Is Joy Our Birthright?
Dear friends,
Yes! Thus completes the shortest newsletter ever. See you next week. :-) Oh, wait, maybe I should explain? Well... since you asked...
We tend to think of uplifted states as outside of ourselves. "Looking for inner peace." The "search for happiness." "Trying to find myself." But this is a confusion of what is really going on. Joy is our nature and joy is within everyone... even you! The more appropriate question is, "If joy is within me, what am I doing that prevents me from knowing it and feeling it?"
The major delusion on this planet is that we need circumstances to be a certain way for us to feel happy, content, peaceful, and uplifted. Thus we spend virtually all of our time adjusting our life conditions to get them just right. And then, in an even deeper fantasy, somehow hope that if we ever do get them just right they will magically stay that way.
In fact it is our emotional reaction to situations that thwarts our joy: our likes and dislikes; our attractions and repulsions. Having said that, I know that the mind immediately goes to an extreme and then says, "How am I supposed to feel joy given what I'm facing?” But there are hundreds (thousands, actually) of situations that arise almost every day where we allow our joy and peace to be diminished. We don't think about it till an extreme hits, and then ask what we are supposed to do. Without having cultivated right attitude and developd healthy mental habits we are at a loss. This reminds me of a story...
There was a man with a leaky roof. He noticed it intensely when it rained, of course, but thought, "It's raining. I can't go up to fix it now." Then the sun came out and he neglected to deal with the roof because, after all, why bother with the sun out? What’s the problem? Hmmm... perhaps not the best strategy.
May we learn to fight our little inner battles every day, moment by moment. May this develop in us the strength and habitually right attitude to face whatever big challenges may come.
Blessings,
David G., manager
For the staff at East West