The Sutra
"Feel the consciousness of each person as your own consciousness. So, leaving aside concern for self, become each being."
Paul Reps translation, Zen Flesh, Zen Bones (1957)
Understanding
Feel the consciousness of every person you encounter as your own consciousness. The same awareness that looks through your eyes looks through theirs. This is not a metaphor - it is literal. Consciousness is one. It appears as many because it looks through many forms. Leave aside self-concern and become each being - not in imagination, but in recognition. The other IS you, seeing from a different angle.
Original Sanskrit
अपि चिन्त्यं विचिन्त्यैव चिन्तया ध्याय शून्यताम् ॥
api chintyam vichintyaiva chintayaa dhyaaya shoonyataam ||
Vijnanabhairava Verse 131 (Technique 108 of 112)
How to Practice
When you are with another person, pause and look at them not as an object but as consciousness.
Realize: the same awareness that is aware in you is aware in them. It is ONE consciousness, two forms.
Try to feel what they feel. Not through imagination, but through the recognition that their consciousness IS your consciousness.
Leave aside concern for your separate self. Let your identity expand to include them.
Practice with different people - friends, strangers, even those you dislike. The consciousness in each is the same as yours.
When this becomes real, compassion arises naturally - not as a moral duty but as a direct experience of shared being.
Duration
15-30 minutes or continuous
Best Time
During interactions with people
Related Techniques
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