Joy is not something we get or obtain – joy is what we are. We can’t search for joy – it is not outside of us. It is already right where we are. We have to let it reveal itself to us. Here’s an important distinction to remember: joy is not a reactionary emotion; it is a causative energy. Let me repeat: joy is not a reactionary emotion; it is a causative energy. It is not something that just happens as a result of outer experience; it is something we can release from inside ourselves by active will.
Nisargadatta Majaraj responded with this stunning answer to an inquiry about his not feeling sad in the face of circumstances that drive most people to despair, such as war, poverty and the like: In my world, nothing ever goes wrong. He was saying that he lived in the world of Spirit, and the rest is illusion. A Course in Miracles says: Nothing real can be threatened. Nothing unreal exists. Herein lies the peace of God.
We experience true joy then when we are experiencing the PRESENCE of GOD – everything I teach is about learning to LIVE in this PRESENCE. It’s all about living consciously. It’s about living in awareness so that we stay in present moment and not let ourselves be pushed by the past or pulled by the future. Living in the present is living in the Presence.
Let me give you an example. I had a rather angry outburst directed at someone this week. I apologized to her and to those who witnessed it, because I was aware even as I was doing it that what I was experiencing at the moment was not what I was feeling anger over.
Did you ever notice that? Most of the time when we feel anger, it’s not about what just happened. I wasn’t totally conscious in the moment of the outburst, but I’m going to tell you I was so – immediately afterwards. The time lags are getting shorter… that’s a sign of growth! But what I’m really trying to say is that spiritual growth isn’t about feeling good all the time and it isn’t about being PERFECT or about LIKING everything that is happening in our lives. At the split second after the outburst, I could
see the perfection in what was happening in me, as me, and through me. And in the pain I was feeling at the moment, and even with the tears I shed, I FELT a deep sense of JOY.
Does that sound strange to you? I was in touch both with the anger at the moment and where it was coming from, so I was in a state of being present, and could feel the Presence as a result. That’s what we mean when we talk about consciousness. Most of us think it means bliss. I should be out there feeling wonderful all the time. And what it is is being conscious at the moment, so we don’t get caught up in what is happening, and coming to recognize when there are places of healing that are showing up in our lives.
