The Joy of Being

If you ask someone who is a skydiver, a race car driver, some who likes to climb mountains, why they do what they do, you are likely to get a similar answers. They like the feeling of being intensely focused on what is happening in that moment. There is no thinking about past or future. Their lives depend upon being totally involved with the now. Though they may not realize it, what they are doing is forcing themselves into intense present moment awareness through that activity. In doing so, they inadvertently stumble upon the gift that only is found in the present moment: the joy of being.

Eckhart Tolle in “The Power of Now” describes the joy of being this way:

“When a thought subsides, you experience a discontinuity in the mental stream — a gap of “no-mind.” At first, the gaps will be short, a few seconds perhaps, but gradually they will become longer. When these gaps occur, you feel a certain stillness and peace inside you. This is the beginning of your natural state of felt oneness with Being, which is usually obscured by the mind. With practice, the sense of stillness and peace will deepen. In fact, there is no end to its depth. You will also feel a subtle emanation of joy arising from deep within: the joy of Being.”

You can experience the joy of being without having to jump of a bridge attached to a long elastic cord. When you hike up a long mountain trail, reach the top and are suddenly presented with a stunning view of nature in its glory, for a moment, you are without thought. You take a deep breath and find yourself…filled with joy. The same thing can happen when you first see the face of a newborn child, when you choose to leave a warm house to experience the brisk chill of a winter evening and look up at the stars. You did these things because, unknowingly, that joy is what you were seeking, something so beautiful that it, if only for a moment, liberates you from thought.

When you learn how to achieve present moment awareness, you may still enjoy a roller coaster ride, but you will be able to get the same sense of joy while sitting on a park bench. The more practiced you become, the easier it will be for you to enter the now. Put it like this: If you were in an unfamiliar darkened room, it might take awhile to find out where the light switch is. However, the more times that you go to turn the light on, the faster and easier it will be to find the switch.

Other than practicing presence, there is nothing that you can “do” to experience the joy of being. It is not a goal that can be achieved. There is no place to look for it because it already exists inside of you.

The good that has come to me so far in this life experience is not because of an intense, but fleeting moment of joy. It is because I recognize, accept and cherish the present moment as often as I do. Satori is a gift. Presence is liberation.