Revoked: May 30, 2023

Tuesday, May 30, 2023

Via Dhamma Wheel | Right Intention: Cultivating Appreciative Joy

RIGHT INTENTION
Cultivating Appreciative Joy

Whatever you intend, whatever you plan, and whatever you have a tendency toward, that will become the basis upon 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)

Appreciative joy fails when it produces amusement. (Vm 9.95)

Reflection

The emotion indicated by the term appreciative joy is a deep one and is to be distinguished from mere amusement. Noticing the success of others is not a momentary lift; you are allowing yourself to be profoundly moved by the beneficial aspects of life that do not center on yourself. Once we open to all the ways others have good things happen to them, this becomes a boundless source of our own good feelings.

Daily Practice

Cultivate appreciative joy at every opportunity. Get in the habit of noticing the good things that happen around you, not as they relate to your own gain but as they affect and benefit others. Being happy about other people being happy is a practice in itself. It is good to loosen the habit of always relating what you see to yourself and to develop an appreciation for the perspective of others. Feel the joy you experience from this.

Tomorrow: Refraining from Harsh Speech
One week from today: Cultivating Equanimity

Share your thoughts and join the conversation on social media
#DhammaWheel

Questions? Visit the Dhamma Wheel orientation page.

Tricycle is a nonprofit and relies on your support to keep its wheels turning.

Donate »

Via Daily Dharma: Wisdom in Five Minutes

If you pay attention for just five minutes, you know some very fundamental dharma: things change, nothing stays comfortable, sensations come and go quite impersonally.

Sylvia Boorstein, “Body as Body”

CLICK HERE TO READ THE FULL ARTICLE

Forward today's wisdom to a friend »