A therapist's unrestrained laughter and capacity for shared joy coexisted with her witnessing clients' tears, frustration and systemic frustration. Years later, that laughter resurfaced while preparing a presentation on mudita, prompting a deliberate walk to notice small joyful moments. Observing ducks, children and a stranger's smile produced sustained, inward joy. Appreciative joy or sympathetic joy is one of four Brahmaviharas alongside loving kindness, compassion and equanimity. It rejoices in wholesome happiness for self and others, extends to all beings including enemies, and contrasts with superficial positivity or pleasure rooted in unethical, self-centred gains.
On the morning of the talk I went for a walk and vowed to notice joy in the world around me. I stopped and watched brown ducks shaking their feathers by the lake. I watched children climbing precarious-looking play equipment and received an unprompted smile from a stranger. These weren't remarkable moments. And yet the more I lingered, replaying them in my mind's eye, the more I couldn't stop smiling.
Appreciative joy, sometimes also referred to as sympathetic joy, is one of the four qualities the Buddha encouraged practitioners to cultivate, alongside loving kindness, compassion and equanimity. It is often described as a state of mind that rejoices at the wholesome happiness of the self and others, and extends to all beings, including strangers and (as hard as this might be) our enemies.
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