26. Don’t think about the affairs of others

• This is the Fourth Slogan/Instruction of Point Six, which consists of sixteen instructions.
• Point Six is “The Disciplines of Mind Training”

It is inappropriate to ruminate about the shortcomings of sentient beings in general and particularly of those who have entered the monastic order, especially your fellow practitioners. At the least, you should be joyful toward them, for you are training the mind. Even if you happen to feel that certain associations may be inappropriate, since you are training the mind, contemplating others’ shortcomings is inappropriate. If you do happen to lose control and notice another’s shortcoming, think, “This is my own deluded perception; no such flaw exists in them. All sentient beings are endowed with the nucleus of buddhahood.” Reflect in this manner and judge this [perception] to be your own flaw.

from “A Commentary on the “Seven-Point Mind Training” by Sé Chilbu Chökyi Gyaltsen (1121– 89), in Mind Training translated by Thupten Jinpa

An Emination of the Buddha Amitabha (VaK?) 900s. Nepal. Bronze; overall: 13 cm (5 1/8 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art