June 16, 2006

• I think that experiencing joy is an excercise of getting one’s mind
  peaceful enough to allow the present moment to blow you away.  It
  can be a wierd thing.  The Buddhists caution against intensity. I
  think this is not because intensity is bad, but because intensity makes
  it hard to appreciate the quiet moments where joy is found. 
  Personally, I like to have a bit of both.

  A caution: sometimes when your chest is nigh bursting over some simple
  thing, the every day portion of the mind will make the cyncial
  observation that you’re just looking at a duck on the river or
  some-such and you may feel a bit silly.  Ah well, everything has
  got its cost.

  I think Tich Naht Hahn is a pretty good guide to it finding that
  place.  If you can manage to find a meditation center that’s not
  too cloyingly new-age or overly wannabe mystic, that can be another
  path.

  People look in the wrong places for it.  It is not found through
  wealth and security, great entertainment, or mind blowing orgasm. 
  Oddly, to experience joy, you need to be empty in a manner of
  speaking.  It is found watching the seeds blow off a dandelion
  and, for a moment, having there be nothing else.

  Watching a loved one sleep, lying under a tree watching the sun reflect
  through the leaves, gardening, simple motion, animals, children, all of
  these are doorways – moments that if you stop to be only in that
  moment, you find joy.  You “just” need to let go of all the
  distractions that are keeping you from it for a bit.

  Of course, if you can’t get that, sex, drugs, and music are all great consolation prizes.

  • 10:15 am
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