Nov. 19, 2023

3 Mindful Minutes: Practising Mudita

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In this week's 3 Mindful Minutes, Cass shares the ancient Buddhist practice of 'Mudita', which loosely translates to 'sympathetic joy'.Mudita means being happy for other people's happiness.
Tune in to hear how it can profoundly improve your mood, strengthen your relationships and help you to remember the interconnectedness of all things.
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Transcript

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Hey, I'm Castane. I'm a psychologist, a mindfulness meditation teacher,

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host of the Crappy to Happy podcast, and author of

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the Crappy to Happy books. Welcome to another three mindful

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minutes Today. I want to share with you one of

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my favorite concepts from Buddhist teachings, and it is a

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practice and a philosophy known as modita. Medita is a

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parly word, parly being the ancient language of the Terravadan Buddhists,

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which loosely translates to sympathetic joy. In other words, it

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is being happy for someone else's happiness, celebrating someone else's success,

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and really, in a world which celebrates individual achievement prizes

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personal ambition, self promotion, it's very easy to get trapped

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in a mindset of scarcity, of feeling competitive and getting

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a little resentful and envious when we see other people

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achieving things that maybe we would like to achieve. It's

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very easy to fall into petty, small minded thinking, perhaps

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feeling that people aren't deserving of their success, and being

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triggered into these kind of defensive reactions. Because what we

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tend to do is we subconsciously or consciously compare ourselves

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and find ourselves coming up short. And this is why

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this ancient practice of medeta can offer a really refreshing perspective.

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It's a simple but a profound concept. It can enrich

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our lives, it can create more inner peace and foster

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genuine happiness and stronger connections with other people. So, as

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a Buddhist practice, Modiita emphasizes the interconnectedness of all things.

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In other words, it acknowledges that suffering and joy are

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universal experiences. We all get our turn at both, and

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all of our experiences are intertwined with other peoples. So

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instead of this focus on separateness, it helps us to

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transcend those self centered thoughts and feelings, those negative comparisons

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that we might fall into, and actively replace any jealousy

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or resentment with genuine joy and enthusiasm and happiness for

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other people's happiness. It strengthens relationships because when you express

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your enthusiasm genuinely for other people's happiness and success, they

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feel that. We all love it when other people are

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happy for our success. It fosters trust, It builds emotional connection,

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it deepens bonds, It makes them feel good, and it

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makes you feel really good as well. When you practice

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this kind of vicarious joy, it tunes you into the

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abundance of the world instead of being in that scarcity

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mindset where you feel like if somebody else is achieving something,

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it's somehow taking away from you. When we actively celebrate

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other people's success and achievement, it helps us to tap

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into the abundance mindset, knowing that there is enough for

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all of us. It reduces the stress and anxiety that

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often goes with those feelings of jealousy and resentment. And

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I would just say, it is really easy to jump

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to the rescue or want to be there for people

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when things aren't going well, and we often consider that

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that is the mark of a good friend. But I

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have always argued that it is the person who is

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there for you, who is cheering the loudest when you

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are successful, when something really good happens for you. That

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to me is the hallmark of a really good friend.

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And if you think about the people in your own life,

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there will be some people who you know become curiously

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quiet when you have got a really big win, some

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great news, something exciting to announce something great has happened

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to you. You know who those people are who are

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genuinely joyful who are genuinely celebrating your win in life.

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And equally, you can have a look around and you

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will know there's people in your life who you are

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genuinely thrilled for when something is going well for them,

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and there's others who maybe you feel a little bit

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like maybe they're not as deserving as you think. Maybe

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you find it really hard to muster up some enthusiasm

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or some happiness for them because of whatever personal history

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you have or your personal thoughts and feelings about that individual.

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So that is when this practice of mediita can really

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be a game changer and really puts it back on

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you to put aside that pettiness and to genuinely and

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unreservedly express your happiness and your enthusiasm. They will appreciate it,

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they will notice it, and so will you. So as

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you go forward this week, I would really invite you

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and encourage you to notice when other people are doing well,

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dive in and feel great with them, share in their joy.

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Practice mediita. Be expressive in your appreciation and in your

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genuine joy of other people's happiness and success. Try see

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how it feels. I promise you it's a game changer.

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Thank you so much for listening to today's three mindful

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minutes to hear more from me and from other inspiring

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guests that I interview. Check out the full length episodes

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of the Crappy to Happy podcast. To find out more

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about me, obviously, head to my website casdone dot com.

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As always, if you enjoyed this episode, please share it

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with a friend, leave a five star rating and review,

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and hit the plus button to make sure that you

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never miss an episode. And I cannot wait to catch

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you for the next episode of three monthfuls

3 Mindful Minutes: Practising Mudita

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