It can be hard to be nice. When I was a kid, envy would prickle me as I walked past big houses, wondering what it would be like to have my own bedroom. Nowadays I feel a similar torsion in my conscience when I hear that an author friend has secured a multi-book contract. I’m happy for them but there is a part of me that wants what they have.
The Buddha taught that there are “four immeasurables”. They are known as such because, when attained, they are limitless. They are the qualities of compassion, loving kindness, equanimity and empathetic joy: mudita.
