How to Treat People

 

Patanjali... wearing his hood of white cobras.

In this sutra, Master Patanjali provides four ways of treating people and maintaining a serene state of mind.

“Maitri Karuna muditopeksanam sukha duhkha punyapunya visyanam bhavanatas citta prasadanam.  By cultivating attitudes of friendliness toward the happy, compassion for the unhappy, delight in the virtuous and disregard toward the wicked, the mind-stuff retains its undisturbed calmness.”                                                                            -Yoga Sutras I:33

When we engage in negative thinking about other people it upsets our own state of mind.  By casting judgment on someone or being jealous of those who we perceive as lucky, we create mental anguish for ourselves.  It is truly a practice to cultivate these ways of acting towards others, and absolutely helps to maintain steadiness of mind.  When I let my self slip into being jealous of others or judging them, it only creates ripples of uneasiness within my own mind.  To maintain calmness, steadiness and ease within ourselves we have to wish that upon others and we have to move away from negative judgment and thinking.