The concept of “Joy” often appears in Buddhist sutras. But this Joy doesn’t come from outside us.
People usually feel joy because they got something they wanted, or someone gave them or did something for them that they liked. But these are joys that come from outside us.
At Tao Sangha, you can experience four kinds of hearts, and one of them is called “Yu-shin,” which means “playful heart” or “child heart.” You can experience this heart through Ki (universal energy), and you can feel this heart in your chest—it’s about the size of a golf ball.
This is the source of Joy, the Joy you’ll feel through this heart when you praise potential.
For example, when something happens and you get the feeling of “Wow!”—this probably happened especially when you were a child and someone did something great and you’d naturally praise them with “Wow!” These are times when you naturally experience Joy with others.
After we get older and start to have and develop a competitive heart, then we don’t praise others as naturally as we did when we were children. For example, when you are older, saying “You’re doing well,” can mean you have an attitude of being above others, and it can be a judgment.
But we remember the feeling of “Wow!” and that together we felt joy and happiness. When we experience “Wows!” from the Yu-shin heart, it means that we feel happy and that there is no boundary between “self and others.” When it’s like this, it doesn’t matter whether “I’m happy for you” or “you’re happy for me” — you can feel togetherness through the Yu-shin.
Feeling joy for art is the same thing. We feel the artist’s joy through our Yu-shin and are impressed and get moved by those feelings, whether it’s music, paintings, or any other art that makes that kind of impression on us—those impressions are the praise. Can you imagine an artist creating a work born from their heart that they don’t think is praiseworthy? It’s impossible! It wouldn’t be art.
Praise is important in Christianity, too. Actually, I think all religions teach the importance of praise, because of the feeling of joyfulness, happiness, and togetherness that it brings.
And when you praise Buddha (or God), you are filling the field with joy. The field means a place in front of you, whatever you recognize in front of you. Which includes your life too. You can fill your life with joy by praise. You praise the life you were given, the mission of your life, everyone you related to, and to the whole world.
When you praise Buddha, Joy springs from within you, from deep inside you, from the source of existence, through your Yu-shin. This is the origin of Joy. It’s not from outside. When you feel this Joy, all of the cells in your body begin to vibrate and you feel like your body wants to move and dance. Such Joy will spring from inside you, and it will increase.
This Joy increases infinitely, and it is called “emptiness” in Buddhism. Emptiness doesn’t mean “there is nothing” — there is something we can’t see yet, and it is infinite. Believing and living with this is what spirituality is.
When we become able to do something we couldn’t do before, we feel joyful, right? And the more your potential opens, the more joy springs out. And this joy increases infinitely. This is the essence of joy and the essence of education.
This is how this Universe works.
Joy is the root of our existence. When we praise Buddha (everyone and everything has Buddha within) through Yushin, our lives and our potential increase, and the potential of others and the world increases. Joy springs out from our roots and increases infinitely.
Let’s live with limitless Joy!
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