Luke 6:31 Meaning As You Would Like People to Do

Every wish the mind holds toward another it is quietly teaching itself to believe about itself, for one mind cannot give kindness and keep condemnation, nor offer attack and remain untouched by it. What is extended outward is what is kept within, because giving and having are one movement in a single mind that only seems divided.

So the measure a mind wants for itself is the measure it must hold for everyone. To treat a brother as innocent is to learn one's own innocence; there is no other classroom, and no reward that does not first pass through the gift.

A person stops meeting another the instant the mind decides who they are. A label drops: useful, annoying, a threat. From then on the relating happens with the thought. That is the separate self at work, and the harshness sent outward is the harshness carried within.

What is asked for is an act, something done toward another, not a softened opinion. Doing it requires seeing past the label to the same aliveness. Where presence is, the categories fall away and the awareness looking out of another's eyes is not other than one's own. Then kindness costs nothing, because no self is left to defend.

Attā piya: The self held dear Before you can want anything done to you, you first cherish your own skin. Search the whole world over and you find no one you guard more tenderly than yourself, and that tenderness is exactly what tells you how you would wish men to treat you. The person sitting across from you guards their own skin in the very same way.

Attānaṃ upamaṃ katvā: Taking oneself as the measure Hold your own wish up like a ruler and lay it against the person in front of you: whatever would sit well with you will sit well with them. This is yourself turned into a measuring stick, the plain method behind doing to them as you would have them do to you. Step into their place, ask what you would want, and the answer is already in your hands.

Mettā: Loving-kindness Doing to them "likewise" only carries weight when you want good for them the way you want a warm meal and a sound night's sleep for a close friend. That warmth is what fills the rule, and without it the words stay stiff and hollow. Wish the stranger the ease you wish yourself, and the kind act follows without a second thought.

Samānattatā: Treating others as equals "Do ye also to them" sets the other on the same footing as you, an equal you deal with straight across. Meet them level and hand over the same fairness you would want handed to you. Let the beggar and the king each receive what you would want in their shoes, and the scales rest even.

Sīla: Virtuous conduct Every precept is this one rule worked out in practice: you would hate to be robbed, so your hand stays off what is not yours. Take your own wishes as the guide, and honesty, gentleness, and plain truthful speech follow on their own. The rule you feel toward one person settles into the way you carry yourself toward everyone.