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If you love and have compassion for others,
then joy comes naturally. A joyful attitude is a great source of
inspiration for all sentient beings. To be kind, loving, and compassionate
will cause us to feel joyful, and will help us progress in our practice.
By regularly embodying these precious and special attitudes, you will
certainly feel great joy. In this way, it is the opposite of
regret.
Joy is also the
opposite of jealousy. When you see a good situation, an excellent
performance, or the signs of success in other sentient beings, you should
feel joyful instead of jealous or uncomfortable.
Jealousy is a combination of anger and
attachment: you become jealous when you are attaching to your own thoughts
and feelings and holding anger toward another. If you unite these two --
attachment to self and anger toward the other -- jealousy occurs. It
disturbs our mental peace and really makes a mess of the relationships
between ourself and others. Understand this error and cultivate a good
attitude. We must see all these aspects clearly and maintain a joyful
attitude as we mature in the practice of love and compassion. If we have
love and compassion for all beings and they are experiencing some kind of
happiness or success, we will be able to share in their joy rather than
become jealous. A joyful attitude will help us continue to practice the
activities which will fully develop the bodhicitta attitude. Therefore, we
should cultivate this feeling.
There are many different ways we can experience joy. We can feel
happy because the opportunity to practice is something very special. Love
and compassion may be cultivated infinitely, and we can grow in wisdom and
initiate many good things this very moment. In this same way, we can feel
joy for all other sentient beings in similar
circumstances.
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