The “just like me” practice

- In the Stanford Compassion Cultivation course, we teach a practice that seems to help relieve all fears of compassion. I call it the Just Like Me practice, and its essence is this. When you encounter any barrier or obstacle to compassion, whether you feel angry or self-critical or lonely or maybe you find yourself wondering if you can trust someone's kindness to you, your job is to look for the nearest person you can find and say to yourself, "Just like me, "this person wants to be happy "and free from their suffering." It could be the person you're angry at or the person who sits next to you at work. It could be someone you spot washing windows across the street or a stranger in the grocery store. You don't need to know anything else about this person. If they're human, this statement is pretty much guaranteed to be true. Just like me, this person wants to be happy and free from their suffering. What's so wonderful…