Give Selflessly, Experience Joy

Sri Chinmoy

We want to experience joy. How can we be joyful? We know well the difference between pleasure and joy. Pleasure is always followed by frustration, anxiety, worry and depression, whereas joy is followed by peace and more joy. We get joy not by coming forward before others, but by bringing others to the fore. Real joy is experienced by self-giving, not by possessing or showing our own supremacy. When we allow others to get joy first, we feel our joy is more complete and more perfect. We can have more joy and less tension in life only in self-giving, not in demanding. When there is tension, it is because we want something to be done in our own way while others want it done in their way. We become tense because we see light in one way and others see light in some other way. So there is no peace, no poise; only tension. Understand that God operates not only in us, but in others as well and in our so-called enemies, too. But these are not our real enemies. Our real enemies are our doubts, fears, anxieties and worries. When, instead of trying to perfect others, we try to perfect ourselves, then we will have joy. If we do not expect anything from anyone, we will have joy. If we can know that we are not indispensable, that without us the world can go on perfectly well, we will have joy. This way, we can all have abundant joy in life. The outer sign of progress is inner joy. Inner joy is something very sweet, intense; it always fulfils our thoughts and action. There are two kinds of joy, outer joy and inner joy. We think that the possessor of outer joy is someone else, not ourselves. Again, we may try to get joy by talking or mixing with others. But inner joy is not got like this. When we meditate or contemplate, at that time we feel that we are the soul of joy. The joy we feel inside is like a fountain; it comes spontaneously. Inner joy has no fear. And it can transform our nature. Nobody can be as happy as a person who is detached. When we are attached to something or someone, we become a victim of that thing or person. If we want to have true joy and peace, we must be totally detached. Detachment does not mean that we shall not work for the world; we will work for the world, be in the world, but we shall not allow ourselves to be carried away by anything. We get real joy from silent and profound meditation. In outer life, when we talk and mix with people, or exchange ideas with others, we may get a kind of satisfaction. But this is not real joy. Real joy is something very deep, illumining and fulfilling. When the heart is open, you will feel boundless joy, boundless love and boundless purity. The first thing you will feel is purity. You will feel infinite love, boundless love, and this love will be absolutely pure. It will be within you and without. Then you will see joy in everything. A day will come when you will get spontaneous joy from everything. You will look at a flower and get joy, you will look at a child and get joy, and you look at the world and get joy. You will also get peace and the feeling of universal oneness. Post your comments at speakingtree.in