2021: Creating a Lexicon of Future

M is for Mudita

Mudita is described as an inner wellspring of joy that is always available, in all circumstances. It is extended to all beings, not just to those close to you. In the Mettam Sutta (Samyutta Nikaya 46.54) the Buddha said, “I declare that the heart’s release by sympathetic joy has the sphere of infinite consciousness for its excellence.”

Sometimes English-speaking teachers broaden the definition of mudita to include “empathy.” ~ Mudita: The Buddhist Practice of Sympathetic Joy

Cultivating Mudita

The 5th-century scholar Buddhaghosa included advice on growing mudita in his best-known work, the Visuddhimagga, or Path of Purification.

1. The person just beginning to develop mudita, Buddhaghosa said, should not focus on someone dearly loved, or someone despised, or someone one feels neutral about.
2. Instead, begin with a cheerful person who is a good friend. Contemplate this cheerfulness with appreciation and let it fill you. When this state of sympathetic joy is strong, then direct it toward a dearly loved person, a “neutral” person, and a person who causes difficulty.
3. The next stage is to develop impartiality among the four — the loved one, the neutral person, the difficult person and oneself. And then sympathetic joy is extended on behalf of all beings.