joy

Ordinarily we feel pleasure and pain; we feel happy sometimes and unhappy at other times. But what I want to speak about today is a joy which goes deeper than these surface feelings which come and go. They are part of life themselves, these surface passing pleasures. But underneath all this, if we are still and quiet, we come to deeper currents in our mind, in our feelings, in our moods.

And for many, there is a deep undercurrent of discontentment. And it’s there all the time, perhaps in the background, perhaps obscured. And that’s why we so often demand to be entertained, or to lose ourselves with alcohol or other drugs. Really, we are trying to escape from life because we have become so used to the deeper parts of life being not enjoyable; actually being quite miserable. This is also why many do not like to be alone. For in aloneness, it is very difficult for us to avoid these deeper parts of ourself. And yet, it is in these depths that we will find not only our true self but also a deeper current, a current within us that is full of joy.

But to come to this depth of joy, we first have to pass through more uncomfortable layers in our psyche. We have to sit with the discontentment and let it slowly reveal its secrets to us. And only if we pass through such difficult areas within ourself, do we come to that golden land, the promised land. It is not outside of you. It is deep within you: a current of joy that has flowed for eternity and is incorruptible.

And when at last we have made peace with ourselves, when we have looked at all those uncomfortable aspects of ourself, that we struggle to admit even to ourself, when we have faced all these demons and gone beyond them, there we find this joy, flowing like an eternal spring, always fresh, always nurturing, full of vitality. This is a joy which never ends. And it is deep within every one of us, if we can reach to our very centre.

So come join me, join me in joy.