There's this parable of a monkey where tar is spread out on the ground to trap it.
Along comes the monkey and he steps one foot right in the tar.
To try and free himself he puts his other foot down,
Then one hand,
And then the other.
Also in one last attempt to pull himself out,
He sticks his whole head in the tar.
Poor monkey,
Covered in gunk,
And all his efforts only made it worse.
If only he'd thought to reach out to a branch instead,
Perhaps he could have pulled himself out of the gunk.
Sometimes our minds can feel like this.
A trap that gets us stuck and keeps us stuck.
Reach out for your meditation cushion now.
May it be something that pulls you out of your incessant worry or sadness.
Get comfortable in a sitting position.
Upright is better so that you stay alert.
And place your hands on your knees or in your lap.
For the first few moments gaze straight out in front of you,
But not at one particular thing.
See everything around you vaguely,
And allow this shift in perspective to help you become aware of how you fit into your space.
Remain like this with a soft focus.
Or if you'd like,
Allow your eyelids to close.
Repeat.
Feel your natural normal breath.
No need to change it.
Stand in silence for a few moments.
No need to change it.
No need to change it.
No need to change it.
No need to change it.
No need to change it.
Feel your natural normal breath.
No need to change it.
We all have similar obstacles that are capable of clouding our happiness.
Often when we feel down,
There's a tendency to judge or demean others in an attempt to make ourselves feel better.
Teddy Roosevelt said,
Comparison is the thief of joy.
So search for envy in your heart.
Sometimes too,
We fall prey to avarice,
A type of selfishness that hoards our joy or success.
And other times our sadness comes from boredom.
Because of this sense of separation from purpose,
We feel stuck in the mundane,
Caught in a current of anxiety,
Lost in a loop of loneliness.
If any of these are present within you,
Know that you are not alone.
No need to change it.
No need to change it.
No need to change it.
The Buddha called the greatest happiness to know peace unchanged by changing conditions.
So let your feelings move.
When we judge,
Compare,
Demean or envy one another,
We are like the monkey on the tar.
The more we reach out to these for escape,
The more stuck we get.
And use mudita,
Or sympathetic joy as the antidote.
It is the third of the Brahma Vahara's or heavenly abode's.
And you can use it to extricate yourself from suffering.
And now,
Genuinely rejoice at others prosperity,
Success,
And good fortune as a way to immediately feel joy in your own life as well.
Bring to mind a friend whom it's easy to rejoice in.
Share in their joy with these phrases.
May your happiness be abundant.
May your happiness be abundant.
May your happiness be abundant.
May your good fortune continue.
May your good fortune continue.
May your good fortune continue.
May your happiness continue.
May your happiness continue.
Observe the effects of these phrases.
Because there are so many mental traps that the mind can fall into,
Mudita is considered one of the harder Brahma Vahara's to master.
As with all things,
Consistency and practice are the keys.
Your mind is a muscle.
Keep working it in this way and you are sure to be stronger.
Set in happiness.
