People have been asking me about the eastern (Hindu/Buddhist) practice of Mudita all week. Especially during latin music awards season, which lets face it – most of our friends and colleagues will go home empty handed, feeling dejected, while watching others (albeit well deserving, especially this year) get all the glory. As people keep learning about eastern philosophy and spirituality, many people feel that Mudita is the perfect antidote to envy. In short, Mudita is feeling happy for someone else’s success. OK, it is more complicated than that – but that is essentially the American definition. Much like Yoga means being able to do cool stretches. Yoga may be much more than that, but that doesn’t mean even the ultra-simplified-physical version of American Yoga isn’t beneficial. Mudita is the same, even if applied in an oversimplified way to help you combat envy – any Buddhist monk will tell you, it happens to work.
Going a little deeper: Mudita is the result of what we call Self Knowledge. It is referred to as the practice of vicarious joy in the fortune of others, but in reality “practice” is a misnomer. Although it is “practiced,” Mudita itself is a result. During overall practice we realize that there is no Real difference between ourselves and what we perceive to be others. That is the essence of the Self Knowledge that is the results of overall practice. This NonDuality of all of us actually being our true Self automatically starts to result in being able to feel the joy from the happiness of others. It feels good, and then in turn gets cultivated – hence the result becomes its own practice.. Automatically.
Ready4theRedCarpet
Host of the TV Show Rock Star Recipes and the 1st Indian-American to walk the Latin Grammy Red Carpet, Anand Bhatt brings us the inside scoop & behind-the-scenes on Everything from Kitchen and Fitness Hacks, who's wearing what, the latest fashion and beauty trends, Inspiration on how celebs keep it together under stress, and more! Read on and live your best life!
