@philosophyminis: In Buddhist philosophy, there are four key states of mind that anybody needs to occupy to be happy and to reach enlightenment, and of these muditā is generally considered to be the hardest, but also the most important. Muditā is when you bask in the reflected joy of somebody else's happiness. It's the parent who smiles when they hear their children laughing in the next room. It's when you jump with joy at a colleague's promotion. It's when you smile and laugh when your best friend tells you that they are engaged. Muditā is a kind of joyous empathy that delights in the vicarious happiness of another person. Buddhism says that we should bring more muditā to our interactions with all other people — in fact, all living things more broadly. And the philosopher Buddhaghosa laid out a method to do so. Buddhaghosa says that we shouldn't start with somebody that we love, because that is too easy. Nor should we start with somebody that we resent, because that is too hard. Instead, find somebody who is cheerful. Find the person who is a half full, optimistic kind of sort, and be around them a lot more. Let their cheerfulness wash over you, because it is contagious. Let their easy laugh and happy gratitude in, and so too will you become that way. From here, you should find a neutral person, and then the person you resent, until finally you are finding happiness in the joy of somebody you don't even like. Muditā is a blessing, because it allows us to experience more joy than ever before. We can experience the joy in our own individual lives, but we can also experience the happiness of everyone everywhere that lives.

Jonny Thomson

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Region: GB

Sunday 19 July 2026 14:39:44 GMT