“Arjuna, whoever measures every being's joy and sorrow by their own, and sees all alike, is considered the highest yogi.”

Feel for others as you feel for yourself

Chapter 6 teaches meditation: how to sit, how to steady the mind. And then, near the end, Lord Krishna says the highest yogi is not the one who sits the longest. It is the one who feels for others.

The key word is ātma-aupamya, “taking oneself as the measure”. You know how much your own pain hurts and how good your own joy feels. The yogi applies that same measure sarvatra, everywhere, to every being: sukhaṃ vā yadi vā duḥkham, “whether joy or sorrow”.

Today we would call it empathy, and the Gita places it at the very top of spiritual practice. Meditation that leaves us colder towards other people has missed the point. Meditation that makes us kinder has found it.

For a student: if being left out hurts you, notice who else is being left out. For a parent: “How would you feel if…?” is one of the oldest and best questions to teach. At work: the colleague under pressure feels exactly what you feel under pressure.

For kids: “If it would hurt me, it would hurt them too.”