Welcome to today's meditation.
I invite you to find a comfortable seat or lower onto your back.
Gently close your eyes.
Relax your shoulders from your ears.
Removing any tension from your body.
Soften your jaw,
Your cheekbones,
Your third eye space.
And take a deep breath in and a long breath out.
Once again,
Breathe in.
Once again,
Breathe in.
And breathe out.
Noticing how this breath feels in your body.
Bring yourself to the present moment.
This breath will travel along with you throughout this meditation.
Breathe in.
And breathe out.
Gently lift up the corners of your mouth and welcome a smile to your face.
For today's meditation,
I want to talk about joy or mudita.
Mudita is a Sanskrit word that means vicarious joy,
A pleasure that comes from delighting in another's happiness and well-being.
A traditional example of this is a parent observing their child's happiness and successes.
But mudita is not to be confused with pride.
There is no benefit or income that comes from someone else's accomplishments.
Mudita is pure joy,
Untouched by self-interest.
Buddhist teachers interpret mudita as an inner spring of infinite joy that is available to everyone at all times,
Regardless of circumstances.
They say the more deeply one drinks of this spring,
The more securely one becomes in their own abundant happiness and the more bountiful it becomes to relish the joy of other people.
This begs the question,
Can we cultivate appreciative joy?
Can we relish in the successes of others?
Mudita isn't always an emotion that is easily accessed.
Without judgment,
Just notice how your body is feeling.
If you've created any tension,
Or maybe you're drawing attention to the conscious breath and softening to the present moment,
Softening to the words you are hearing.
Breathe in and breathe out.
Begin to imagine someone you absolutely love and adore,
Someone that is easy to love,
That you wish the absolute world for,
Whether their successes benefit you or not.
Maybe it's watching your child succeed in a sport that they absolutely love and work hard at.
Maybe it's your dear friend that's had bad luck in relationships and finally found their person.
Maybe it's someone who's experienced tremendous financial hardship but is finally coming out from drowning in debt.
Or maybe it's simply a character in a movie that was the underdog and comes out on top at the end.
Breathe in and breathe out.
Breathe in.
Seeing this loved one in front of you,
That you're sharing joy in their successes,
How does this feel in your body?
Do you feel warmth in your body?
Has your smile developed into a large toothy grin?
Does the air around your skin feel like a warm hug?
Whatever you're noticing here,
Grant yourself a few deep breaths,
Holding in this space of warmth.
It's a love and tremendous gratitude for their being in your life.
Wish them years of abundance and good fortune.
How wonderful it is to have that special someone who's easy to love and who provides tremendous easy joy in your life.
Thank them for that ease that they've provided you.
Breathe in and breathe out.
I now challenge you to imagine someone in your life that you may feel in direct competition with.
They may not be your favorite person,
Or it may seem that everything just seems to work out for them at all times.
Maybe it's a work colleague you feel you cannot trust,
Or a difficult family member or a friend.
Whoever that person is,
See them in front of you and notice how it feels to not find that person in your life.
It's a love and tremendous gratitude for their being in your life.
Thank them for that ease that they've provided you.
Imagine that sheer happiness for their joy,
For their successes.
Notice how your breath feels at this moment.
Or even a better question,
Do you feel your breath?
Are you still consciously breathing?
Are you still smiling?
Have you created tension in your body?
Hold in this space for a moment and see how we may do this day-to-day and not be consciously aware of this and how much our body keeps the score.
Taking a few breaths in to soften the tension,
To bring your awareness back to your breath,
To bring yourself back to your body.
And as you do that,
Notice how your breath feels at this moment.
Bring yourself back to your body.
Your challenge now is to send that person love and come back to your smile if you've lost it.
Send them gratitude for their influence and the lessons they have taught you in your life.
Wish them years of abundance and I know this can be really hard.
Knowing that if you too come from an abundance model and truly believe that abundance is a plenty,
That it is for everyone including yourself,
That also includes your loved one that you love to watch succeed,
But it also includes someone that maybe is a little bit more difficult to love and watch succeed.
Breathe in.
Breathe out.
Breathe in.
Breathe out.
Welcoming both types of people.
Those who are easy to love and watch succeed and those who are more challenging to exist be a part of your life and welcome the lessons of both.
Breathe into that warm heart space.
A place where you find clarity,
Warmth,
Appreciative joy,
Openness and love.
I invite you to practice mudita as much as you can and continue to cultivate that appreciative joy at the good fortune of all.
