My good friend Kris discussed this Immeasurable in her comment to my last post, so I'll talk about it a bit today.
What is appreciative (or sympathetic) joy?
It is the wholesome attitude of rejoicing in the happiness and virtues of all sentient beings. It counters jealousy and makes people less self-centred.
In a nutshell, sympathetic joy involves feeling happy for other peoples' happiness. Sounds easy enough, doesn't it? But think of some of the situations where you might not be so happy for someone else's happiness:
1. You're not quite over your ex-lover, but s/he is extremely happy with his or her new mate.
2. Someone else gets the promotion you wanted.
3. Somebody else gets into the college you wanted to get into, but you don't.
Instead of being consumed with jealousy or a sense of needing to "keep up with the Joneses", we can learn to calm our minds with a focus on happiness.
I will be very interested in hearing about how any of my readers here have cultivated this state of mind in their buddhist practice, and how it has impacted their lives. Has anyone else here used sympathetic joy as a meditation focus? If so, how did it work out for you?
Enquiring minds want to know,
Byrd in LA
Posted by wahzoh at May 8, 2008 12:48 PMByrd,
You actually mentioned something close to a situation that I was in... I was being rather jealous of a workmate, who is professionally stronger in many ways than myself.... I found myself wanting to not cooperate with him, due to my resentment, and realized this was, basically, being selfish and self-centered. When I started meditating on sympathetic joy, I could start rejoicing in the fact that he had such great strengths. I found my day to day interactions became more generous, and I became a less angry person. Good stuff.
Mind you, this didn't happen overnight. I had to go little bit by little bit (Ryuei has an article over on Ryuei.net that I found helpful in that way). Nonetheless, a little discipline and practice, and I could react from a more Buddha-like place.
How about you, Byrd... where have you used it?
Kris
Hey Byrd,
Yes. On the way back from London last year with my 77 year old mom, we were laid up at the NY airport for about 8 hours. She had had it physically after the long flight (she has leukemia). It was the middle of the night and there were high winds keeping our plane up in Canada instead of in NY so we could fly south and home.
It arrived and winds still held us back. I'd been chanting and offered my evening prayers where we were camped out in the lounge. The little plane arrived and
they said we had a time window of about 20 minutes before the winds would rise again. We hurried aboard the tiny plane.
OK, things were already tense. Then they brought aboard a shackled prisoner who was being extradited to Virginia from NY. They went to the back of the plane.
As we took off I softly chanted for the protection of all on our airplane. As we rose I
saw the beautiful lights below and chanted for all those people connected to the lights. Then I remembered the prisoner behind me and sent loving
kindness to him and his future. All at once the
prayers for protection for my family turned into
unconditional good will for all beings inside and outside of our plane.
In an exhausted and worried state this mind of compassion rose very
naturally. This is what makes me continue this practice-this type of realization that I can step out of my small self.
I agree with Kris...good to have you back here!
Peace, Patty
Wow, Patty. You could have been trapped in thinking "Ah, shoot... nice. Trapped in a dinky aircraft, my mom doesn't feel good, and there's a bloody felon in this tiny plane in a bad weather....". Instead, you could make the place you were a place of joy, if only for a moment. I love the line in the Nichiren Shu liturgy for shodaigyo where it says
"This place in which we find ourselves now, is a dojo, a place of Buddhist training.
All Buddhas come to this place, and attain perfect enlightenment;
All Buddhas come to this place, and turn the wheel of the dharma;
All Buddhas come to this place, and enter into nirvana."
I like to remind myself that anyplace can be that dojo, and people like you remind me that that is possible.
Gassho,
Kris
Hey Kris,
I agree. It's good to be backed in a corner like that sometimes and have nothing to fall back on
except my practice. It's a huge reminder that we
don't walk alone. And it's awesome to connect with compassionate, fearless, creative power.
You're so right...our lives are daily training
labs. On top of that, we get sunrise and sunset (and chocolate)! How fortunate. Gassho, Patty