Oriana LaChance, Rev. Master

It began on election night in the United States – my looking at joy – and with the words of a Philadelphia pastor, “When there’s so much hate and so much resistance to truth and justice, joy is itself an act of resistance.” Many of the groups working on the election in Pennsylvania – an essential, pivotal state – knew of the threats to social and political justice and to an accurate count of the vote, also of threats that there would be violence on the streets on election day. So they threw a street party. A party with so much music and dancing, there was no room for violence (think ‘skillful means’), and hundreds spontaneously joined in – not only in Philadelphia but in other metropolitan areas throughout the US. The next morning the dance critic for the New York Times ended her editorial with: “Dancing is not just about moving your body, but reclaiming it – and with that, your faith in the world.”

So, let’s look at joy, going back 2,000 plus years to Shakyamuni Buddha:

There is no fire like greed, no crime like hatred, no sorrow like separation, no sickness like hunger of heart, and no joy like the joy of freedom. Health, contentment and trust are your greatest possessions, and freedom your greatest joy. Look within. Be still. Free from fear and attachment. Know the sweet joy of living the Way.¹

“No joy like the joy of freedom.” Freedom from being led around by the 3 poisons – greed, hatred and delusion –freedom from responding only out of the conditions of our lives. Freedom to know the sweet joy of living the Way. Note, I didn’t say we are free when greed, hatred and delusion disappear. I said when we are no longer led around by them. And I don’t believe that the Buddha meant we will “know the sweet joy of living the Way” when we get it all together. We don’t have to be worthy. We don’t have to earn it or get it right or be a near-perfect example of living the Way. The joy is in living the Way as best we are able at this particular moment. At this particular moment, know the sweet joy of living the Way. That is our intention.

Joy arises out of awareness, out of being open to the next thing. It arises out of looking, seeing, and accepting. Joy is completely unconditional. It does not depend on any external satisfaction, like money or fame or good health or pleasure or praise. It does not depend on getting something and then holding onto it. Joy does not depend on any idea of “when I have all my ducks lined up in a row to my satisfaction, then I will be happy.” Good luck with that. The sweet joy of living the Way is available to all of us all of the time – regardless. And it is a joy because we are living in harmony with the truth.

Along with election night in the US, a more personal experience led me to consider the nature of joy. Perhaps you have experienced something like this as well. I have days when I not only teeter on the edge of despair, but fall in. I recently had a handful of those days, and then I got up one morning and I felt eager, content, full of energy and I went, “Eh, what?” Not one of the conditions that led to my despair had changed, yet something had shifted. It was a reminder that joy is not dependent on any condition. Just make room for joy when it comes, that’s all. Accept it. (and don’t try to figure it out.)

With so much emphasis on “suffering and the end of suffering,” Buddhism has a reputation for being rather somber. Not much emphasis on happiness or joy. Don’t get “the end of suffering” entangled in your mind with “the end of living” – the end of aliveness, enthusiasm, light. Don’t focus on suffering to the extent that it numbs you. Lack of aliveness and joy is not a sign of awakening. It is just the opposite. Joy – unconditional joy – leads to and beyond awakening. In a very immediate way, the awakening part is not so important – the joy part, embrace it and everything else will follow.

The Buddha taught that we don’t need to stay in the realm of the three poisons. Right now, life can be lighter, more workable. Holding everything more lightly helps us to discover joy. The unconditioned, sweet joy of living the Way is the fruit of insight into no self – that is, the selfless nature of reality – and into the truth of impermanence. When we are not attached to who we think we are, life can move with and through us. We can release our futile attempts to control circumstances. When we live in this easy/loose/light connection with life, we live in joy – this moment.

In his poem, A Brief for the Defense, contemporary American poet, Jack Gilbert, expresses it like this:

We must risk delight. We can do without pleasure,

but not delight. Not enjoyment. We must have

the stubbornness to accept our gladness in the ruthless

furnace of this world …We must admit there will be music despite everything.

Three Dog Night put it like this (1970s pop song):

“Joy to the world, all the boys and girls,

joy to the fishes in the deep blue sea,

joy to you and me.”

And finally, let’s go back to the Buddha. In the Dhammapada, the Buddha put it like this:

Live in joy, in love,

Even among those who hate.

Live in joy, in health,

Live in joy, in peace,

Even among the troubled.

Look within. Be still.

Free from fear and attachment,

Know the sweet joy of the Way.²

Sorrow and joy always intertwine, always ride together, when we look closely enough. It is not joy in spite of sorrow; it is joy within sorrow, arising from the entangled, messy nature of our lives.

Notes

1. The Dhammapada, Chapter 15, Happiness, Verse 202.
2. The Dhammapada, Chapter 15, Verse 197.