Question

Should I integrate those feelings of bliss, calm, which are side effects on the path and not an end in itself, into the Sympathetic Joy meditation?

Answer

Hopefully, occasionally all of you have had moments of really being happy in the practice, maybe not bliss but happiness, a calm, a contentment, maybe. Hopefully you have had some of those moments. Can you integrate it into the Sympathetic Joy meditation? Of course. That is part of your fruit that you deserve for doing your work. So when you do Sympathetic Joy meditation you can reflect that, "Yes, I have had fruits and I have done hard work." You think of the other meditators and you think, "Well I hope they have had some blissful moments, because they have worked so hard that I hope they have." You have joy with their hard work, and such things. So it is not something you have to throw away, some people think that this is so serious we shouldn't have any fun, happiness and all. But no, there will be those moments and we can appreciate them and use them as part of our practice.

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