Mudita (Joy)

 

Takakkaw Falls - Wikipedia

Mudita, spontaneous joy, is one of the four special qualities (along with loving-kindness, compassion, and equanimity) that we develop from our yoga and (other contemplative) practices.  These qualities cannot be forced but come through us when our hearts are open and pure.  Spontaneous joy connects me to the feelings of joy I had as a child when simple things gave me so much delight and happiness like the joy in the first snowfall of the season or the warmth of my pajamas after a bath.  At 60, I find myself more and more pierced by a childlike delight in simple things like the first snowfall of the season, the fragrance of spruce on a forest walk, seeing the full moon rising over the mountains. As when I was young, there is a playfulness that intermingles with this joy.  Playfulness and joy thrive when we feel safe and are not weighed down by anxiety, stress, shame. Contemplative practices like yoga help us to find the inner place of safety and healing so that we might live our lives with more joy and playfulness.

 

It might seem that in joy we might forget about the suffering of others.  But mudita is just the opposite.  Joy like compassion comes through the same door of a tender heart.  It is not in the pushing away of sorrow that we find joy but opening up to our sorrow and the sorrow of the world that allows more joy to flow in and through us.

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