The Christmas Episode: Cultivating Joy
Photo by Aaron Burden on Unsplash.com
This is the season of Advent, the fourth in the history of my blog-writing. Matthias and I really love this time of year. The lights in our neighborhood, on our terrace, and on our tree bring to mind “…the good, the beautiful and the holy…” (T-1.VII.2:1), which is the natural inheritance of everyone and everything. A famous Christmas carol begins, “Joy to the world…,” because this time of year celebrates hope and joy, which are also part of our natural inheritance. But just because, “’tis the season to be jolly,” that does not mean that we automatically feel joyful. The good news is that the experience of joy can be invited into awareness; joy can be cultivated. I invite you to use this moment in time to cultivate joy.
I sometimes listen to “Heart Wisdom,” a podcast by Jack Kornfield, an American Buddhist teacher, who is a gifted speaker. Back in 2015, he published an episode called, “Joy and Its Causes.” He began with a quote attributed to the Buddha:
Live in joy,
In love,
Even among those who hate.
Live in joy,
In health,
Even among the afflicted.
Live in joy,
In peace,
Even among the troubled.
Be still,
Free from fear and attachment.
Know the sweet joy of the way.
(https://jackkornfield.com/joy-and-its-causes-heart-wisdom-episode-13/)
We all grapple with the interplay between light and shadow. At any time that there is peace in one place, there is strife in another. We can surround ourselves with people we love, only to be judged—and even hated—by others for our race, gender, or religion. We can be healthy today and then sick tomorrow. It might not seem possible to feel joyful in a troubled and uncertain world, but it is, in fact, possible. Once we start to believe this is so, and allow ourselves to wish for more joy, then we need options for what to do next.
If you are drawn to Buddhist teaching, one way to cultivate joy is to practice “Mudita,” which is, “to invoke, or bring into consciousness, the spirit of joy and love that belongs to you, as well as to others” (from Heart Wisdom, Episode 13). As an example of this, Jack Kornfield suggests recalling a time in your childhood, during which you felt delight, wonder, and even awe. Of course, you can bring to awareness those kinds of experiences from any other age or time in your life. Oftentimes, recalling one such memory connects you with others like it, leading to more joy and contentment. Sometimes, though, happy memories evoke sadness, because it feels like that time is gone and passed. If this happens to you, see if you can simply observe this experience without judging the feelings or yourself. Then, try something else to bring into consciousness an experience of joy.
In “Joy and Its Causes,” Jack Kornfield gives examples of what he calls, “gates to joy,” which are integrity, generosity, gratitude, trust, mindfulness, and connection. These are processes, practices, and intentions. For example, even a short daily practice of bringing to mind things to be grateful for, such as 10 minutes for 10 days, can have a positive effect on contentment. If you give this a try, consider writing out what you are grateful for, and try to be specific. Rather than simply bringing to mind your family or friends as people you are grateful for, you could bring to mind each person and how you feel in general when you see them or talk together. Or you could focus on a specific memory of your most recent or last conversation or outing together. Or you could think about aspects of the person or your relationship, such as a quality that you love or the length of the relationship you have had. The “gates to joy” often overlap. This particular example of gratitude is also an example of connection with others, as well as being a kind of mindfulness exercise. As with the earlier Mudita exercise of recalling a time in childhood in which you felt joyful, this exercise can lead to negative feelings too. It may be, for example, that the last time you saw the person who comes to mind, you had an argument. If negative feelings come up for you, see if you can observe them without being “drawn into” the memory or association. Then, try something else.
I find listening to this talk by Jack Kornfield to be a form of Mudita all on its own. He teaches and shares his reflections, then reads a poem or tells a story. He is wise, then spontaneously funny, and then poignant, then serious, and then funny again. Because he is grounded in Buddhist teachings and practices, he gives me perspective on life’s difficulties from that tradition. In fact, I would say that this particular talk provides an overview of the whole “way” of this Buddhist lineage. Each gate to joy, for example, could be delved into more deeply, even for years at a time. Be that as it may, listening to podcasts like this one can help lift us out of the shadows of the world and into the light. (A favorite of mine is, “Miracle Voices,” which features stories of healing and transformation told by students of A Course in Miracles, www.miraclevoices.org).
Another way to cultivate joy is to step out of time. This is a lot less preposterous than it sounds at first blush. For example, A Course in Miracles, teaches, “The only aspect of time that is eternal is now” (T-5.III.6:5). Practicing present moment awareness means practicing residing in the eternal, even if only for some seconds according to a clock. In this awareness, everything else falls away, the bad news sound bite that just crossed your path, the thorny work problem, the nagging, unexpected bill. Get up and go for a walk outside, or sit by a window and look out. Bring your whole attention to what there is to notice, especially the weather, plants and grass, and animals (but also, of course, town or city life, if that is what is nearby). As best you can, practice looking without judgment or interpretation of what you see. This includes being aware of projections from inside you. If the gray sky seems oppressive or the withered leaf reminds you of decay, regroup. Those are thoughts and feelings, which distract from your experience of the present moment. Instead, get more elemental and see, for example, the simplicity of the shades of gray in the sky or of the curling edges of the leaf on the grass.
As I draw the writing of this post to a close, Christmas is almost here. In Christian tradition, this celebrates the birth of a particular person, who is considered to be very special, because he is one with God. In contrast to this, A Course in Miracles teaches that the Christ is something very different. Instead of referring to someone removed from us, the Christ encompasses all of us:
[Christ] is the Self we share, uniting us with one another, and with God as well. He is the Thought which still abides within the Mind that is His Source. He has not left His holy home, nor lost the innocence in which He was created. He abides unchanged forever in the Mind of God. (W-pII.6:2-5)
These are big ideas, while also being simple. Just as Buddhism and Hinduism teach, the Course teaches that we are all One, with one another, and with our Source, God (or if you prefer, simply “the Mind.”) We are fully connected and fully safe. Our true Reality is eternal:
The birth of Christ is now, without a past or future. He has come to give His present blessing to the world, restoring it to timelessness and love. And love is ever-present, here and now. (W-308.1:6-8)
These words give us reason to be hopeful, and even joyful, not just on Christmas, but every day of the year.
A Course in Miracles is published by The Foundation for Inner Peace. All the books comprising the Course, along with the supplemental pamphlets, are now found online:
https://acim.org/acim/en
All quotations of A Course in Miracles in this blog post are drawn from this version of the Course.