Joy As a Gift; Joy As A Path

Joy as a Spiritual Gift

The Holy Spirit flows through us with the marvelous creative power of everlasting joy!

Mechthild of Magdeburg Cited in The Mystical Hours

Br. Teasdale adds these thoughts to the value of having or holding a spiritual joy… Intense, ecstatic joy is a participation in the inner life of the Holy Spirit, of God….  for Mechthild, this joy is the reality of Divine Energies, what in the Indian tradition would be called the kundalini energy, the Shakti.

Joy opens us up to God and to one another, and places before us the reality that hope can only suggest. It allows us to see, to feel with a deeper sense of knowing than reason, the senses, or that the body provides. It gives us the capacity to experience through intuition. We need divine Joy; we have to be nourished by it, and grounded in it. Open yourself to this precious gift of Divine Joy and know the presence of God.

My first conscious recognition or connection to this Divine Joy or gift of the Holy Spirit came to me when I was 25, and occurred in the middle of an intense meditation and transpersonal consciousness training in New York City. 

When it first broke through into my awareness, there was an “explosion” in my Chest/Solar Plexus that startled and delighted me, and that uplifted and joyous feeling stayed with me, in waves of intensity, for most of the next 48 hours… It seemed to be triggered by a long chanting, energy moving chakra visualization exercise that contacted all the vital centers of the body, and that left me humming in a strange visceral way…

There have been other episodes that I could name along my spiritual path, some that felt instant, others that were dramatic and more prolonged (such as when I received my priestly orders)

But the clear and resounding and lifelong or lasting effect was to increase my capacity for joy!

Of course, “joy is your sorrow unmasked” As Kilbran reminds us, but that’s another story… 

The main thing Mechthild is presenting to us that the Holy Spirit is ever available to us IF we are willing, receptive, and reverent enough to receive Her blessings! 

There are many, many challenges associated with the spiritual life, not the least of which is the possibility of a soul-centered depression. However, through prayer, meditation, spiritual disciplines and sometimes an unknown yet outrageous grace, the Holy Spirit comes to us to remind us of the quality and depth of love and joy that are possible for us to experience wholeheartedly.

Joy as an Inner Path

We must be indrawn, we must learn a deeper mode of thinking,  if we would establish connection with our inner Source. 

When we touch it, we experience a new fullness of life, a new vivid sense of realization.  Some imagine that the contemplative life makes one passive and negative; but this shows that they have never had access to it.

When we find the realm to which contemplation leads, all dullness vanishes and life is fulfilled with abundant joy– enough to give to others.

Book of Daily Thoughts and Prayers

Swami Paramananda

Today, my usual Western sources did not compel or uplift me, so I turned to Vedic wisdom and the teacher of Vedanta, Swami Paramananda for my inspiration, and rarely, if ever, He has failed to deliver!

Reflecting back on the quality of joy as being an essential part of the spiritual journey towards soulfulness, it is an important perspective to keep as a part of the whole process of growing a soul and ripening our spiritual awareness.

I particularly appreciate the point that being negative, dull or dour is NOT a part of the spiritual life! Even though we might be challenged by the obstacles that lie before us and within us, there is no reason to become depressed thinking that you can grasp the best of spirituality by being sour or feeling forlorn. 

While I might never be as exuberant and as expressive as a Whitman, what I can say from my experiences is that I do know that a little melancholy can visit the best of us! 

It dissipates or can evaporate quickly by an act of caring, and by cultivating our intimate connection with the divine Source. That connection brings with it affirmation, but it often brings a sense of play, wonder, and delight! I am reminded of the teaching of Jesus: “Let no man take your joy from you…”

 I would have to include that we cannot let ourselves descend into any mental or emotional place that is devoid of gratitude, thankfulness, and joy;IF we wish to move past our egotistical obstacles and enter into any sense of lasting bliss…