Welcome,
Welcome to this meditation on Mudita.
Mudita is the Sanskrit word for delight,
Usually a delight or joy that we can share with one another effortlessly,
Like children watching a butterfly or the deep pleasure of laughing together.
So please find a comfortable way to sit or lay down as you like,
Preparing yourself,
Making sure that you are warm and comfortable,
And that there is nothing that will distract you for the next 20 minutes or so.
Allowing your awareness to shift to your breath,
Observing the in-breath,
Observing the out-breath,
Without doing anything to change it,
Observing,
Allowing your focus to draw inwards,
The simple expansion and contraction that exists in the play of the breath.
You may even like to place a hand over the centre of the chest,
Perhaps a hand over the belly,
To feel this gentle expansion as you inhale,
Gentle contraction as you exhale.
This flow of expansion and contraction serves to remind us of the different ways that we can experience life,
Sometimes expanded and radiating out in the world,
And sometimes contracted inwards,
Drawing the curtains perhaps.
Neither is more important,
Neither is preferred,
Both are natural,
Important,
And of equal value.
And with this in mind,
In heart,
I invite you to turn your attention now to Mudita,
A simple pleasure,
Playfulness,
Like a child,
Childlike spirit that is able to enjoy and be in embodied enjoyment of this beautiful experience of life.
And to begin this exploration,
I invite you to imagine and bring into your imagination somebody who you share,
Perhaps a deep friendship or love with,
Somebody in your life whom there is ease,
Trust,
Somebody who you care about,
Somebody who cares about you,
Invite you to imagine this person when they were a child,
Doing,
Being in that childlike playful presence to joy and to life.
We all have had this experience,
No matter how perhaps difficult a childhood was,
Every child,
Every child has this experience,
Deep,
Deep pleasure in presence.
You might imagine this person,
This child laughing,
Playing in rapture of the delight of nature,
Holding this image of this person you care deeply about in your heart,
In your mind's eye.
And I invite you to repeat after me,
Either silently or out loud as you like.
May you be joyful.
May you remember the simple nature of your delight.
May your joy increase over the years and may all the causes for your happiness,
Joy and delight grow ever stronger.
May you live with a joyful spirit and a joyful heart.
Keeping the image of this special person close to your heart,
Invite you to call in another now,
Just as we did before,
Calling this person you care about in to your imagination,
Seeing them as a child in their pure delight,
Deepest presence,
Sharing with them this connection.
You might see them laughing,
Playing,
And holding this image in your heart,
In your mind's eye,
Speaking to them again either out loud or silently in your mind as you like.
May you be joyful.
May you remember the simple nature of your delight.
May your joy increase over the years.
May all the causes for your happiness,
Joy and delight grow stronger.
May you live with a joyful spirit and a joyful heart.
Imagining now these two special people,
These beings that you care about,
Turning their attention to you.
Imagine that they see you in your childlike wonder,
Playing,
Laughing.
Perhaps you can see yourself as a child.
What was it that you loved to do?
Seeing yourself holding the image of your delight,
Pure joy.
And as you see yourself in this way,
Imagining that those two others share this image,
This vision of you.
And imagine them speaking these words to you.
May you be joyful.
May you remember the simple nature of your own delight.
May your joy increase over the years.
And may all the causes for your happiness,
Joy and delight grow ever stronger.
May you live with a joyful spirit and a joyful heart.
Allowing a gentle smile to turn the corners of your lips,
Your eyes softening,
Softening.
We'll call in one more person now,
You know who they are.
Allowing them in,
Imagining and visualising them in their childhood delight.
And speaking these words to them,
Either silently or out loud.
May you be joyful.
May you remember the simple nature of your delight.
May your joy increase over the years.
May all the causes for your happiness,
Joy and delight grow stronger.
May you live with a joyful spirit and a joyful heart.
May your joy increase over the years.
Letting your awareness come back to the rise and the fall.
The chest,
The belly,
The expansion and contraction that rides each breath.
As we make space for mudita,
Joy,
Shared delight,
Presence to the wonder,
The beauty of the world.
Amongst everything else that is here,
May this too be important.
May we each make space to expand into this shared delight.
Breathing in joy and breathing out joy.
Breathing in wonder.
Breathing out wonder.
Breathing in delight.
Breathing out delight.
Breathing in joy.
Breathing out joy.
Breathing in,
Slowly breathe in.
Breathe out,
Slowly breathe out.
Breathing in mudita.
Breathing out mudita.
Carrying this joy,
Delight,
Wonder with you throughout the day.
And whomever you meet,
Opening to the possibilities that this mudita carries.
Thank you,
Thank you,
Thank you.
