Pure joy (vs. circumstantial happiness) happens only when we choose it, or allow it, usually long after we've given up our hot pursuit of it.

"Again and again I therefore admonish my students in Europe and America: Don't aim at success -- the more you aim at it and make it a target, the more you are going to miss it. For success, like happiness, cannot be pursued; it must ensue naturally, and it only does so as the unintended but allowed, if not chosen, side effect of one's personal dedication to a cause greater than oneself or as the by-product of one's surrender to a being other than oneself. Happiness must happen 'as a result of' our dedication and/or surrender, and the same holds for success: you have to let it happen by not caring about it all that much, and certainly not nearly as much as the greater cause to which you have become a willing slave. I want you to listen to what your conscience commands you to do and go on to carry it out to the best of your ability and knowledge. Then you will live to see that in the long-run -- in the long-run, I say! -- success will follow you precisely because you had forgotten to think about it."

-- Viktor Frankl, in Man's Search for Meaning
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Viktor_Frankl)

"The beat of my heart has grown deeper, more active, and yet strangely more peaceful, and it is as if I were all the time storing up inner riches … My life is one long sequence of inner miracles." The young Dutchwoman, Etty Hillesum, wrote that in a Nazi transit camp in 1943, on her way to her death at Auschwitz two months later. Towards the end of his life, Ralph Waldo Emerson wrote, "All I have seen teaches me to trust the Creator for all I have not seen," though by then he had already lost his father when he was 7, his first wife when she was 20, and his first son, aged 5. In Japan, the late 18th-century poet, Issa, is celebrated for his delighted, almost child-like celebrations of the natural world. Issa saw four of his children die in infancy, his wife die in childbirth, and his own body partially paralyzed."

-- the first paragraph of an article by Pico Iyer entitled: "The Joy of Less," found yesterday morning in the New York Times "Happy Days; The Pursuit of What Matters in Troubled Times" section
http://happydays.blogs.nytimes.com:80/2009/06/07/the-joy-of-less/?em&emc=eta1
(in case you want to read the whole article, and it's really pretty good)

And look how the above line up with the next perfect gift from my buddy, Henri Nouwen:

We Are the Glory of God

Living a spiritual life is living a life in which our spirits and the Spirit of God bear a joint witness that we belong to God as God's beloved children, (see Romans 8:16). This witness involves every aspect of our lives. Paul says: "Whatever you eat, then, or drink, and whatever else you do, do it all for the glory of God" (Romans 10:31). And we are the glory of God when we give full visibility to the freedom of the children of God in the world in all its chaos and madness. When we live in communion with God's Spirit, we can only be witnesses, because wherever we go and whomever we meet, God's Spirit will manifest itself through us.

I love every opportunity to demonstrate the freedom of God's Kingdom with my life and my life's work, with this "second chance" He's so gracefully and graciously given me, even when it initially might not feel very good at all, which is when it really matters the most, getting over that temporary hump that leads to this freedom.

"Live as if you were living already for the second time (which I am), and as if you had acted the first time as wrongly as you are about to act now if you go unconscious (which I did)."

-- Viktor Frankl

"What is to give light must endure prolonged burning."

-- Viktor Frankl



"When you discover your vision, your mission, your God- given purpose - which takes precisely what it takes, by the way - you will feel its hot, unquenchable demand. It will fill you with passion, joy, enthusiasm, and a burning desire to give your entire life focus to it. But beware - the joy only is possible after you have been totally burnt down to the ground."

-- Yours Truly

"When you think of the mystical experience of many authentically devout followers, you may ask yourself whether joy and suffering aren't aspects of the same phenomenon on a very high level. An analogy, crazy for sure, comes to mind: Extreme cold burns! It seems nearly certain, no, it is certain, that we can only go to God through our suffering and that this extreme suffering becomes extreme joy because it finally is the same thing."

-- Jacques Maritain

And then my dear brother and friend, Anil, in India, who I have never met in person but who I know deeper than sight and skin could ever reveal, sends me a warm acknowledgement in response to a previous message and then offers an example of this one before he knows its going out. I feel so connected to you, my friend, and thank you for being alive on this planet at the same time as me, and for finding me. Here is an example of a simple man, living a simple life with all of his energy and a deep sense of purpose - a HERO - who clearly knows joy through suffering, and who makes it crystal clear to any true observer that he is not really suffering in the least.



Suvendu Roy of Titan Industries shares his inspirational encounter with a rickshaw driver in Mumbai.

Last Sunday, my wife, kid, and I had to travel to Andheri from Bandra. When I waved at a passing auto rickshaw, little did I expect that this ride would be different than any other.

As we set off, my eyes fell on a few magazines (kept in an aircraft style pouch) behind the driver's back rest. I looked in front and there was a small TV. The driver had put on the Doordarshan channel.

My wife and I looked at each other with disbelief and amusement. In front of me was a small first-aid box with cotton, dettol, and some medicines. This was enough for me to realise that I was in a special vehicle. Then I looked around again, and discovered more - there was a radio, fire extinguisher, wall clock, calendar, and pictures and symbols of all faiths - from Islam and Christianity to Buddhism, Hinduism, and Sikhism.

There were also pictures of the heroes of 26/11 - Kamte, Salaskar, Karkare, and Unnikrishnan. I realised that not only my vehicle, but also my driver was very special.

I started chatting with him and the initial sense of ridicule and disbelief gradually diminished. I gathered that he had been driving an auto rickshaw for the past 8-9 years; he had lost his job when his employer's plastic company was shut down 10 years ago. He had two school-going children, and he drove from 8 in the morning till 10 at night. No break unless he was unwell. "Sahab, ghar mein baith ke TV dekh kar kya faida? Do paisa income karega toh future mein kaam aayega." (Sir, what's the use of simply sitting at home and watching TV? If I earn some income, then it will be useful in the future for my family.)

We realised that we had come across a man who represents Mumbai - the spirit of work, the spirit of travel and the spirit of excelling in life. I asked him whether he does anything else as I figured that he did not have too much spare time. He said that he goes to an old age home for women in Andheri once a week or whenever he has some extra income, where he donates tooth brushes, toothpastes, soap, hair oil, and other items of daily use. He pointed out to a painted message below the meter that read: "25 per cent discount on metered fare for the handicapped. Free rides for blind passengers up to Rs50". He also said that his auto was mentioned on Radio Mirchi twice by the station RJs.

The Marathi press in Mumbai know about him and have written a few pieces on him and his vehicle.

My wife and I were struck with awe. This man was a HERO! A hero who deserves all our respect. I know that my son, once he grows up, will realise that we have met a genuine hero. He has put questions to me such as why should we help other people with our lives that will certainly keep this chance incident alive in my memory.

Our journey came to an end; 45 minutes of a lesson in humility, selflessness, and of a hero-worshipping Mumbai - my temporary home. We disembarked, and all I could do was to pay him a tip that would hardly cover a free ride for a blind man.

I hope, one day, you too have a chance to meet Mr Sandeep Bachhe in his auto rickshaw - MH-02-Z-8508.

(Entitled "Let Freedom Swing" - visual poetry)

On the nature of JOY!

"I've grown to realize that the joy that comes from little victories gained in small, seemingly insignificant (in the past, at least) choices is preferable to the fun that comes from unearned ease and the wild pursuit of grandiose pleasures."

-- Lawana Blackwell

"Joy is solemn prayer - Joy is God's strength - Joy is sharing His love - Joy is a net of love and caring by which you can catch souls and bring hope to the world."

-- Mother Teresa

"The most profound joy has more of gravity and substance than of lighthearted gaiety in it."

-- Michel de Montaigne

Joy is serious, substantive business, mostly because it requires a powerful choice, often in the midst of grave difficulty, if not total desolation and despair, or in the midst of the seemingly trivial, mundane, or meaningless, sometimes among those who the world doesn't even see at all. Joy is not circumstantially obvious or environmentally self-evident, but rather is mysterious, obscure, and self-generated, brought on by "seeing radically differently than before" (using His eyes), not by "things getting good or better than before" (using our own). Joy is a chosen, decisive victory of heart over head, of laughter over lassitude, of love over loneliness, of meaning over malaise, of music over monotony, of nascence over nonsense, of purity of purpose over pornography, of redemption over regression, of thankfulness over thralldom.

In the midst of everything you're dealing with - the cacophony, chaos, cluelessness, and clutter -seize your little victory today, and wildly celebrate your life, not because it is so obvious why you should do so, but simply because you can!

Let your freedom swing today! Scream it out over the rooftops -

I AM JOYFULLY ALIVE!!!

and, while you're so blissfully at it,

catch others in your net of love.