"When you find that the source of your happiness and joy is inside of you, you will also find peace."
- John-Roger
Showing posts with label happiness. Show all posts
Showing posts with label happiness. Show all posts
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
Saturday, February 21, 2009
Happiness and Humility
Why do we hide our full happiness?
There used to be a cashier at a downtown Santa Cruz grocery store who, to the question "How are you?" would always respond "I'm the best!" This really struck me, and filled me with joy. It struck me because I rarely answer with such assertiveness about my positive feelings.
This month I've been thinking a great deal about happiness. Too often when someone asks me a question like, "How are you doing?" "How is your relationship going?" etc. I shy away from expressing the same kind of exuberance as that cashier would, even if I'm feeling truly happy and content. Why the hesitation? Why do I try to tone down my response by often using qualifiers like "pretty well"? I believe that I seek to avoid potentially giving the impression of gloating or seeming like a Pollyanna or being misinterpreted as insincere. Perhaps my reaction also arises from a desire to humble myself by avoiding any potential for giving the impression of bragging or boasting about how good my life is. These fears, obviously, stem from my own insecurities and misconceptions.
Surely most of us would probably argue that God wants us to be happy. In fact, the Bahá'í writings tell us, as we probably know from experience, that our happiness can be contagious and has the capacity to light the hearts of others. “I want you to be happy, to laugh, smile and rejoice in order that others may be made happy by you.” -Abdu'l-Bahá, The Promulgation of Universal Peace, p. 218. Thus, we should not shirk away from expressing our joy.
In fact, Bahá'u'lláh writes in the Gleanings that we should not only be happy but express that arise to receive our portion of the "perfume of celestial glory" with complete enthusiasm, eagerness and fervor. We should joyfully receive these "sweet savors of holiness":
“Hear Me, ye mortal birds! In the Rose Garden of changeless splendor a Flower hath begun to bloom, compared to which every other flower is but a thorn, and before the brightness of Whose glory the very essence of beauty must pale and wither. Arise, therefore, and, with the whole enthusiasm of your hearts, with all the eagerness of your souls, the full fervor of your will, and the concentrated efforts of your entire being, strive to attain the paradise of His presence, and endeavor to inhale the fragrance of the incorruptible Flower, to breathe the sweet savors of holiness, and to obtain a portion of this perfume of celestial glory....”
Humility in True Happiness
The means of detaching from the fears and inhibitions I've described, which many of us may feel prevents us from fully expressing our joy--is to recognize the true source of that joy, that it does not come from us but from God. If we can do this, then there is no need for ego, or feeling the need to falsely humble oneself by not truly confessing with a wholehearted enthusiasm one's joy.
In fact, we can be extremely joyful while also being extremely humbled by God's grace in filling our lives with so much joy. We are told that the joy that comes from God is promised to be everlasting happiness--"eternal" and "unfathomable". Abdu'l-Bahá writes:
“Happiness consists of two kinds; physical and spiritual. The physical happiness is limited; its utmost duration is one day, one month, one year. It hath no result. Spiritual happiness is eternal and unfathomable. This kind of happiness appeareth in one's soul with the love of God and suffereth one to attain to the virtues and perfections of the world of humanity. Therefore, endeavor as much as thou art able in order to illuminate the lamp of thy heart by the light of love.” -Abdu'l-Bahá, Tablets of Abdu'l-Bahá v3, p. 673
The Hindu Chandogya Upanishad similarly explains the meaning of true joy:
“Where there is the Infinite, there is joy. There is no joy in the finite. Only in the Infinite, there is joy; know the nature of the Infinite.”
Which makes me think of this quote by Baha’u’llah from the Kitab-i-Aqdas:
“Let your joy be the joy born of My Most Great Name, a Name that bringeth rapture to the heart, and filleth with ecstasy the minds of all who have drawn nigh unto God.”
Ultimately, one virtue should not diminish another. Rather, as J was saying at our devotional last night, each virtue should raise up other virtues.
There used to be a cashier at a downtown Santa Cruz grocery store who, to the question "How are you?" would always respond "I'm the best!" This really struck me, and filled me with joy. It struck me because I rarely answer with such assertiveness about my positive feelings.
This month I've been thinking a great deal about happiness. Too often when someone asks me a question like, "How are you doing?" "How is your relationship going?" etc. I shy away from expressing the same kind of exuberance as that cashier would, even if I'm feeling truly happy and content. Why the hesitation? Why do I try to tone down my response by often using qualifiers like "pretty well"? I believe that I seek to avoid potentially giving the impression of gloating or seeming like a Pollyanna or being misinterpreted as insincere. Perhaps my reaction also arises from a desire to humble myself by avoiding any potential for giving the impression of bragging or boasting about how good my life is. These fears, obviously, stem from my own insecurities and misconceptions.
Surely most of us would probably argue that God wants us to be happy. In fact, the Bahá'í writings tell us, as we probably know from experience, that our happiness can be contagious and has the capacity to light the hearts of others. “I want you to be happy, to laugh, smile and rejoice in order that others may be made happy by you.” -Abdu'l-Bahá, The Promulgation of Universal Peace, p. 218. Thus, we should not shirk away from expressing our joy.
In fact, Bahá'u'lláh writes in the Gleanings that we should not only be happy but express that arise to receive our portion of the "perfume of celestial glory" with complete enthusiasm, eagerness and fervor. We should joyfully receive these "sweet savors of holiness":
“Hear Me, ye mortal birds! In the Rose Garden of changeless splendor a Flower hath begun to bloom, compared to which every other flower is but a thorn, and before the brightness of Whose glory the very essence of beauty must pale and wither. Arise, therefore, and, with the whole enthusiasm of your hearts, with all the eagerness of your souls, the full fervor of your will, and the concentrated efforts of your entire being, strive to attain the paradise of His presence, and endeavor to inhale the fragrance of the incorruptible Flower, to breathe the sweet savors of holiness, and to obtain a portion of this perfume of celestial glory....”
Humility in True Happiness
The means of detaching from the fears and inhibitions I've described, which many of us may feel prevents us from fully expressing our joy--is to recognize the true source of that joy, that it does not come from us but from God. If we can do this, then there is no need for ego, or feeling the need to falsely humble oneself by not truly confessing with a wholehearted enthusiasm one's joy.
In fact, we can be extremely joyful while also being extremely humbled by God's grace in filling our lives with so much joy. We are told that the joy that comes from God is promised to be everlasting happiness--"eternal" and "unfathomable". Abdu'l-Bahá writes:
“Happiness consists of two kinds; physical and spiritual. The physical happiness is limited; its utmost duration is one day, one month, one year. It hath no result. Spiritual happiness is eternal and unfathomable. This kind of happiness appeareth in one's soul with the love of God and suffereth one to attain to the virtues and perfections of the world of humanity. Therefore, endeavor as much as thou art able in order to illuminate the lamp of thy heart by the light of love.” -Abdu'l-Bahá, Tablets of Abdu'l-Bahá v3, p. 673
The Hindu Chandogya Upanishad similarly explains the meaning of true joy:
“Where there is the Infinite, there is joy. There is no joy in the finite. Only in the Infinite, there is joy; know the nature of the Infinite.”
Which makes me think of this quote by Baha’u’llah from the Kitab-i-Aqdas:
“Let your joy be the joy born of My Most Great Name, a Name that bringeth rapture to the heart, and filleth with ecstasy the minds of all who have drawn nigh unto God.”
Ultimately, one virtue should not diminish another. Rather, as J was saying at our devotional last night, each virtue should raise up other virtues.
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