This is a little phrase that we should memorize. In Tibet we used to stick it on our door handles and places like that. Again, the saying goes: “Profit and victory to others; loss and defeat to myself.”

We are not talking here about guilt or that we did something terribly wrong. Rather it is seeing things as they are. By “profit and victory,” we mean anything that encourages us to walk on the path of dharma–that is created by the world. Yet at the same time we are filled with loss and defeat all the time–that is ours. It is a fantastic idea that we are actually, finally fearless persons–that profit is others’ and loss is ours. That is great, fantastic!

From “Be Grateful to Everyone,” in Training the Mind and Cultivating Loving-Kindness, from pages 50 to 51.

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