If we could read the secret history of our enemies,
We should find in each man's life sorrow and suffering enough to disarm all hostility.
That's a quote by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow.
You've probably heard about or maybe you even practice metameditation,
Otherwise known as loving kindness.
We've had several sessions here on this podcast,
So you can scroll through and find them if you want to try it.
But this is only one of the four Brahma Viharas in Buddhism.
Another which we will practice today is called Mudita,
This is translated as sympathetic joy.
It is the practice of sharing in the joys of others.
It is an altruistic quality,
Seeing others do well in life and instead of being jealous and thinking why them,
We instead celebrate truly from the heart,
Feeling as happy as if it were our own great fortune.
It's well known that comparing ourselves to others is a route to misery.
There is always someone more wealthy,
More attractive,
More successful.
If we begrudge others their good fortune,
We multiply our own unhappiness.
There is enough to go round,
So we need to lose the scarcity mentality.
Nobody is getting your share.
Bear in mind too that sympathetic joy also acts to uproot the hindrances to our own development in meditation.
We are wired for altruism.
Wishing and doing good for others brings good into our own lives.
This practice of sympathetic joy multiplies our own joy.
The Dalai Lama speaks of our chances of experiencing joy being enhanced by 6 billion to 1 and he says those are very good odds.
So let's practice together.
Sit in a comfortable way and allow the eyes to gently close.
Open the heart and relax.
Drop the shoulders.
Drop any tension in your face.
Release any holding.
And then take your attention to your heart sensor right in the centre of your chest.
And as if breathing in and out from here,
Breathe in a warm golden light.
And let that slowly spiral around the heart on the out-breath,
Energising the heart centre,
Waking it up,
Warming up this area.
Feeling your attention on the heart centre,
Feeling it move with the breath.
And when your mind wanders,
Just bring it back gently,
Back into your heart centre,
Breathing in warm golden light.
Now think of something that went really well for someone you love.
A friend,
A child,
Any event which really made them happy.
It could be their joy at receiving a gift or passing some kind of test.
Cash your mind back and bring the experience into your heart and deeply feel their joy as if you are becoming one with them.
Feel the lifting of their heart.
See their beaming smile and allow those beams deeply into your heart.
Smile yourself,
Really take in this joy.
Share in it fully,
Completely immersed in their joy.
Watching them delight in this moment.
From your heart space beam these words to them.
Long may your good fortune and happiness continue.
Repeating this slowly inside your heart centre,
From you to them.
Long may your good fortune and happiness continue.
Long may the world bring more and more reason for celebration into your life.
Thank you for allowing me to share in your joy.
Repeating these three phrases over and over,
Slowly,
With the warmest of intentions.
Long may your good fortune and happiness continue.
Long may the world bring more and more reason for celebration into your life.
Thank you for allowing me to share in your joy.
Feel each phrase and say it inside with the deepest warmth and joy.
Long may your good fortune and happiness continue.
Long may the world bring more and more reason for celebration into your life.
Thank you for allowing me to share in your joy.
Now that was the easy part.
Now bring into your mind a fortunate event that happened for someone who doesn't really mean that much to you.
A person you neither like nor dislike.
A neutral person.
See them in that moment of happiness.
Being good going their way.
If you can't think of one,
You can imagine something going well for them.
Winning an award.
Receiving an unexpected windfall.
Anything that lights up their life.
And feeling their joy.
Again as if you are becoming one with them,
Feel the lifting of their hearts.
See their beaming smile and allow those beams deeply into your own heart.
Smile.
Really take in this joy.
Join it fully,
Completely immersed.
To the best of your ability.
Watching them delight in this moment from your heart-space.
Beam these words to them.
Long may your good fortune and happiness continue.
May the world bring more and more reason for celebration into your life.
Thank you for allowing me to share in your joy.
And it's probably a little harder than the previous one but trying to repeat as sincerely as possible.
Long may your good fortune and happiness continue.
May the world bring more and more reason for celebration into your life.
Thank you for allowing me to share in your joy.
And now bring into your mind someone for whom there is a not so warm feeling.
Someone who you perhaps think doesn't deserve things to go well for them.
Don't pick someone you bitterly dislike.
Try instead with someone that you just find challenging.
Think for a moment why they might be the way they are.
And how in reality they are unhappy and if they were truly happy how much better the world would be for everyone around them.
Working with this person in this way is where the real growth can come for you.
To reflect how you will really benefit from sharing in their joy.
Maybe even changing your relationship with them altogether as a result of this practice.
And see them in that moment of happiness.
Maybe you felt a little bitter at the time.
And that's unhealthy for you.
You're filling your body with bitterness,
With the toxins of hatred,
However mild.
So let's see if we can take back that old bitter ground and share in this moment of joy with them.
Again if you can't think of a moment you can imagine something going well for them.
Maybe as a result they'll be a much better person.
So feel their joy.
Becoming one with them.
Feeling the lifting of their hearts.
Seeing their beaming smile.
And again allowing those beams to penetrate into your own heart.
Really taking their joy.
Watching them and from your heart space,
Beam these words to them.
Long may your good fortune and happiness continue.
May the world bring more and more reason for celebration into your life.
Thank you for allowing me to share in your joy.
Trying to repeat these phrases as sincerely as possible even if you don't feel it.
You can repeat the words with a sense of forgiveness in your heart.
Long may your good fortune and happiness continue.
May the world bring more and more reason for celebration into your life.
Thank you for allowing me to share in your joy.
Long may your good fortune and happiness continue.
May the world bring more and more reason for celebration into your life.
Thank you for allowing me to share in your joy.
And then moving on from them and just sitting in your own heart space,
Repeat the following.
May all beings experience good fortune and happiness.
May the world bring more and more reason for celebration into the life of all beings.
May I share in the joy of others whenever I see it.
Now silently radiating goodwill out to the whole world,
Breathing it in for yourself and breathing it out for others.
Beginning to bring the meditation to a close,
Coming back to the whole body just sitting and breathing.
Knowing that you have just planted seeds for your own increasing happiness and that the more you practice this,
A seated meditation or out in the world,
Each time you see something going well for someone,
The deeper and more joyous your experience of life will be.
Bring now the eyes to open.
May you share in the joy of others whenever you see it.
May I share in the joy of others whenever I see it.
May I share in the joy of others whenever I see it.
May I share in the joy of others whenever I see it.
May I share in the joy of others whenever I see it.
May I share in the joy of others whenever I see it.
May I share in the joy of others whenever I see it.
May I share in the joy of others whenever I see it.
May I share in the joy of others whenever I see it.
