How to conquer jealousy

There are many ways that we can conquer jealousy. The ordinary human way of conquering jealousy is to say, “I can sing far better than that but I don’t sing because I don’t want to waste my time.” This is a clever way of conquering jealousy by making yourself feel that you are better at something than the person you are jealous of.

Another way to convince yourself that you are not jealous of someone is to think most sincerely of how many times your Master has shown you his affection, concern and blessings. Immediately you will feel such a flow of gratitude and such joy that jealousy will no longer find a home in your heart.

A third way, which is very easy, is for you to say to yourself, “Would I openly be jealous of that particular person if my Master were standing in front of me?” You may think that since your spiritual Master is not in the room, then he will not know what you are thinking. But any thought in your mind is recorded in his heart. If you are jealous of someone or if you are angry, then when I meditate on you early in the morning I will see the quintessence of your jealousy and anger which will appear as a black dot on your consciousness. I don’t have to concentrate on you for three hours because I receive the impression from this dot and I know that the dot is coming from jealousy or anger or doubt.

Finally, the real spiritual way to conquer jealousy is to feel that you are one with the person who is the object of your jealousy. For example, if someone is a better actor than you are, feel that it is you who are acting. In this way, you can conquer jealousy and, at the same time, expand your own consciousness.

At times we may wonder whether jealousy has originated in us or has entered into us from someone else. We know that if we have jealousy, we are directing it towards someone. But if we didn’t have jealousy in the morning and it comes to us while we are in a very deep, high, pure and sublime meditation, when the mind is very calm and quiet, then we may be sure that the jealousy is coming from somewhere else.

Again, if we have not meditated deeply, the mind may be full of our own negative qualities, and the jealousy may come from within. Or if we have not emptied the inner vessel for a long time, jealousy may still be deep within. We may think, “For two days I have not cherished jealousy.” But if we have cherished it for the previous six months, then this jealousy is deeply rooted and will take time to be pried out of its nest. In deep meditation, we become more conscious of these negative qualities lying dormant inside us. But even when we are not meditating, in general we do know whether we attack someone or someone attacks us.

Our deep meditation acts like a cure for the jealousy disease. When we are sick we will take our medicine. We have suffered from jealousy, fear and doubt many times and we know the after-effect. It is not the actual act of fear or doubt or jealousy but the after-effect, when we become conscious of what we have done, which makes us miserable.

So since we have suffered the after-effect many times in this incarnation, then we shifted immediately take action. In India, when you suffer from malaria, they prescribe quinine. Quinine is very bitter. When you cherish jealousy, at that time meditation is like quinine, very bitter and dry. But if you know that the medicine will cure you of your fever of doubt, fear and jealousy, the best thing is to take it. In this case meditation is the best remedy.