Here I sit with young Zachary. At 8 weeks old his needs are few. When the bottom line is covered and his sister isn’t trying to ram toy cake down his throat, he’s a very happy sack of baby.
We were born in joy and the natural response to life is one of joy … and yet we forget.
This was the reason I became an Ishaya monk – not to hide, as some have suggested. I didn’t see it as a spiritual French Foreign Legion, escaping my past and my responsibilities.
Nah - it was to stop forgetting: to remember how to be joyful without cause.
I did have occasions, like my Nana’s funeral, where despite it being no laughing matter, I was overcome by joy at a life well lived. And yet there were also occasions where I felt so far from the source of this joy I felt well and truly lost, confused, adrift.
So I became a monk, and an Ishaya one at that, because as well as having the truth in their heart, they seemed to have a sparkle in their eye and a bounce in their step.
How can a path to heaven be forged by trekking through hell?
Indeed. There’s much to be gained by hard work and pushing your boundaries, but uncaused joy and contentment in the “is-ness” of this moment is not one of them.
And so here we are, once again. It all comes back to this.
When you tune in, when you let go of the noise, the clamoring, the to-dos and the arguments, what is left is full-ness and a completeness, the presence of Now, and a quiet joy at the satisfaction to be experienced in simply being alive.
Be alive to this, and the natural response is joy. Uncaused, just because.
Go well!
Arjuna
PS.
I did a further YouTube video, edited from a zoom talk I gave recently.
It’s on how to to see forgetting and feeling unfocused during your Ascensions and meditations in a different light.
Enjoy!