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Joyfulness - With or Without Objects |
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Joy is an emotion generated by the mind alone. Whether it is related to sensory objects or not, joy is always a creation of the mind. Either the mind creates joy with the help of objects, or it does so without objects. That is why people prefer a virtuous life to a merely prosperous one.
You can learn to delight on values and inner enrichment. This is how ethics become supreme in making a civilization strong and lasting.
Resolve to train and teach the mind to remain joyful without too many objects. Learn to sit alone in a place, closing your eyes and looking into the mind and its processes. It will be the beginning of true spiritual life of inner ecstasy.
Let joyfulness be a constant coordinate of the mind. Live with joy, work with joy, experience with joy – be ever joyful. It is a facile and beneficial proposition to make life better, enriching and fulfilling.
Inner opulence – not outer luxury
Answer the question: Which society is more cohesive and lasting – one with material, economic bounty or one with inner values, refinement and enrichment?
Imagine a rich person, celebrating his daughter's marriage in a grand style, with five thousand guests present on the occasion. Think, in contrast, of a poor man conducting his daughter's marriage in a frugal manner, with only fifty people around. Both have a compatible, good groom. Each of the mothers is happy looking at the son-in-law and the prospect of the daughter living with him, raising a family. Is there any difference between the rich mother's joy and the poor mother's? Why?
(c) Narayanashrama Tapovanam, 2009
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