When my good acquaintance relocated abroad, got married, and moved up a career ladder, I felt a sting of envy.
Even today, I’m embarrassed for my reaction. But it wasn’t surprising. The news came at a time when I was single and hated my job. Hearing of anyone’s success — much less of someone’s I knew personally — would trigger my inner critic. “Why do good things happen to other people while I always feel stuck?”
Yet something good was happening to me as well. And it was internal rather than external: I was aware of my envy without being overwhelmed by it, a side effect of daily meditation practice. However, at that stage of my journey, I couldn’t turn that awareness into something productive, something that would advance my spiritual practice and change me for the better. That’s when I recalled a quote from “A New Earth:” “Whatever you think the world is withholding from you, you are withholding from the world.” This is the essence of altruistic joy meditation that we’ll explore in this article.
What Is Altruistic Joy Meditation?
Altruistic joy meditation, or mudita, is the third of four meditations included in the Buddhist brahmavihara practice, also known as the four sublime states of mind.
The first one is lovingkindness, or metta, the wish for the welfare and happiness of all beings; the second one is compassion, or karuna, the feeling of empathy for all those afflicted with suffering. “Mudita arises when our lovingkindness meets joy in another,” Singhamati says in her Free Buddhist Audio talk.
To illustrate how all three practices are linked together, she suggests thinking of a bird and imagine metta as the body and karuna and mudita as the wings. “We are more likely to feel overwhelmed by suffering [when practicing karuna]; therefore, mudita needs to be developed to balance that out,” Singhamati adds. It teaches us to rejoice in the other person’s happiness and success achieved by means of skillful actions. “May your success and happiness increase, may you be full of joy” you repeat to yourself and others as you visualize them in the six stages of mudita bhavana. Here’s how to practice it.
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How to Practice Mudita Meditation for the Happiness and Success of Others in 6 Easy Steps
Here’s how to practice mudita, also known as altruistic joy meditation, according to Satyaraja, courtesy of Free Buddhist Audio.
1. Cultivate Lovingkindness Toward Yourself
Lovingkindness meditation is the root of this practice. That’s why you start by cultivating kindness toward yourself, wishing, “May I be well, may I be happy.” As you repeat these words, try to feel their meaning as deeply as possible. Keep attention on that friendly response.
2. Call to Mind Someone Who Is Happy and Successful
Next, bring to mind a happy and successful person, your boon companion. It’s someone who benefits you through their positive qualities.
“[For example,] I think … of a teacher,” Satyaraja says. “Then you bring to mind … their happiness, their success.” You can say, “May your success and happiness increase, may you be full of joy.”
3. Think of a Good Friend Who Is Happy and Successful
When you think of a good friend, follow the same process as in the previous stage. Consider your friend’s achievements and connect with them through lovingkindness in your heart. Focus on your friend’s happiness and continued success.
4. Turn Your Attention to a Neutral Person Who Is Happy and Successful
When you turn your attention to a neutral person, you can think of someone you know but have no strong feelings about, whether positive or negative. Again, take in the whole person and reflect on their accomplishments.
You may not know them very well, but they’re just like you. They win small and big, achieve goals, and get what they want. This universal experience creates a sense of solidarity with all human beings through sympathetic joy.
5. Bring to Mind a Difficult Person Who Is Happy and Successful
Repeat the same process when you bring to mind a difficult person or your “enemy.” “Try to see them through the eyes of a friend,” Satyaraja says. “See the qualities that their friend sees in them. And rejoice in that.”
“Watch out for subtle aversion,” he adds. “[It’s when] you don’t particularly dislike them, but you’re not going to really fully acknowledge the good in them.”
6. Develop an Equal Response of Altruistic Joy Toward All Five People and the Whole World
In the sixth stage, you bring to mind yourself and four other people, cultivating an equal response of unselfish joy toward them all. Here, you can reflect that you, too, experience happiness and success, just like them. Then expand this feeling of sympathetic joy to yourself, everybody in the room, and the whole world.
“[Keep] expanding outwards, and rejoicing in whatever good …, intelligent actions you see performed in the world,” Satyaraja concludes.
10-Minute Mudita Guided Meditation
Here’s a 10-minute audio with mudita meditation script by Taranita, courtesy of Free Buddhist Audio.
How to Use This Recording:
- Read the steps above.
- Choose a comfortable meditation posture.
- Press “play,” close your eyes, and listen to instructions.
- Don’t worry about periods of prolonged silence. The sound of the bell will signal the start and end of each step.
What Are the Near and Far Enemies of Altruistic Joy?
In this 5-minute excerpt from Free Buddhist Audio, Satyaraja talks about the near and far enemies of altruistic joy, such as vicarious satisfaction and envy.
What Book Should I Read to Learn More About Altruistic Joy Meditation?
If you want to learn more about altruistic joy meditation in Buddhism, I recommend a book titled Brahma Viharas: Divine Abodes by Jayan E. Romesh.
The Brahma Viharas are the sublime qualities: the essential nature and radiance of the enlightened heart. They are also known as the Four Immeasurables. As these qualities grows within us through deligent practice, it extends immeasurably to all living beings throughout all realms of existence.
They are the great removers of tension, the great peace-makers in social conflict, and the great healers of wounds suffered in the struggle of existence. These noble qualities reduce social barriers, build harmonious communities, awaken the slumbering generosity within us, and revive the joy and hope long abandoned.
Through deep contemplation and dedicated practice of The Brahma Viharas, we transform our hate, greed, and delusion. [The Brahma Viharas] should become our inseparable companions, and we should be mindful of them in all our daily activities.
The Buddha tells us: “Cherish all living beings with a boundless heart, radiating kindness over the entire world.”
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Complement with our articles on what is brahmavihara in Buddhism, how to practice lovingkindness mediation, how to practice compassion mediation, and then revisit 3 essential books on lovingkindness by Sharon Salzberg.
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