RIGHT INTENTION
Cultivating Appreciative Joy
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Whatever you intend,
whatever you plan, and whatever you have a tendency toward, that will
become the basis on which your mind is established. (SN 12.40) Develop
meditation on appreciative joy, for when you develop meditation on
appreciative joy, any discontent will be abandoned. (MN 62)
Suppose there were a pond with lovely smooth banks, filled with pure
water that was clear and cool. A person scorched and exhausted by hot
weather, weary, parched, and thirsty, would come upon the pond and
quench their thirst and their hot-weather fever. In just the same way a
person encounters the teachings of the Buddha and develops appreciative
joy, and thereby gains internal peace. (MN 40)
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When
lovingkindness encounters the good fortune and happiness of another, it
transforms into appreciative joy. This is the emotion of feeling good
for another person, of being glad that good things are happening for
them. Appreciative joy arises easily for the people we care about, but
so often its opposite—some form of jealousy, envy, or resentment—comes
up for us. The antidote for these forms of discontent is learning how to
feel good for others, which generally takes a lot of practice.
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Try reminding
yourself on a regular basis that the world is ruled by impersonal laws
of cause and effect, also known as karma. Sometimes good things happen,
sometimes bad things, and we often have little control over these
things. Why not feel happy for other people when they experience good
fortune or reap the rewards of their hard work? Like a cool drink on a
hot day, feeling happy is more beneficial than feeling bad.
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Tomorrow: Refraining from Harsh Speech
One week from today: Cultivating Equanimity
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