Become Joy

 

Become Joy

What really gives us joy as opposed to what we think gives us joy? We have all been taught that we will be happy when we: find our soulmate, make money, work at something we love. Or, we will be happy and fulfilled when we have a house, have a child, do service. Yet there are people who have and do all of the above and are still not happy, and there are people who have little or none of the above and are frequently joyful (for example the urchins playing on Mumbai’s streets).

Some of us would have faced severe hardships in life, not knowing joy at all and on hearing about joy tried to find it through intoxicants on advice of friends, only to find out that this leads us further down the sink hole! Such intoxicants drain us of our energy rather than energise us and fill us with joy. Some people try to find joy through service, through their work, making money and so on, but this is all transient and results are based on external circumstances.

Joy is not a result of anything we do, it is a state of being that enters our heart when we are open to learning, to spiritual growth, to spiritual connection, and to taking care of oneself. True joy doesn’t come from anywhere. Nothing brings us joy. No person brings us joy. We ourself are joyful always. So, enjoy that. That’s what we call enjoyment. Depend on nothing, because nothing from outside can make us joyful.

Joy, like love and truth, is a gift of the Soul. Joy, love and truth enter our being when our heart is open. Joy is the feeling of exuberance and oneness that envelopes us once we have opened to feeling our pain, learning from it and moving through it. Joy cannot enter our heart when we are protected against our pain. When we protect against our pain, we close our heart to avoid the pain, and joy cannot enter a closed heart. Thus, joy is the result of doing our Inner Bonding work - of emotional and spiritual growth and spiritual connection. This bonding work takes place in harmony when we meditate in a huge collectivity in the presence of a realised Master, who himself is filled with joy. That joyous energy envelopes us and we feel the same joy as the Master as we are present in that joyous energy field.

Once we have felt that energy, we need to learn to maintain that joyous energy in our own energy field and carry it us wherever we go, infusing others who come in touch with us with that joyous energy. Then we will feel more joy because we would have distributed that joyous energy and perked others up – there is great joy in giving selflessly – and what can give greater joy than distributing joy itself!