In this videoconference talk from 5 April 2019, Ajahn Anan discusses his recent birthday celebration and the quality of mudita.

An excerpt: "Today on the occasion of my birthday, all of you, the monastics, lay men and women, are intent to show your respect and ‘mudita’ (sympathetic joy). This pali word, mudita, also translates as tenderness. It is the mind that has tenderness. When we meditate by bringing up thoughts of sympathetic joy for others good fortunes, this can lead us to experience a very blissful state of mind. Developing this mind of mudita is very difficult to develop in meditation. This is because it is the nature of the mind to have regular thoughts of envy, ill-will, and harm. When we have delusion in the mind, then we have this feeling of “me” and “mine” and then there is no acknowledgment of the goodness of others."

Note: One can read Dhamma talk transcripts at the Wat Marp Jan 'Reflections' page, which also includes questions and answers with Ajahn Anan, which are not in the audio files. See: https://watmarpjan.org/en/dhamma-reflections/reflections-archive/