"Now you have reached the most difficult part. Having become accustomed to considering friends and neutral persons, this way, you are ready to reflect on persons who have intentionally or unintentionally harmed you and your friends in this lifetime. With friends and neutral persons you know how it feels to change your perspective in a more positive direction, which makes it easier for you to make sure your meditation does not become just words, now that you are considering those who have harmed you.
"Visualize an enemy clearly in front of you; feel the presence of this person and think:
"First: This person was my mother many times over the continuum of lives. Even in just this lifetime, she has bestowed on me a body that supports an auspicious life through which I am able to progress spiritually. She sustained me in her womb for over nine months during which she could not behave as she wished but had to pay special attention to this burden that she carried in her body, making it heavy and difficult to move about. Even though my movements would cause her pain, she would take delight in them, thinking how strong her child was, rather than becoming angry and concentrating on her pain. Her sense of closeness and dearness was great.
"Second: While giving birth, she suffered greatly, and afterward she was constantly concerned with my welfare, wondering how I was doing, valuing the child born from her own body higher than anything else. Later, she sustained me in the very best way she could.
"She wiped away my feces and removed mucus from my nose. She gave her own milk and did not take offense when I bit her nipples. Even when she was bothered by such things, her sense of endearment for me was utmost in her mind. This was not just for a day, a week, a month, but from year to year, whereas for most people taking care of a child for an hour or two is bothersome.
"Third: If she had abandoned me for even an hour or two, I could have died. Through her kindness in sustaining me with the best of food and clothing according to her ability, this precious life with a physical body that makes spiritual progress possible was maintained.
"Fourth: This is true not only during this life but also in other lifetimes as a human or as an animal, since most animals care for their young in similar ways.
"Conclusion: Therefore, although this person has appeared to me in this lifetime as an enemy seeking harm to my body and spirit, in former lifetimes she was my best friend, my mother, sacrificing her own body and spirit for me. The times she did this are innumerable.
"By meditating in this manner, it is possible to identify even an enemy as having at some time been your nourisher and having been extremely kind. Extend this felt understanding to other enemies one by one in the same way. Consider each person for as long as it takes until your feeling is the same as it is for your closest nurturer. Since it makes no difference whether a person has been kind to you recently or a while ago, decide that all beings have been equally kind to you over the course of many lifetimes.
"Such reorientation of your relationships with others gives your life new meaning. Meditating this way is worthy of lifelong endeavor. Eventually, what you have meditated will arise spontaneous."
