava Verse 118 (Technique 95 of 112)
How to Practice
Notice how your inner state changes depending on who you are with - friends, strangers, authorities, subordinates.
With each person, observe: your reactions are different, but is the awareness behind the reactions the same?
Practice maintaining the same depth of presence with a friend as with a stranger. Not the same behavior, but the same awareness.
When honored, notice the pleasure. When dishonored, notice the pain. But stay as the same awareness witnessing both.
The "unsame same" means: responses naturally differ, but the one who responds remains unchanged.
This is equanimity - not emotional flatness, but consistent depth of consciousness through all variations of experience.
Duration
Continuous - all social interactions
Best Time
During interactions with different people
Related Techniques
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