Confidence inspiring objects of meditation are especially important for us, especially those of us, westerners, who are living in societies that don't encourage you to believe in your highest human potential, and where there's a lot of competition and unworthiness. So Sympathetic Joy and Generosity are two of the subjects that the Buddha gives us to increase confidence within ourselves.
The other reflections the Buddha gave us are to reflect on the Buddha, the Dhamma and the Sangha. Reflecting on the Buddha is reflecting on one's highest potential. That a human being is capable of complete purity and is capable of purifying themselves. This is quite different to what most other religions teach us, that we need the grace of an outside source in order to save ourselves. So by reflecting on the Buddha, we're actually reflecting on the highest human potential. The Buddha is pointing us towards that potential within ourselves, which I think is a great confidence inspiring object of meditation, I use it a lot.
It gives you courage, especially when you feel discouraged, or getting into a lot of negative self images. This is just ignorance trying to prevent you from uncovering your potential. Reflecting on the Dhamma is another confidence inspiring object of meditation. What has the Dhamma done for me? What has the Dhamma done for you? By asking ourselves what it has done for us, we gain confidence in the Noble Eightfold Path as a path leading the way out of suffering. It reminds us actually what the Dhamma has done for us and how it has transformed us. Reflecting on the Sangha, that there are others, not just the Buddha, but other human beings who were full of greed, hatred and ignorance like ourselves, but were able to purify themselves.
These are more confidence inspiring objects. Another confidence inspiring object apart from reflecting on our Generosity is to reflect on our good past Kamma. These are the five confidence inspiring reflections the Buddha gave us, and Sympathetic Joy is also another one. So these are very important for you to use in your practice to overcome doubt and complacency, to encourage you to uncover your human potential and not believe in the concept of normality to which most western societies want us to conform. They want us to be good consumers and all those other things, but this is not actually fulfilling our deepest potential. And when we look around us, it's not like being in Thailand where there are Buddha statues everywhere. It's easier to remember our human potential there. In western society we don't have a lot of things to remind us, so it might be helpful for you to have a Buddha statue in your house to remind you of your potential, and to remember to make the most of the precious opportunity that you have in your life.