Mudita: The Buddhist
Practice of Sympathetic Joy
Barbara O'Brien March 23,
2017 ThoughtCo.
Finding Happiness in the
Good Fortune of Others
Mudita is word from
Sanskrit and Pali that has no counterpart in English. It means
sympathetic or unselfish joy, or joy in the good fortune of others.
In Buddhism, mudita is significant as one of the Four Immeasurables
(Brahma-vihara).
Defining mudita, we might
consider its opposites. One of those is jealousy. Another is
schadenfreude, a word frequently borrowed from German that means
taking pleasure in the misfortune of others.
Obviously, both of these
emotions are marked by selfishness and malice. Cultivating mudita
is the antidote to both.
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."
Cultivating
Mudita
The 5th-century scholar
Buddhaghosa included advice on growing mudita in his best-known
work, the Visuddhimagga, or Path of Purification. 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.
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.
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.
Obviously, this process is
not going to happen in an afternoon. Further, Buddhaghosa said,
only a person who has developed powers of absorption will succeed.
"Absorption" here refers to the deepest meditative state, in which
sense of self and other disappear. For more on this, see "The Four
Dhyanas" and "Samadhi: Single Pointedness of Mind."
Fighting Off
Boredom
Mudita also is said to be
an antidote to indifference and boredom. Psychologists define
boredom as an inability to connect with an activity. This may be
because we're being forced to do something we don't want to do or
because, for some reason, we can't seem to keep our attention
focused on what we're supposed to be doing. And plugging away at
this onerous task makes us feel sluggish and depressed.
Looked at this way, boredom
is the opposite of absorption. Through mudita comes a sense of
energized concern that sweeps away the fog of boredom.
Wisdom
In developing mudita, we
come to appreciate other people as complete and complex beings, not
as characters in our personal play. In this way, mudita is
something of a prerequisite for compassion (karuna) and loving
kindness (metta).
Further, the Buddha taught
that these practices are a prerequisite for awakening to
enlightenment.
Here we see that the quest
for enlightenment does not require detaching from the world.
Although it may require retreating into quieter places to study and
meditate, the world is where we find practice--in our lives, our
relationships, our challenges. The Buddha said,
"Here, O, Monks, a disciple
lets his mind pervade one quarter of the world with thoughts of
unselfish joy, and so the second, and so the third, and so the
fourth. And thus the whole wide world, above, below, around,
everywhere and equally, he continues to pervade with a heart of
unselfish joy, abundant, grown great, measureless, without
hostility or ill-will." -- (Digha Nikaya 13)
The teachings tell us that
the practice of mudita produces a mental state that is calm, free
and fearless, and open to deep insight.
In this way, mudita is an
important preparation for enlightenment.