By Rev. Elizabeth Rowley Hogue
In a world often overshadowed by strife and distraction, the ancient Buddhist concept of Mudita offers a radiant path to inner peace: the practice of joy. Mudita is one of the Four Brahmaviharas, or “Divine abodes” – the immeasurable minds of love (maitri), compassion (karuna), joy (mudita), and equanimity (upeshka). These are not fleeting emotions but cultivated states that expand like a boundless sky, embracing ourselves and all beings.
Thich Nhat Hanh reminds us that true love is infused with joy. “To love is to look at each other and to look together in the same direction,” he writes. When we gaze deeply, we uncover the basic goodness in others, mirroring it within ourselves. Love isn’t mere desire—like saying “I love hamburgers”—but maitri, a profound friendship that seeks to offer happiness. Maitri demands attentive listening and seeing, ensuring our gifts align with others’ actual needs, lest they breed unhappiness.
The Brahmaviharas trace back to the Buddha’s era, when a Brahman sought union with Brahma, the source of love, after death. The Buddha advised practicing these abodes: love to offer happiness, compassion to alleviate suffering, joy to celebrate well-being, and equanimity to accept without bias. Vihara means “dwelling place,” so these are Brahma’s homes—a “five-thousand-star hotel” far surpassing worldly luxuries, where love and joy flourish eternally.
At Mudita’s core is sympathetic joy, but it’s deeper than altruism. It’s a contentment that rejoices in others’ happiness without discrimination, while nurturing our own. Commentators distinguish joy (mudita) as mind-centered, like spotting a cool stream in the desert, from happiness, the bodily relief of drinking the water. True Mudita eradicates sadness, fostering “ditthadhamma sukhavihari”—dwelling happily in the present. No rushing to the future; everything unfolds here. Practicing simple awareness, like appreciating healthy eyes to behold blue skies, violet flowers, or children’s laughter, ignites this joy naturally.
Joy contains happiness, and vice versa. It’s not limited to others’ successes; we must feel it for ourselves first. “How can we feel joy for another person when we do not feel joy for ourselves?” Mudita is inclusive, a spark ignited in mindfulness, bursting spontaneously as “joyful, giddy bliss” or “joy for no reason.” Through meditation, it resolves conflicts, promotes goodwill, and leads to spiritual liberation. Similarly, Ernest Holmes observed, “Joy is the realization of the truth of oneness, the oneness of our soul with the Infinite.”
The Four Immeasurable Minds, known more widely as the Four Immeasurable Truths, are a common Buddhist aspiration and a timeless prayer: “May all beings have happiness and the cause of happiness. May all beings be free from suffering and the cause of suffering. May all beings never be separated from the happiness beyond all suffering. May all beings abide in equanimity, free from attachment and aversion.”
This week, dwell in Mudita. Let joy be infectious—share it, celebrate others’ joys, and anchor in the present. Practice daily and watch joy transform your heart and the world around you.
And so it is.
Rev. Elizabeth Rowley Hogue is an independent columnist for the Atascadero News and Paso Robles Press; you can email her at revelizabeth@awakeningways.org.
