Four Foundations: Mindful of Joy

The seven factors of awakening are wholesome mind states that we can cultivate: mindfulness, investigation, energy, tranquility, concentration, equanimity, and unconditional joy. Joy is important because we don’t last when practice is a grim chore. Really pay attention—reinhabit the body. Notice moments of everyday joy. This opens the heart, paving the way for an experience of joy that doesn’t depend on pleasure or circumstance. Unconditional joy may be simply an absence of the hindrances during meditation—a bit of loft, uplift, a slight smile—or it may be a deep thread of “it’s OK” even amid suffering.