Marc Ian Barasch

It extends all the way to that uniquely German coinage, schadenfreude, glo-ating over another’s misfortune, the Good Eye turned into the Evil Eye itself. But just as there are emotional toxins, there are also antidotes, remedies, what the apothecaries of yore called specifics. In Buddhism, the supreme medicine for envy is said to be mudita, or “sympathetic joy,” which calls on us to feel happy about another’s success.

Easy enough when it comes to rejoicing for those we really care about: Every parent kvells over their kid’s triumphs. I once witnessed an exchange between a Tibetan lama and a questioner on this subject. “Rinpoche,” inquired a pleasant middle-aged man in a chequered sport shirt, “I adore my son. He’s a linebacker for his high school football team. I find myself rooting for him to just cream the opposing quarterback. Is there anything wrong with that?”

“Of course not,” the lama replied. “You love your son, and you want his happiness, and he’s happy when he beats the other team. This is only natural.” The man smiled. “Thank you, Rinpoche.” The lama laughed sharply. “I was only joking! Actually, this is not at all the right attitude. “In fact,” he said, glancing at the man mischievously, “a good practice for you would be to root for the other team. See them winning, see them happy, see their parents overjoyed. That is more the bodhisattva way.” The man thanked him again, this time with an ironic groan at the work that stretched past football season. — Beliefnet.com