Muditā means joy; vicarious joy. Buddhists believe it’s the pleasure that comes from delighting in other people’s good fortune and happiness. It is a pure joy unadulterated by self-interest. Simply, we can be happy about other peoples happiness – that is Mudita.

This is the Buddhist symbol for Mudita:

I Could Feel The Joy

My hubby mentioned Mudita – so I had to see what he was talking about. #ThxGoogle I loved the concept, and wanted to see if I could engage Mudita in my everyday life.

So I did. I feel immediately strengthen. I felt like Mudita increased my own capacity to experience joy and happiness because I truly want others to feel joy, it is my calling, so this practice instantly amplified my own joy. Here’s what how I exercised Mudita:

Mediate on It

I wanted to open my heart fully to this concept, so I practiced a few guided mediations. Here are the best ones I tried: Mediation #1  and Mediation #2 from One Mind Dharma.

Put It To Practice

Everyones’ social media feeds are filled with things that can cause envy (the enemy of Mudita), and I instead chose open my heart to celebrate the joys of others. So here is how I practiced Mudita today:

• I went thru my social media feed for 15 minutes and commented something positive, loving and celebratory about the joys that were pictured, vacations, new grandchild pictures, friend-versaries, etc :).
• I picked five friends to send text messages to about postings I saw on social media – congratulating them on something that brought them joy and relishing in the moments myself with gratitude for their friendship.
• I visited five new blogs, and liked the content and thanked them in the comment section with an honest appreciation for their accomplishments.

Give It A Try

Foster Mudita. Honest Joy for others. This is really celebrating:

• The friend who is traveling with her sisters for her mom’s 80th birthday: Happy she is so blessed with family she loves.
• That friend who met a great new guy: Happy she is feeling loved.
• The 25th picture of a friend with a drink on the beach in the sun: Happy they get a break and a chance to have some fun.
• The picture of a friends new car: How great she has such a beautiful and dependable new ride.
• The friends premie grandson home from the hospital: Grateful for everyones health oh the joy they will have ahead.

Try it. Your heart will fill up, the joy in your life will multiply. I wish you all the joy your heart can hold. And if you are looking for me, I will be over here feeling  happy for you about it all.

Be Your Own JoyMaster.