Mudita: Cultivating Unselfish Joy

One of the four Brahmaviharas – the Accords Immeasurable – is Unselfish Joy or Mudita. This is achieved when Metta (Loving-kindness) meets what is beautiful and wholesome in our experiences. In its essence, Mudita is also being grateful. This talk and guided meditation focus on how to bring forth an appreciative, emphatic joy for everything and everyone.

Transcript

This afternoon we'll continue with the exploration of Metta practice and we'll actually be tuning into one of the other four Brahma Viharas.

So we may have mentioned this or not,

I can't remember.

So it's one of four qualities or attitudes that are called immeasurable.

And today I'll introduce a practice,

Gaida practice,

Which is a Mudita practice,

Unselfish joy.

And one way of relating or understanding this quality is when Metta meets,

When that attitude of friendliness or goodwill meets what is going well,

Or what is good in our experience or in the world,

Then that meeting is joyful.

There's a joy in that,

In that which is beautiful and that which is wholesome.

And like the Metta we can cultivate this capacity to notice what we rejoice in and to nourish that capacity for.

It's also helpful for us to see it as a family of qualities,

Gratitude,

Appreciation,

Joy.

But in the manifestation of being very open,

So that emphasis on the unselfish quality in the joy.

So it can be helpful to think of situations or times when this quality naturally arises for us.

Sometimes it can be easier to imagine it in kind of meeting with another.

So maybe you've had a moment,

It happens quite a lot here,

Maybe you've had a moment on the lawn with the rabbits when there's just been that sense of,

Yeah,

Just thinking about it and I smile.

So it's just that very,

It's a very innate thing within us,

That capacity to just enjoy or often have it with children,

Being around a child that's just kind of laughing,

Just laughing or rejoicing in something and that sense of the resonance,

The echo,

It's as if something in us echoes the joy of the other.

So if we feel that and then we kind of get a sense of that internally,

Of having that kind of resonance,

That echoing of how we be kind of something in us opens just like we smile when we see the joy of another and that something internally smiles deep in the heart.

And the power of this practice is really what it does to us.

So if we feel,

If we,

You know,

That's why I kind of encourage you to feel for yourself moments in your life when you know that,

How it just really kind of opens up the being very effortlessly.

We really feel that resonance,

That echoing,

That non-separation.

When we just see somebody else's joy and how we respond,

There's this openness and kind of the opposite to the contraction that we've been speaking about.

It's the opposite movement.

So deep relaxation of the being,

A sense of ease,

A sense of space that comes with that.

And a sense of fluidity.

Yeah,

We can just feel that fluidity,

That movement,

That non-separation between us and within us.

And it's also a really powerful resource.

So we've been speaking about metta practice as a resource,

Mudita practice as a resource,

A capacity to connect to this ability to appreciate or to be grateful for or to rejoice in very simple things.

I think it's raining,

And this kind of rain always has that effect on me also,

This kind of soft rain.

And that sense of feeling the earth,

Feeling the plants,

Kind of being blessed by the soft rain,

Kind of feeling how they're taking that in.

And having that sense,

That same thing that it does to us,

That nourishment.

Yeah,

That rain that's also nourishing us,

Keeping us alive.

So mudita,

Really having that sense of the sustenance of being part of this life.

So it can really be a resource for us internally and also a really powerful relational tool.

The capacity to feel or to connect to joy and to joy that is not self-centered.

Yeah,

Really,

Really powerful relational tool.

I'll tell you a secret,

I find it one of the most powerful practices to do with people that challenge me,

Is to actually wish them joy and feel the joy that they experience in their lives.

Because when we're happy,

We're a lot less challenging.

Yeah,

It's an interesting thing.

So it can be a really powerful relational tool as well.

So like the Metta,

We can use either phrases,

Images,

Felt sense,

Whatever works.

And we also do the same practice of working with different categories.

So ourselves and then different cycles of others from the easy,

The benefactor,

Neutral.

And as I said,

We can take it also to people or relationships rather that challenge us.

So we can use it in the same way.

So I'll be guiding the practice and offering the phrases and like we've said before,

Feel free to do several things.

So this is a suggestion,

This practice.

If you feel like actually you want to keep deepening into the Metta,

There's something happening there for you that's got some momentum and you just want to keep going with that,

That's fine.

Just do your own thing.

Even if you feel more inclined to work with any of the other practices,

The breath,

Body,

Vedana,

That's also completely fine.

So really listen to what is arising from your own inner authority and choose the practice that feels useful.

So yeah,

We'll begin as always by settling into the body and into the posture.

Okay.

Taking your time to ground in the body.

Adjust the posture.

Adjust the uprightness and the ease,

The relaxation.

And settle the awareness in the body as much as is possible,

Getting a sense of the whole body.

And if it's helpful,

Including the breath within the body awareness.

Set up with yourthhouse.

And from that sense of groundedness,

Settledness in the body,

With the breathing.

Opening to feel in your direct experience.

Anything that.

Comes with a sense of appreciation,

Gratitude or joy.

It can be the body breathing.

Feeling the delicacy of the breath.

Flowing in and out of the body.

Maintaining life.

Within this body.

So taking a few moments with the breathing.

Just seeing if you can connect to any sense of appreciation or gratitude.

Not pushing,

Just opening to feel.

If there's nothing with the breathing.

Opening to see if there's something else in the.

Sense of the body sitting here.

Maybe the feeling of having been well fed.

Taking care of.

Doesn't have to be a dramatic feeling,

It can be a very mild.

Subtle sense of appreciation or joy or gratitude.

And letting go of that.

Coming back to a wider sense of the body.

And the breath or the breath.

And we'll begin with dropping in the phrases.

Finding your own pace,

Your own rhythm.

May I learn to appreciate the joy I experience.

May the joy I experience continue.

And grow.

May I be filled with joy and gladness.

May I be filled with joy and gladness.

Sometimes it can be helpful to connect to any feeling.

In the belly or chest areas,

Heart area.

To see if we can feel the resonance of the mudita.

Or the meta practice there.

And areas of vulnerability.

To also areas of strength.

Sensitivity.

May I learn to appreciate the joy I experience.

May the joy I experience continue and grow.

May I be filled with joy and gladness.

May the joy I experience continue and grow.

May I be filled with joy and gladness.

May I be filled with joy and gladness.

May I be filled with joy and gladness.

May I learn to appreciate the joy I experience.

May the joy I experience continue and grow.

May I be filled with joy and gladness.

May I be filled with joy and gladness.

May I be filled with joy and gladness.

May I be filled with joy and gladness.

May I be filled with joy and gladness.

May I be filled with joy and gladness.

May I be filled with joy and gladness.

May the joy I experience continue and grow.

May I be filled with joy and gladness.

As we do the practice staying open,

Staying sensitive to our experience.

We are not trying to suppress or shut down any difficulty or challenge or pain.

We are opening to whatever there is right now.

That we can appreciate and be grateful for and rejoice in.

We are nourishing that intention to open to whatever is wholesome and good in our lives.

Now gently bringing into awareness.

One for whom it is easy to feel a sense of goodwill and friendliness.

Someone who has supported us in our lives or someone whose innocence touches us.

Perhaps the love or the friendliness that they offer out.

Just opening the awareness and inviting someone to show themselves.

If possible for you holding their image in awareness.

Maybe if it is accessible having an image of them happy or joyful,

Smiling,

Content.

When you are ready letting the phrases come,

Carrying that wish for their well-being.

May you learn to appreciate the joy you experience.

May the joy you experience continue and grow.

May you be filled with joy and gladness.

May you be filled with joy and gladness.

May you be filled with joy and gladness.

May you be filled with joy and gladness.

May the joy you experience continue and grow.

May you be filled with joy and gladness.

May you be filled with joy and gladness.

May you be filled with joy and gladness.

May you be filled with joy and gladness.

May you be filled with joy and gladness.

May you be filled with joy and gladness.

May you be filled with joy and gladness.

May you be filled with joy and gladness.

May you be filled with joy and gladness.

May you be filled with joy and gladness.

May you be filled with joy and gladness.

May the joy you experience continue and grow.

May you be filled with joy and gladness.

May you be filled with joy and gladness.

May you learn to appreciate the joy you experience.

May the joy you experience continue and grow.

May you be filled with joy and gladness.

May you be filled with joy and gladness.

May you be filled with joy and gladness.

May you be filled with joy and gladness.

May you be filled with joy and gladness.

May you be filled with joy and gladness.

May you be filled with joy and gladness.

May the joy we experience continue and grow.

May we be filled with joy and gladness.

If you wish,

Letting that flow out beyond the boundaries of the whole.

To the trees and the creatures and the humans living their lives.

May we all learn to appreciate the joy we experience.

May the joy we experience continue and grow.

May we be filled with joy and gladness.

May we be filled with joy and gladness.

May we be filled with joy and gladness.

May we be filled with joy and gladness.

May we be filled with joy and gladness.

May we be filled with joy and gladness.

May we be filled with joy and gladness.

May we be filled with joy and gladness.

May we be filled with joy and gladness.

May we be filled with joy and gladness.

Thank you for listening.

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Reviews

The phrase 'may you learn to appreciate...' resonated with me so much today. Thank you 🙏

The gentle, light hearted, kind guidance helps to access this exquisite state -joy- even amidst a time of grief or stress

Just exactly what I needed this morning. Thanks so much.

Establishes a sense of ease and well-being. Many thanks and appreciation for sharing.

This is the first guided mudita practice I've experienced, so grateful for it. As a long time practitioner of metta, I find a very distinctive quality with adding joy, one I am aware gets too little nourishment. Thank you for a gentle, opening to this Brahma vihara.

With deep gratitude for such a beautiful meditation🕉 This is probably the most thorough and educational one for me 🎁
Something has to be said that Time and Pauses do make a difference. The Voice and the Energy behind the guidance were heart/soul/spirit/body felt 🙏🏻

Namaste 🥰

Thank you for sharing. 🙏🏽😊

Finding Joy in God’s creation, a beautiful sunrise, the rustling of leaves, and a kind smile of a stranger, came to mind during this meditation.

Really lovely, I did find blocks, but enjoyed the practice. Thankyou

Zohar,
What a joy to find this beautiful and nourishing practice - thank you so much. Thank you for reminding me of the deep support and sustenance to be found in mudita (a brahma vihara I tend to forget) and the power it has to shift and balance one's view.
With metta
🙏

Love meta practice! Thankyou