Remember that episode of The Simpsons with the Springfield Film Festival? In “Man Getting Hit by Football” (also known affectionately as “Football in the Groin”), Hans Moleman is hit in the groin by a flying football. Keeling over in laughter, Homer exclaims, “This contest is over. Give that man the ten thousand dollars.” This is a classic example of schadenfreude, or taking pleasure in someone else’s pain. But what if there were a healthier source of joy? Let me introduce you to the concept of mudita.

Mudita Multiplies Joy…

When something good happens to someone you know, you can react in one of two ways. Let’s say, for example, that a colleague at work recently received a promotion and a pay raise. You can react from a place of envy. “Why didn’t I get a promotion?” you might ask yourself. “I deserve a pay raise way more than he does,” you might think. Conversely, you can react from a place of happiness. You’re happy for him. That’s what mudita is all about.

You might recall that, a little while back, I wrote about The Book of Joy by the Dalai Lama and Archbishop Desmond Tutu. The book explores the nature of joy and how we might live a joyful life. Jinpa, the Dalai Lama’s chief English translator, explains how mudita works:

If someone has some thing that we want, say, a bigger house, we can consciously take joy in their good fortune by telling ourselves: “Good for him. Just like me, he, too, wants to be happy. He, too, wants to be successful. He, too, wants to support his family. May he be happy. I congratulate him and want him to have more success.

Whether we’re talking about something that happens (like a promotion) or some sort of possession (like a bigger house), the concept of mudita can apply. The opposite of mudita is invidia, or a sense of envy. Instead of being jealous of your neighbor with his bigger house and your colleague with his recent promotion, you’re happy for them.

In other words, through the lens of mudita, life is not a zero-sum game. Happiness begets more happiness. In other words, joy multiplies and is theoretically limitless.

Schadenfreude Halts Progress…

Mudita is finding joy in someone else’s joy. Invidia, or envy, is an opposite reaction. Another way to think about the opposite of mudita is in the concept of schadenfreude. The term derives from the German words Schaden (damage) and Freude (joy). When the football hits Hans Moleman in the groin (pain), Homer laughs (pleasure). It’s the same reason why so many of us derive a sense of joy or self-satisfaction from so-called “fail” videos.

On some level, schadenfreude makes logical sense. We perceive our lot in life in relative terms. If we get the bigger house or the promotion at work, our “happiness score” can increase relative to our peers. Conversely, if a peer gets hit in the groin with a football, their “happiness score” decreases. Our “happiness score” is then “higher” relative to Hans Moleman.

As mentioned earlier, mudita is also the opposite feeling to schadenfreude, the German word for the feeling of satisfaction or pleasure in hearing of others’ misfortune. Schadenfreude sees us in constant struggle of one against all others, and if someone else gets or accomplishes something, then we are somehow diminished, less successful, less acceptable, less lovable. Schadenfreude is natural outgrowth of envy. Mudita is a natural outgrowth of compassion.

Through the lens of schadenfreude, life is a zero-sum game. If I gain, someone else has to lose. If someone else gains, I have to lose. The net effect then, in aggregate, is that we all end up in a sort of listless mediocrity. If I take a step back every time you take a step forward, we don’t actually go anywhere. If I have to put you down to lift myself up, is it worth it?

Maybe that’s why I feel guilty when things go my way.

The Path to Happiness?

We all want to be happy. Even though we may disagree on how we should get there, this feels like a basic human truth. And with so many of us trapped on the treadmill of hedonic adaptation, it sometimes feel like we’ll never get there. What is the key to living a life full of joy and contentment? Maybe we’ve been going about it completely wrong all this time. Perhaps happiness is not a destination or a goal to achieve. It’s rather about how we choose to react to the world around us.

Put another way, maybe it’s not about finding the path to happiness. Rather, it’s about living on the path of happiness. And the mudita mindset can help guide the way to finding joy in all the right places.