Rejoicing

Rejoicing, the Antidote of Jealousy

It has two subdivisions:

1. benefit through rejoicing

2. the actual rejoicing

1: Benefit Through Rejoicing

When I hear of others’ virtuous actions,

Rejecting a jealous attitude towards these,

If I rejoice happily from my heart,

It is taught that you get the same merit.

If anyone rejoices in the positive actions of others without the attitude of jealousy, they will get the same merit as those positive actions. This is taught in the sutras.

There are three kinds of positive actions or virtuous deeds:

1. The positive actions of ordinary people.

2. The virtuous actions of the noble assembly of the sanghas, meaning the practitioner/bodhisattva of the 10th bhumis.

3. The activities of the Buddha.

Sometimes we feel that we can’t do any positive actions. It is never that way. You can see the positive actions of others. There are many positive actions of others in this samsaric world. It is important to rejoice in the positive actions of ordinary people and of the bodhisattvas and Buddhas.

2: The Actual Rejoicing

The virtue of the noble assembly of those on the five paths,

The teaching activities of the Buddhas,

And all the meritorious virtue accumulated by ordinary beings.

I always rejoice in all of this.

“The virtue of the noble assembly of those on the five paths,”

The Five Paths 

The five paths according to sutra to reach nirvana are: 

1. The path of accumulation (worldly path / ordinary path)

2. The path of joining (worldly path / ordinary path)

3. The path of seeing (beyond worldly path, nirvana path)

4. The path of meditation (beyond worldly path, nirvana path)

5. The path of consummation (beyond worldly path, nirvana path)

1: Path of Accumulation:

It has three parts:

1. Lesser path of accumulation

2. Medium path of accumulation

3. Great path of accumulation

Lesser path of accumulation: 

These practitioners/bodhisattvas practice the four applications of mindfulness.

Four Applications of Mindfulness: 

1. Meditating on the impurity of the body by which self-grasping attachment to the body is abandoned. 

2. Feeling of suffering; Mindfulness of feelings with a focus on suffering. 

3. Mindfulness on the impermanence of mind. 

4. Mindfulness on all phenomena being empty. 

Medium path of accumulation: 

These practitioners practice the four correct renunciations.

Four Correct Renunciations: 

1. Rejecting arising afflictive emotions. 

2. Afflictive emotions that have not arisen, may they not arise. 

3. The virtues that have not arising, may they arise. 

4. The virtues that have arise, may they continually manifest.

Great path of accumulation: 

These practitioners practice the four miraculous legs.

Four Miraculous Legs: 

1. Developing the mind in single-pointed meditation based on intention. 

2. Developing the mind in single-pointed meditation based on attention. 

3. Developing the mind in single-pointed meditation based on diligence/effort. 

4. Developing the mind in single-pointed meditation based on discernment. 

All together, we have 12 practices of the first path of accumulations, according to the sutra.

2: Path of Joining:

It has four stages:

1. Path of joining of the warmth.

2. Path of joining of the summit.

3. Path of joining of the acceptance.

4. Path of joining of the supreme attribute.

Each of these for paths of joining have a lesser, medium, and great parts, which total twelve paths of joining. 

3: Path of Seeing:

Practitioners on this path practice seeing the four truths.

Four Truths: 

1. Truth of Suffering, 

2. Truth of Origin, 

3. Truth of Cessation, 

4. and Truth of the Path.

Each of these four truths have four parts totalling 16 (16 wisdoms of the four noble truths).

1: Truth of Suffering

1. Acceptance of the knowledge of the quality of suffering. 

2. Wisdom of the knowledge of the quality of suffering. 

3. Patient acceptance producing subsequent knowledge of suffering. 

4. Wisdom of subsequent knowledge of suffering.

2: Truth of Origin: 

1. Acceptance of the knowledge of the source. 

2. Wisdom of the knowledge of the source. 

3. Patient acceptance producing subsequent knowledge of the source.  

4. Wisdom of subsequent knowledge of source.

3: Truth of Cessation: 

1. Acceptance of the knowledge of the quality of the cessation. 

2. Wisdom of the knowledge of the quality of the cessation. 

3. Patient acceptance producing subsequent knowledge of the cessation. 

4. Wisdom of subsequent knowledge of cessation.

4: Truth of Path: 

1. Acceptance of the knowledge of the quality of the path. 

2. Wisdom of the knowledge of the quality of the path. 

3. Patient acceptance producing subsequent knowledge of the path.  

4. Wisdom of subsequent knowledge of path.

4: Path of Meditation:

The Path of Meditation has three parts, lesser, medium, and great. Each of these three parts have a lesser, medium, and great parts. Totally nine stages, or nine Bhumi. The Path of Seeing is the first Bhumi. 2-10th Bhumi are under the Path of Meditation.

Lesser path of meditation

1. The path of meditation of Small Lesser

2. The path of meditation of Medium Lesser

3. The path of meditation of Great Lesser

Medium path of meditation

1. The path of meditation of Lesser Medium

2. The path of meditation of Medium Medium

3. The path of meditation of Great Medium

Great path of meditation

1. The path of meditation of Lesser Great

2. The path of meditation of Medium Great

3. The path of meditation of Great Great

5: Path of Consummation:

The level of full enlightenment according to sutra.

Summary of the Five Paths:

The five paths can be divided into two paths; ordinary (worldly) path which has two divisions in the path and out of the path. We are ordinary persons out of the path. And beyond the worldly path, the nirvana path. The path of accumulation and path of joining are the worldly path. Why worldly? Because these practitioners have not directly realized emptiness. They recognize emptiness through reason and cognition, but not direct seeing. 

The path of seeing and meditation are part of the beyond the worldly path; nirvana path. Why? Because they are free from ignorance because they realize emptiness directly. The wisdom of emptiness is the renunciation of ignorance, therefore they are on the path of nirvana.

To clarify, nirvana is sometimes translated as enlightenment. If you reach nirvana, it doesn’t actually mean you become enlightened. Those tenth bhumi practitioners are not yet enlightened, though they experience nirvana. There is often confusion in the translation here.

There are five paths. Four of them (the first four) are ‘real paths’ in which practitioners need to practice. They need to study, meditate, and put in effort. The fifth path of consumption is the name designated to the fruit of practice, not an actual ‘path.’ It is actually the level of enlightenment. The fifth path is the fruit of practice. 

These are all for the sake of all sentient beings.

“The teaching activities of the Buddhas, And all the meritorious virtue accumulated by ordinary beings. I always rejoice in all of this.”

Two Types of Virtue:

1. Meritorious virtue

2. Accumulation of virtue conducive to liberation

Meritorious virtue: Results in being born in the three upper realms and good health, body, and circumstances. However these don’t give the result of getting out of samsara.

Accumulation of virtue conducive to liberation: This results in liberation. 

If you are not able to do great virtue, but you think about and rejoice in others' meritorious virtue you will get the same merit. That is very beautiful. That gives us many options! This is why this section is the antidote of jealousy - rejoice in the virtues of others! Feel happy for what all of our relatives, from many lives, are getting. Jealousy creates deep sadness.

It is not like the merit will get divided between two people either. You will each get the merit according to your intention. Similarly, if you rejoice in the negative action for others, you would get the same as they get. So, everything depends on our intention.

So, it is important to understand how one can accomplish merit without doing so much. If you know this, you can accomplish merit anytime.