inner smile

Can we live life from an inner smile?

Most of us really only smile when the outer circumstances of our life are happy and going well, when our relationship is happy, or when our job is working out well. When we see a friend, we smile. When we experience a nice sunny day, like today here in the hills of Colombia, we smile. And when the outer world is not so pleasant, we lose our smile.

Each of us has an inner smile, an inner source of a smile, that is not dependent on the outer circumstances. Perhaps you've touched on this in yourself from time to time. Perhaps deep in contemplation or meditation, you've just found yourself smiling. And it's not a superficial smile. It's not something we are putting on for the outer world to see. It's not a mask. It's not a pretence. 

This inner smile feels like it's coming from the very centre of our being. It permeates every cell of our body. It's as if all our organs are smiling. It's such a beautiful feeling. It has a certain calmness to it as well. It's not unstable. And if we can access this inner smile, how lucky we are! We don't need to depend on other people in order to appreciate life, in order to live life with joy in our heart.

You've probably seen statues of the Buddha, half smiling, and that somehow captures the feel of it. It's a little smile, not something gross, just that sweet undercurrent of joy. Joy at being part of this existence; a joy of just being alive for its own sake, not needing to achieve something, not needing to impress people, just to breathe, just to be alive. This alone is enough. 

So why don't you take a look inside, see if you too can find this inner smile. For when we live our life from this place, it lightens every aspect of our life. It's an undercurrent, an undercurrent of joy, and it will infuse every moment if we allow it.

If you're not in touch with this, meditation is probably the place to start. Through meditation we become less obsessed with our own thoughts, less neurotic about the outer world. We settle. And that inward turning and settling allows us to get in touch with these more subtle parts of our being. And this inner smile, this is part of that inner world that it's so easy to lose touch of. But it's really vital that we get back in touch with our inner smile. This is the way to lead a happy and fulfilled life.

Of course, in the manifest outer world, we will still go through ups and downs. Life will still throw challenges at us. And yet this inner smile, this deep undercurrent of joy, can carry us through everything. It will allow us to appreciate our highs even more. And it will carry us through the lows without us tumbling into depression. You must have had days, or moments at least, when you've sensed this inner smile. I know that when I'm living my life from that place, there were little indications all the time, especially if I make a mistake: I stop my toe, or just misunderstand something completely. When I'm not living for my inner smile, these things perturb me and I feel foolish or upset. But when I'm in touch with this inner smile, even these errors or mistakes just bring a bigger smile. This inner smile becomes a response to everything, especially the unexpected things in life, good or bad.

So I urge you. get in touch with your own inner smile. And let's see, let's see if we can live life from this inner smile.