Newsletter:Awareness of joy.
One of my favorite spiritual teachers is a Buddhist monk named Thich Naht Hanh. He is 83 years old and looks like he's in his 60's. Martin Luther King Jr called him "an apostle of peace and nonviolence".
Thich Naht Hahn talks a lot about being in the present moment. That this very moment is the only one we have. The past is gone and the future hasn't been created. By staying in the present there is a deep sense of peace and joy. We need to cultivate that heightened state of awareness, that presence.
When we talk to our beloved ones to listen with full presence. When we're eating or drinking something to be present with the life force energy that is entering our bodies. When we breath to be grateful for every breath by noticing it.
Yet how many of us rush through life with this desperation of reaching our goals? That unless we're focusing on the future, we're not doing our duties or responsibilities. As we do that, time slips through our finger and we wonder when we were supposed to feel joy. Joy is in our presence, our full awareness of the moment we occupy. Joy is in the simplest of things bursting forth with our awareness of it.
A very easy and simple way to start becoming present is by eating or drinking mindfully. I do this with tea. I make a cup of my favorite tea and I sit with it. Allowing the experience of the taste to burst in my mouth. I then have awareness of the warm liquid going down my throat. And finally the feeling I have after that delicious taste. I am always amazed at how much joy I feel in being fully awakened to that very moment. The deliciousness of the joy I feel.
Today or tomorrow, take some time to become fully present with this moment. You will be amazed at how much joy you feel.
be well,
Mona