Morning once again to all of you.
Thank you for being here today. It's an all.
Always an honor to practice with you.
Today we will make port at the Isle of Sympathetic Joy.
Pathetic joy represents a positive mental state in which
we rejoice in the good fortune of others without jealousy or
resentment. It is the joy felt when
witnessing the goodness of others, even with we are not
directly involved. It is a form of happiness
derived from celebrating the good deeds and good fortunes of
others. This quality is one of the four
measurables, the four boats along with loving Titus,
compassion as well as equanimity.
Pathetic joy is significant of Buddhist teaching because it
helps us cultivate a deep sense of interconnectedness.
By celebrating the happiness of others, we loosen the grirt of
negative emotions such as envy, jealousy, or competitive
disappoint. The emotions that can arise in
our professional lives are daily encounters.
Instead, we foster a more compassionate and open hearted
attitude. Buddha emphasized the words of
sympathetic joy, teaching that it leads to release of the heart
contributes to a profound sense of happiness and fulfillment.
But how do we cultivate sympathetic joy in our outlines
again, but those closest to us rejoicing in their happiness,
and gradually extend this joy, our thirst, to neutral
acquaintances and even to those we may find difficult?
This practice can be developed through meditation, mindfulness,
focusing on the happiness of others, allowing their joy to
resonate within us. You'll note there's a lot of the
same things being said about loving Titus, and profession
starts here, and it works out. Most importantly, we must begin
with ourselves, because I have said at my crew beach talks, the
foundation always starts within. Just as we cannot fully extend
loving kindness or compassion to others without first cultivating
with ourselves, so too not generally experience sympathetic
joy unless we first acknowledge and celebrate our own moments of
joy, however small. Skinner Foundation cares us to
rejoice in the happiness of others.
If I could go off script for a minute while I was writing this,
I had a sudden light bulb go off for some of you.
You may know that I volunteer at one of the hospitals here in
Columbus and I work up the front and I do little, go for jobs
escorting patients, escorting family members, places for
procedures or for visiting. And sometimes I drop off
flatters. But one thing I get to do every
once in a while is I get to take flowers up for new parents is
the paternity court. And I find everything I do at
the hospital boarding. But I've realized that those
times that I do get to go up to the maternity ward and I take in
the flowers and there's the big father holding the new freshly
hatched 1, the new soul entering the world.
Father may even be holding the child.
I can see the the the pride and happiness and the joy few
fathers had the deer in the headlights look, but most of
them are are doing all right. And when I walk out, I just, I
don't know, I feel this joy for them, but them having their own
one child now, whether it's the first, second or third, I also
start to think to myself, you know, there might be help for
the human race, yet things are OK.
So I just wanted that pass on that little tail.
So let's get back here. After we start to celebrate
glory within ourselves and then out to our family.
Therefore, we expand outward to family, friends, and ultimately
all beings, even those you struggle with.
I encourage you, as I remind myself practice regularly.
Like any skill, cultivating sympathetic joy requires
consistency and mindfulness. Engaging its specific
meditations on sympathetic joy and help reinforce this quality
of daily life. Sympathetic joy is a powerful
antidote negative emotions and a vital aspect of the Buddhist
practice. By learning to rejoice in the
happiness of others, we help to create a more compassionate and
interconnected world, one that leads to greater personal and
collective will.