Toward the end of his life, Swami Kriyananda would often remark, “I feel so blissful, I can hardly contain it.” We had seen him maintain a joyful spirit during many difficult times: temples collapsing or burning down, car accidents, health crises. No matter what was happening around him, Swamiji demonstrated that it didn’t have the power to touch his inner Self.
Where does this ability to stay joyful no matter what life throws at us come from? It originates first from feeling your inner joy, and then developing the habit of bringing it back repeatedly during the day. Joy, you see, is our natural state—the most central of all the ways that God manifests Himself. So we don’t need to create it, but merely to increase our awareness of it by removing the obscuring veils of self-involvement.
“Touch your joy.” – Nayaswami Jyotish
As with so many things in life, we can develop and maintain a buoyant consciousness if we apply ourselves. In order to bring joy under the control of our will, we must experience it both more deeply and more frequently. First we should try to deepen our experience of joy. This is best done in meditation, when the thoughts have been stilled. I would suggest that near the end of each meditation, you spend at least five minutes feeling a sense of joy and saturating your mind with a blissful vibration.
Secondly, we should try to feel touches of joy as often as possible throughout the day, until it becomes habitual. Don’t wait for circumstances to make you happy: Learn to feel a happiness that needs no cause. One of Paramhansa Yogananda’s most advanced disciples, Yogacharya Oliver Black, said he surrounded himself with a bubble of joy and never let anyone or anything pop his bubble.
This year members of Ananda are joining together in an experiment to see if we can deepen our consciousness of joy, and we invite you to join us. Each morning, spend at least five minutes toward the end of your meditation centering your awareness at the spiritual eye, seeing light there, and deeply feeling inner joy.
Then, as often as you remember, but at least five times during each day, reawaken the consciousness of light and joy with this technique: Stop, close your eyes, and bring your energy to the spiritual eye, at the point between the eyebrows. You may find it helpful to place your fingertip there to help you focus. Now become aware of light and joy at that point. Do this for at least fifteen seconds. This simple practice will reconnect you with the presence of God as light and joy. All success, all happiness, flows from a superconscious connection to the Divine. Master said that keeping our consciousness at the spiritual eye is the fastest way to make progress.
While quick and simple, this technique can have a profound effect on your well-being. Be a spiritual scientist, and see if a simple touch of light and joy can help you become blissful all the time.
In light and joy,
Nayaswami Jyotish
24 Comments
Thank you so much Jyotishji for sharing such seemingly simple method to harness joy in our lives. This will be a must for me for my own good.
I feel blessed for this communication.
Syamal
Thank you for your PRECIOUSES advices: they are gemstones for our spiritual Path!
It cracks me up that Kriyananda awarded himself the title of Swami and then stuck with it for the rest of his life out of respect for his gurus and everyone surrounding him in the world.
He was operating at a spiritual level so much higher than that, that it isn’t even funny.
Pranam Ji
Thanks for another Profound Tool to stay Joyful.
With Gratitude
R Sundararajan
I was totally impressed by how you two handled the “death” of your guru.
I got notified of his passing while I was asleep, so I got to watch you two live streaming that morning. You weren’t shedding any tears and neither did I even though you may have been crying inside. Instead, you were standing there broadcasting over the internet how to handle the loss of your guru to anyone who was crying outside.
Dear Nayaswami Jyotish Ji,
Thank you for the wonderful suggestion. We will practice through the day with the technique that you had suggested.
Reading this is so joyful :) , Will start and continue the practice and become blissful all the time , With Master’s blessings.
Aum,
Prem
Thank you, Jyotish. I would like to join Swami in his experience of life’s vibration of joy with this technique.
Pat
Dear Jyotishji,
Thank you for giving this great tool to keep oneself in joy all the time.
In Joy,
Neela
Dear Jyotish: Thank you for the great practice of Light and Joy. I love the clues that you share with us that help us keep our focus and attention on what is so very important to our expanding spiritual awareness. I am sharing this great technique on my blog and facebook posts today so that the sweet ripple of love’s awareness will bless those souls that receive it and will pass your weekly post on to others around the world. I am so grateful for your love and wisdom, Prakriti
Thank you swamiji.i am very much thankful to you.iam member of Yss .I read swami Kriyanandaji book The path.bless me for my spiritual practice.
Thank you so much for sharing this, I believe joy is so important to our well being on many levels, it must be like a muscle the more it is worked the stronger and easier it is to bring the joy molecule into our everyday lives. Please remind us of this technique in the future again and again.
Thank you so much for sharing. Nice to read first thing in the morning.
Sounds great, Jyotish. I’ll definitely incorporate those items in my daily routine. Thanks!
Thank You!!’ God Bless You
Love , Light and Joy
BLESS YOU Jyotish!!!
I am a “spiritual scientist” and took on your challenge at SRW!
I can attest that IT WORKS!!
I learned a great lesson from of all “people” YODA, who said…
DO, or DO NOT! There is NO TRY!
The power of GOD as it manifests as JOY, LIGHT, CALMNESS, SOUND, PEACE…
are within…all we have to do is … DO IT! BE IT! FEEL IT!
JAI GURU!
May all Gurubai’s everywhere FEEL this JOY, LIVE it, and SHARE it!
It’s an interesting idea, I’ll give it a shot. My meditation often leaves me feeling good but not joyful. Thanks for the idea.
Jai!! Thank you, Jyotish!
Thanks Nayaswami Jyotish. This simple technique works.
Kanwal Sethi
Thank you for your tested guidance Very Much , Very Much.
Thank you Jyotish. Always can use reminding. I was listening to a Treasures tape today where Swami spoke to the power of God through St. Anthony. To be able to say and feel “I Want ONLY THEE” and know in all parts of body mind and soul that it is TRUE is my deepest goal..so that one day I can say as did St. Anthony: “I have see HIM”. In Divine Gratitude and Friendship, steve (navi)
Such a deep and perfect message. Joy is a condition ,,,,not a response………Practice makes perfect…at anything…even the remembering of the joy that is there for the taking. Thanks for another pearl of wisdom,,,Jeff
Thanks for sharing. Must maintain my joyous self, no matter what.
Nothing like using the senses to be free of them. Ha!
Joy! Joy! Joy!