Growing up in the Christian tradition, I heard often about how Jesus was sent for us because “God so loved the world” (John 3:16). But later on in my adult years as I studied further, I noticed that while love may have been Jesus’ essence and spirit, it was not his purpose in life and death; from Hebrews 12:2: “…Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.” It turns out that if love was the way, then joy was the purpose of life. For the prophecies before his birth said Jesus would be a joy and delight to his mother (Luke 1:14) and would cause great joy for all the people (not just “some” of the people; Luke 2:10). Jesus was even full of joy through the Holy Spirit in his ministry (Luke 10:21) and he told his disciples to remain in love so that “my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete” (John 15:11).
Love was the method or the practice or state of being to experience joy and the completion of joy was the ultimate goal. Later on, I discovered joy was not just an attribute of the Holy Spirit and the supreme destination in Christ, but was actually in other religions, too. If The Golden Rule was the thread that weaves together the moral code of spirituality in the nonsecular world, then joy is the desired essential state of inner life experience of all souls:
A great joy came upon us and a peaceful carefreeness like that of our Lord.
We rested ourselves in front of the gate, and we talked with each other
about that which is not a distraction of this world.
Rather we continued in contemplation of the faith.
(The Acts of Peter and the Twelve Apostles)
And the redeemed of the Lord shall return,
and they shall come to Zion with song,
and [with] everlasting joy on their heads;
gladness and joy shall overtake them;
sorrow and sighing shall flee.
(Isaiah 51:11, Ketuvim, Tanakh)
But Allah will deliver them from the evil of that Day
and will shed over them a Light of Beauty and (blissful) Joy.
(The Qur'an 76:11)
But those who realize the Self are always satisfied.
Having found the source of joy and fulfillment,
they no longer seek happiness from the external world.
(Bhagavad Gita 3:17)
But where there is unity, one without a second, that is the world of Brahman.
This is the supreme goal of life, the supreme treasure, the supreme joy.
Those who do not seek this supreme goal live on but a fraction of this joy.
(The Upanishads)
Full of peace and joy is the bhikshu [monk] who follows the dharma
and reaches the other shore beyond the flux of mortal life.
(Dhammapada 25:381)
Give yourself gladness from the true vine of Christ.
Satisfy yourself with the true wine, in which there is no drunkenness nor error.
For it (the true wine) marks the end of drinking,
since there is usually in it what gives joy to the soul and the mind,
through the Spirit of God. But first, nurture your reasoning powers before you drink of it (the true wine).
(The Teachings of Silvanus, The Nag Hammadi Scriptures)
Great expectation leads to great sorrow.
Expecting things from others is slavishness.
Give this up and seek the kingdom of experiencing the inner self.
And you shall find true joy.
(Jainism)
He says that the Lord is all-pervading, the embodiment of supreme joy.
(Shri Guru Granth Sahib, Khalsa Consensus Translation)
It is good to live in virtue, good to have faith,
good to attain the highest wisdom,
good to be pure in heart and mind.
Joy will be yours always.
(Dhammapada 23:333)
It is the Infinite that is the source of abiding joy because it is not subject to change.
Therefore seek to know the Infinite."
"I seek to know the Infinite, Venerable One."
(The Upanishads)
Love is my heritage, and with it joy.
These are the gifts my Father gave to me.
I would accept all that is mine in truth.
(Excerpt from Lesson 117, A Course in Miracles)
That in which the Logos set himself, perfect in joy, was an aeon, having the form of matter, but also having the constitution of the cause, which is the one who revealed himself. (The aeon was) an image of those things which are in the Pleroma, those things which came into being from the abundance of the enjoyment of the one who exists joyously. (The Tripartite Tractate, The Nag Hammadi Scriptures)
The Master said, "Admirable indeed was the virtue of Hui!
With a single bamboo dish of rice, a single gourd dish of drink,
and living in his mean narrow lane,
while others could not have endured the distress,
he did not allow his joy to be affected by it.
Admirable indeed was the virtue of Hui!"
(Analects of Confucius)
They find their joy, their rest, and their light completely within themselves.
United with the Lord, they attain nirvana in Brahman.
(Bhagavad Gita 5:24)
When the consciousness is absorbed in the supreme consciousness,
great joy and bliss are found.
(Shri Guru Granth Sahib, Khalsa Consensus Translation)
You have no idea how much joy and happiness are waiting for you
as a reward for your (righteous) works.
(The Qur'an 32:17)
You shall let me know the way of life, the fullness of joys in Your presence.
There is pleasantness in Your right hand forever.
(Psalms 16:11, Ketuvim, Tanakh)
Praised be God that you have received the bounty of true joy,
a spiritual condition that belongs to those who,
irrespective of their material and social circumstances,
strive to draw ever nearer to God and to understand and promote His Word;
who are concerned with the prosperity of all people;
who tread selflessly the path of justice and equity;
and who allow no impediment, not even oppression or imprisonment,
to deprive them of this inner joy.
It is this state of true joy that stirs the heart,
makes the spirit soar, increases human powers,
strengthens the mind, creates hope,
and kindles the flame of longing to take purposeful action for the common good.
So it is that, for Bahá’ís, bringing joy to the hearts is among the most praiseworthy of deeds.
(Universal House of Justice to the Bahá’ís of Iran, Naw Ruz 2015)
We can see that the world’s religions and spiritual traditions agree on the importance of joy, and it may be surprising to learn that joy is one of the few areas where the spiritual realm and secular science through Western medicine have merged onto the same road of agreement together. (Yes, really!)
Over the last 100 years, since the first iteration of psychiatric classifications were incorporated into the American Medical Association’s (AMA) Standard Classified Nomenclature of Disease Manual, the American Psychiatric Association then began publishing a separate manual for mental disorders that is currently in its 5th edition. The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, more well-known as DSM-5™.
The DSM-5 is the principle authority used by clinicians in the United States to diagnose mental health conditions. A host of disorders are included as having symptoms of a lack of or inability to experience joy; or experiencing symptoms that are in opposition to happiness and joy, including depressive disorders; anxiety and panic disorders; posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD); acute stress disorders; and bipolar and related disorders. It is important to note only licensed mental health professionals should diagnose any of these disorders in accordance with current medical practices.
However, on a philosophical basis, it stands to reason that if the absence of well-being and joy indicates there may be a disorder present, then the state of well-being and joy is the “right” or desired condition. The disorder is a disruption of the optimal working order and functioning of a patient, and not to forget, is associated with a decrease in quality and enjoyment of life. In another way of describing it from both a holistic spiritual and scientific methodology, if a soul is continually suffering from a lack of well-being, joy, satisfaction in life—something in Spirit and/or Nature is likely to be amiss.
Western medicine’s approach came to this conclusion from the opposite side of the spectrum from what I saw in the sacred verses. Instead of joy being the desired state, the scientific view came around from the negative, that was, a missing component or “lack thereof.” American psychologist Abraham Maslow, best known for his hierarchy of needs, recognized this and discussed the importance of focusing on the positive in a book published in 1954, Motivation and Personality,
“The science of psychology has been far more successful on the negative than on the positive side; it has revealed to us much about man’s shortcomings, his illnesses, his sins, but little about his potentialities, his virtues, his achievable aspirations, or his full psychological height. It is as if psychology had voluntarily restricted itself to only half its rightful jurisdiction, and that the darker, meaner half.”
Thankfully, in the last few decades, the field of psychology caught up to what the ancient scriptures taught thousands of years ago, with the advent of the field called Positive Psychology. The term was first coined by Maslow in 1954 but took off in the late 1990s early-2000s. In a quick search of PubMed, which is one of the preeminent databases for scientific papers and research published in peer-review journals, more than 129,000 publications on Positive Psychology were published at the time of writing compared with just over 23,000 for the search terms “joy” or “happiness.”
Positive Psychology flipped the switch from “lack of joy” as a symptom of a disorder to a focus on the significance of joy in life itself as an essential component of the overall well-being and pursuit of happiness. A handful of peer-reviewed papers on the subject of joy indicated that it was important to avoid burnout and stress, was a powerful factor in healing, and restored self-confidence, hope, and meaning in life. (Now we just need to get the rest of Western medicine to sing the same song.)
Joy is our birthright, essential for well-being and in the flourishing of life, and is one of the optimal conditions of inner self for everyone regardless of any demographics. Even the sciences and religions agree on the importance of joy!
So, seriously… what are we waiting for? It’s all about joy!
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