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"If you were all alone in the universe with no one to talk to, no one to share the beauty of the stars with, to laugh with, to touch, what would be your purpose in life? It is other life, it is love, which gives your life meaning. This is harmony. We must discover the JOY of each other, the JOY of challenge, the JOY of growth."
-- Mitsugi Saotome
So What is JOY, Anyway?
Ask ten different people, and you'll get ten different opinions. Some people say it is a deeper (higher) level of Happiness. Some say it's not an emotion at all, like happiness, sadness, anger, etc. Rather, it is a state of being that is outside the emotional realm. That particular statement might confuse some people - How could JOY not be an emotion?
Well, we do know that an emotion is invoked by an event that produces a chemical reaction in your body, and your brain has learned, over time, to categorize and give names to those different chemical reactions. We've come to know what the chemical reaction for anger is, and for happiness, sadness, rage, and so on. But does JOY really come from an event that produces a chemical reaction, or is it just a natural state of being within us, that is ALWAYS there, always waiting for us to embrace it, to bathe in its exquisite splendor?
"Sometimes your JOY is the source of your
smile, but sometimes your smile can be the source of your JOY.
"
-- Thich Nhat Hanh
For many generations, enlightened mystics, gurus, spiritual teachers and even many lay-people who have trained in meditation, yoga, Qi Gong and other types of focus have stated, from their own experiences that a sure-fire way to experience "real" JOY is to practice one of these quiet disciplines with great sincerity, allowing the energy of the universe to come into you, and you will experience the natural state of JOY. They say that once you've sipped from the sweet nectar of pure JOY, you will understand the difference between it and body-driven emotions.
Well, this may be true, or this may just be the fuel for never-ending debate between different modes of thought, experience and philosophy. In any event, it is delicious food for thought. For now, just relax and enjoy the Many Expressions of JOY on this page.
"I cannot believe that the inscrutable universe turns on an axis of suffering;
surely the strange beauty of the world must somewhere rest on pure JOY"
-- Louise Bogan
"This is the true JOY in life, the being used for a purpose recognized by yourself as a mighty one; the being thoroughly worn out before you are thrown on the scrap heap; the being a force of Nature instead of a feverish selfish little clod of ailments and grievances complaining that the world will not devote itself to making you happy."
-- George Bernard Shaw
"During [these] periods of relaxation after concentrated intellectual activity, the intuitive mind seems to take over and can produce the sudden clarifying insights which give so much JOY and delight."
-- Fritjof Capra
CLICK HERE for a Big Smile Right Now.
"Real joy comes not from ease or riches or from the praise of men, but from doing something worthwhile."
-- Sir Wilfred Grenfell
"If you do a good job for others, you heal yourself at the same time, because
a dose of JOY is a spiritual cure."
-- Dietrich Bonhoeffer
"JOY is a net of love by which you can catch souls. A JOYful heart is the inevitable result of a heart burning with love."
-- Mother Teresa
"I asked God for all things, that I might enJOY life. God gave life, that I might enJOY all things."
-- Unknown Author
"It is a higher joy to teach than to be taught. It is good to get justice, but better to do it; fun to have things but more to make them. The happy man is he who lives the life of love, not for the honors it may bring, but for the life itself."
-- R.J. Baughan
CLICK HERE for a Another Big Smile Right Now.
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