Joy

We know very well the difference between pleasure and joy. Pleasure is followed by frustration, whereas joy is followed always by peace and more joy. But we have to know that there are two kinds of joy, outer joy and inner joy, and there is a subtle difference between them. We feel that the possessor of outer joy is somebody else, not ourselves. We feel that another human being has this joy and we try to get it. Although we do not want to adopt foul means, very often we want to snatch this joy from others. Again, we may try to get it by talking or mixing with others.

But inner joy is not like this. When we meditate or contemplate, at that time we feel that we are the soul of joy. This joy that we possess inside is like a fountain; it comes spontaneously. Inner joy has no fear. It can, if it wants, transform our human nature in the twinkling of an eye. If we can experience true inner joy even for a second, we will feel that the world is totally different. Now, we feel that we will have to change our attitude towards certain aspects of the creation if we want to have joy, because the world is constantly fighting and doing all undivine things. But if we can look at the world with our inner joy, we will see that the world is already changed.

How can we get this inner joy? If we feel that we are miserable and therefore we need joy, then inner joy we will never get. If we feel, "Just because somebody else has this joy, why can we not also have it?" then we will not get it. If we feel in an arrogant way that we have every right to get joy because God is all Joy, then we have to know that this arrogant attitude will not give us real joy. But if we really feel that inner joy is the breath of our life, if we feel that we cannot exist without joy and we will die at this very moment if we do not have it, then God showers His choicest Blessing, which is Joy, upon us.

Real Joy comes from the feeling that we are constantly in the Lap of the Supreme. Twenty-four hours a day we cannot meditate. But on the strength of our imagination, we can feel that twenty-four hours a day we are in the Lap of the Supreme. If we can feel this, then we will see infinite Joy in us and around us.

The world needs both inner and outer joy. If we do not get the ultimate inner joy, we can at least try to offer and receive innocent outer joy. From pure innocent joy we can go one step ahead and get inner joy. Religious music, for example, gives us pure innocent joy.

Now, how can we offer joy to others? To offer joy to others, we first have to aspire within ourselves. We have to feel that the world is inside us, not outside us; we have to try to feel that the world is the projection of our life. First we have to try to create our own world according to our own satisfaction. When we have created something within ourselves, achieved something divine within ourselves — let us say a world of joy and love — then immediately it will try to reveal and express itself to the world at large. If we have truly acquired joy, then gradually the people around us will be inspired and influenced by our joy.

From:Sri Chinmoy,The Inner Hunger, Agni Press, 1976
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