Common Humanity Meditation

How to Do It

This exercise draws on a guided meditation created by Sean Fargo, a former Buddhist monk and founder of Mindfulness Exercises.

We recommend listening to audio of this guided meditation in the player below; you can also listen at Mindfulness Exercises. We have included an adapted script of this meditation to help you follow it yourself or teach it to others. In brackets are the lengths of the pauses in the original guided meditation, to give you a sense of how much time to allot to each step.

Common Humanity Meditation

Today we’ll be practicing acknowledging the similarities between ourselves and others. We often focus on differences, but realizing that even people who seem very different from us in fundamental ways are just like us, can become the basis of real connection. 

This can include people we don't know very well, people with whom we're in conflict, or even people who we see as enemies. It's possible to develop a sense of compassion and understanding by coming to feel our shared sense of experience as human beings. This practice can help overcome that sense of difference and distrust by opening channels of compassion.

1. Let’s begin by taking a moment to allow your body to settle in a comfortable position, inviting a sense of ease and relaxation throughout the body [5 seconds]. 

Breathing full deep breaths with a soft belly [5 seconds]. 

Feeling grounded by feeling the weight of your body on the ground or your chair [5 seconds]. 

And just softening around any tightness [5 seconds], dropping the shoulders [5 seconds], softening your hands [5 seconds], and relaxing the muscles of your face and jaw [5 seconds]. 

And gently closing your eyes or looking downward just to limit visual distractions [5 seconds]. 

2. Allow yourself to take a deep breath in, and a long breath out. And as you breathe out, allowing a sense of releasing any tension that you're holding in your body [5 seconds]. 

3. As you breathe, briefly scan through your body with your awareness, noticing any sensations or emotions [5 seconds], just noticing what's predominant for you [5 seconds], and inviting a sense of spaciousness and acceptance for whatever you're experiencing right now in your body or in your emotions [5 seconds], just acknowledging them without judging anything to be good or bad, right or wrong [10 seconds]. 

4. Now bring someone to mind who you don’t know very well [5 seconds], maybe someone who seems very distant or different from you [5 seconds], even someone you’re in a minor conflict with [5 seconds]. And as you bring to mind this person you may not like or know very well, just notice if you experience any shift in sensation in your body [10 seconds]. 

Holding this person in mind as if they were right in front of you [10 seconds]. 

5. And say to yourself, “This person has a body and a mind, just like me” [10 seconds]. 

“This person has feelings, emotions, and thoughts, just like me” [10 seconds]. 

“This person has at some point in their life been sad, disappointed, angry, hurt, or confused, just like me" [15 seconds]. 

"This person has in their life experienced physical and emotional pain and suffering, just like me” [15 seconds]. 

“This person has experienced moments of peace, joy, and happiness, just like me" [15 seconds]. 

"This person wishes to have fulfilling relationships, just like me" [15 seconds]. 

“This person wishes to be healthy and loved, just like me” [15 seconds]. 

6. Now take a moment to sense how you’re feeling [5 seconds]. And as you hold this person in your awareness, just notice: What do you experience? [20 seconds]. 

7. Now as you hold this person in mind, send them good wishes. May they be well [5 seconds], may they be happy [10 seconds], may they be healthy [5 seconds], may they live with ease [15 seconds]. 

8. Now shifting your awareness back to your breath, breathing in [5 seconds], breathing out [5 seconds]. Reconnecting with your body, feeling present, alive, connected, right here, right now.