I’ve been at home, watching friends on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram share their transcendent experiences at the ACDA 2015 National Conference. Of course I’m disappointed not to be with them, however I’ve been pleasantly surprised not to be feeling envy or bitterness at their posts. Quite the opposite.
Mudita is defined in Buddhism as “sympathetic joy.” Esssentially, it means deriving pleasure in the pleasure of others. It’s like the anti-schadenfreude.
It’s not always easy to have a mudita mindset – it’s easy to be jealous or envious of others having experiences you want to have. But unlike those emotions, sympathetic joy takes a missed experience and turns it into something uplifting.