Sympathetic Joy is listed as the third of the Four Divine Abidings, and Equanimity is the fourth.  During this talk, Peter reviews the characteristics of Sympathetic Joy as a celebration of another’s success and happiness in an unselfish way.  It represents the spiritual development of empathy, which is hard-wired into the bodies of humans, but can be distorted when not effectively monitored by Mindfulness and Investigation of Mental Phenomena, and regulated by Right Effort.  The result of this skillful application of attention and action is Equanimity, which provides balance, avoiding what are called the “near enemy” or “far enemy” of Sympathetic Joy.

This talk is intended to be supplemented by a recorded guided meditation posted in the archives of this site titled “Contemplating Sympathetic Joy With Equanimity”, which was presented by Peter just prior to this talk.

Here are the notes prepared for the Dharma talk:  Cultivating Sympathetic Joy With Equanimity

The next talk, scheduled for August 28, 2024, will provide an opportunity for participants to ask questions about Buddhist concepts and practices, with discussion provided by Peter, who has been studying and practicing Buddhism for over 40 years.