Joy & Happiness

Are Joy and Happiness the same or are these experiences different? Recently, I was asked to offer a training session with the focus on bringing more Joy into the workplace. After doing some research “Joy vs Happiness,” I came to some personal conclusions that Joy and Happiness are not the same, in my opinion. The group presentation began with this discussion in small groups and then the groups shared their conversation. It reflected my feelings and was similar to the research which I had uncovered. So, here is what we came up with…

Happiness is often coming as a reaction/response to an external interaction or experience. We see something (or hear something) and we react with a thought of happiness. We smile or laugh and our reaction can come, or go, as our mood in that moment allows. Happiness, or being happy, is GREAT! And, there is the opposite reaction/response where we can think and express “UnHappiness.” We can get “triggered” from interactions which create a feeling of unhappiness.

Joy seems to come from another, perhaps deeper, place. When our heart lights up with a “feeling” or a passion for an experience or perception, we may feel Joy. It comes from a deeper emotional feeling. Let me offer some examples which came to mind. Are You a fisherman, an artist or craftsperson, or perhaps a musician? When a fisherperson catches a fish, they experience happiness. When a fisherman walks to a lake or stream in a beautiful natural setting, they feel the Joy. When an artist or craftsperson receives new brushes or pencils or art supplies, they feel happy. When their creativity is triggered by work on their project, they feel Joy. When a musician walks into a music store filled with instruments, they feel happy. When the musician’s passion is expressed in performance, they feel Joy.

The group I was speaking with were managers in the helping profession. Caregivers by choice. When someone calls them and says, “Thank You for the work performed,” they feel Happy. When they go inside and react to the passion they have to provide this service, they know they are using their creativity and expertise to solve problems and serve their clients, they feel the Joy! For my clients who are “First Responders,” their DNA has a genetic code for rushing in to Save people, even through the fears or the dangers. This passion for service gives them a sense of purpose that when considered creates Joy.

As I stated before, there are situations you experience which create a reaction of Happiness. There are times when the situation creates UnHappiness. However, the internal, deep heartfelt feeling of Joy are unique to each individual. And, there is no such thing as UnJoyful. You either feel the passion, the creativity, and the connections through service and the Joy this creates or you do not…

Each one of us, in our own different and unique way, seek to express our passions. We create connections with people or our world and find a celebration which can reach deeply into the world of Joy. When we do what we have come here, to this life, to do and provide our service to all consciousness, we can feel/experience our Bliss, our unique Joy! Nothing external can create Un-Joy for you. So, find your Bliss. Find your passion and share it in whatever form your creativity selects… And, then feel your Joy!

When you wake up in the morning, start by offering Gratitude for what you do have and then look for the Joy which comes from every experience, every interaction, you have. Then, when possible, share your wisdom even if this is a reflection of some difficult challenge. Yes, even the dark places can create the Joy of learning from the challenge and celebration of new found wisdoms which serve you and the people you interact with.

YOU are a Miracle! You are a Blessing! Your soul guards and protects your deepest passions and Joys. Shine light upon these and find the way to communicate and to celebrate your Bliss!

Thank you for being You!

Your Relationship with the Divine

There are different kinds of relationships. There are friendships, family, community, work, romantic, and many others. Each of us have had many relationships in our lives as humans. Beyond our “human” relationships we all have our relationship with the Divine Spirit, or the Source, or with God… These relationships with the Divine are different than human relationships and, in my understanding, are not possible to completely understand with human mind based consciousness. Why? Because our relationship with the Divine does not translate into 3 dimensional thinking and the limitations of linear time and space. (Our brains can not fully grasp the multi-dimensional consciousness found in the higher realms.)

We, as humans, usually require connections and support from fellow humans. For example, babies need care and feeding which their parents often supply. These conditional relationships persist in our lives. We are culturally taught, and have some genetic coding, to “care” for our children, families, friends and communities in this descending order of importance. Our “significant other”/partner is often a high priority but we have many challenges with cultural expectations that may not match up with our partner’s availability. These “Special Relationships,” as the Course in Miracles defines our human relationships, are not as unconditional as our relationship with the Divine. This is complicated. True unconditional divine love is too complex and multidimensional (from the higher realms) for the limited human consciousness to most fully grasp. Our human limitations are partially limited by our mind believing in three dimensions when there are an infinite amount of dimensions. And, our belief that time is linear with a “past,” a “present,” and a “future,” when in the Higher Realms of the Divine there is no time only the current moment. Our brains have limitations so we need to view in a linear order when, actually, we are timeless spirits… (This can be difficult for our minds to grasp.)

The Divine Spirit is a part of you which can not find its way into human understanding, let alone, words. For example, how do you really describe the full sense of “Unconditional Love.” Human love is always “conditional” and this too is complicated and not definable. Feelings and emotions can be suggested but not fully defined. The human brain can not really get a grip on what unconditional love is. In a near death experience I experienced, I briefly felt what the Divine’s Unconditional Love felt like. A nano-second of joy and bliss. It felt amazing but beyond definition. In my waking human consciousness I can get close but not really fully there when attempting to remember or relive this nano-second of my life’s past experience. I will wait for the transition at the end of this life to rejoin the Joy and Bliss which I was “teased” with in my NDE.

Know you ARE Loved Unconditionally even if the human mind and human life drama does not allow the full rememberance and feeling which this entails.

Rest assured, your mind will not, and does not have to, fully understand the full extent of the higher dimensions of the Divine Source. The limitations we humans have is a major part of our drama and our challenge in living our human lives. We unconsciously, often, are living to remember our pure connection to the Divine and to test our “learnings” to the dramatic play we call our lives… Finding, or remembering, who we truly are as perfect spirits in the Universe is a huge part of the “game” in living as limited human beings. It is Fun! It is a Joy to find our way through the fantasy of life we have chosen to live. Like going to a movie and loosing our normal life to the fantasy we see, and experience, on the screen.

You can raise your consciousness to “Know” and “Remember” from where your soul/spirit have come from and to where you will return… (If, you ever really left in the first place…)
And, your mind can argue with me in this set of beliefs regarding your participation in the Divine Spirit. You are Divine and YOU are connected to all the other souls in this Universe. We are all in this together. So everyone we bump into is another version of you… It is difficult to “Know” this and then to remember this belief when we interact, but these are the interactions and lessons we have come here to experience… Hopefully, in an ever more conscious way…

We are all being tested by the dramas we experience in our human existence. Isn’t it great! Difficult, depressing, painful, and challenging, BUT, Great! Our test to remember where we came from, The Divine, and where we will return, if we ever really “left” in the first place… We continue to connect with other pilgrims, know we are all in this together, and Love every spirit we encounter. That is “Enlightenment” and what we seek to carry forward in our human lives. We ARE the Divine, manifested into this human drama…

You are a Miracle! Thank you for being you.

Thanks for your time and consideration. Your insights and experiences are unique and a blessing, so please share these…

If you are READY and looking for a supportive community where you can share your story, your wisdom, and grow spiritually in a non-religious environment, consider Masters of the Journey.
You are a Blessing! You are a Master! Your wisdom from your life experience can have great value to other pilgrims on the path toward awakening and enlightenment.

The Masters of the Journey has events which are updated on our Facebook page which is found at: www.facebook.com/mastersofthejourney Please comment on this blog and share, if appropriate. More of our blogs are based on spiritual consciousness and can be found at www.dstress.com/blog

Know Bliss! Find the Perfection in All Souls

Knowing Bliss after the past blog of November 9th where the discussion was related to the fear of rejection seems like a stretch… It is a great follow up to this recent past blog. If you remember that any flaws or weaknesses you find within you are the focus of the lessons that you are here to learn. When we accept our personal flaws and do not elevate them into “drama,” we can also apply this principle to the other people (souls) we bump into in the warm, tumbling dryer called life. Yes, I am suggesting that even the most difficult, nasty people we come into contact with are actually struggling pilgrims just like you! You do not have to enjoy or like their behavior or actions, but they are incarnated, just like you, to figure out a path, their path, toward higher consciousness. (They are here “pushing your buttons” as a “test” for you as you master your lessons.)

So where does the “Bliss” come in? I am told that when you are in the room with a highly “enlightened being” like the Dalai Lama, you can feel their different energy as if their glorious, loving aura exudes the enlightened bliss that they know and they live. They might laugh openly with the joy for life they feel. They know the joy that life allows, even with the challenges we may identify as discomfort. They shine brightly with love and acceptance. The audience basks in that rare experience of all consuming unconditional love and a human manifestation of the state of bliss. We embrace this sense of warmth and the emotional security that this experience creates. It can heal us from the wounds we feel from our daily existence. Who wouldn’t want to bask in unfiltered acceptance?

Many of us, me included, have had brief “micro-moments” of remembering bliss. In meditation the instant of connectedness, acceptance, freedom, and knowing (or remembering) that we are perfect and tapped into the Divine Spirit’s perfection. I can remember, vividly, those few moments when I felt the Divine Spirit envelop me. One time it came from a Near Death Experience (NDE). Once it came from a meditation where I found myself sitting next to the “River of Life” and so connecting in “oneness” with all other living things. I was blessed to have my wife’s spirit channelled for me by a “psychic” and I “felt” her words (or feelings) regarding what the heavenly Divine plane was like for a soul beyond the veil… These moments stand out as a guide post for me to know as the goal for my spiritual path. Perhaps you have been blessed (or will be blessed) with these experiences in your physical incarnation. Maybe these words have triggered a remembrance of these knowings and feelings that you have or have had between lives.

The main point of this blog is to tell you, or remind you, that we will find our way up our spiritual path to see, feel, and know the perfection within every seemingly flawed human we meet. We can celebrate and live in the bliss of enlightenment which allows each of us to share unconditional love and bask in this reflected back to warm our hearts and to feed our spirits. This may require more lifetimes. The path may take many turns. In an interview with the Dalai Lama, he mentioned that he was excited about returning for future incarnations to experience even more physical experiences before he would evolve to a level where he might not return. Love your life and your incarnation… It does NOT go on forever! Know that if you are in a hurry to reach enlightenment, so you do not have “to come back” (more incarnations,) YOU have not learned your lessons and you will get to come back… Sorry. So, allow yourself to look deep into the eyes and heart of the next pilgrim you meet on your path. Find the bliss, your bliss, as you bask in their perfection. Find a way to take their hand and find the way in which you can mutually accept and support each others learning!

Set your goal to find yourself in the state of Bliss regularly, if not daily, and know that this is easier said than done. It is one of our many challenges. Know that you deserve to live in Bliss! Your perfection and beauty will remember the unconditional love and acceptance that our divine souls were born within!

If you are looking for a supportive community where you can share your story and grow spiritually in a non-religious environment, consider Masters of the Journey. You are a Blessing. You are a Master.

The Masters of the Journey has events which are updated on our Facebook page which is found at: www.facebook.com/mastersofthejourney Please comment on this blog and share, if appropriate. More of our blogs are based on spiritual consciousness and can be found at www.dstress.com/blog

Abundance + Curiosity vs Judgement – 3 Thoughts

  1. Abundance: Being Abundant and Living in Abundance is NOT always financial success! Dollars are not always the prosperity that makes you happy. Look at the Billionaires who are insecure and still trying to achieve satisfaction and happiness. I grew up in a wealthy community and most of the inhabitants were so busy making money or guarding their properties that they were anxious and many were driven to alcohol or drug challenges. So Abundance may be better defined as the joy, love and energy which flows through you. (Thank Wenty our “Fairy Godmother”) Friends are often the greatest source wealth and happiness. Sharing your love, finding & working YOUR purpose, and fully living is the blessing of true abundance. “Follow YOUR Bliss” is a quote by Joseph Campbell that bears consideration. Once you find your purpose and your bliss, SHARE it! Teach others. Embrace your role of service. Share the gift of your abundance and it will return to you, many times over.
  2. Judging has been a huge challenge that I struggle with in my pursuit of consciousness. Why do I/we judge other pilgrims? Why do I seek to compare and then separate myself from my Divine partners? In reflection it may be better to view with wonder and curiosity the different approach that the person in front of you may take (to learn their lessons.) Be curious and ask why is that person doing it (or believing it) in the differing way that they are? What is their lesson? More importantly, What is MY lesson in bumping up against this dissonance? There is a reason that this person/challenge has touched my world. Is it here for me to provide a teaching counter-point or am I to examine my specific learning? The perfection of the Divine Spirit stands in front of me in a form that triggers my deeper emotions, so what am I to remember and how can I grow in consciousness?
  3. I am exploring the concept that “thoughts” and words are “lies.” The “Truth” lies in the “Knowing” and the “feelings” of what the Divine Wisdom embraces us with. Oneness, unconditional love, no boundaries of time and space, and connection to the source of all wisdom, Love, can be “known” and felt, but not put into words in a way that does this justice. Words and thoughts can create a framework/structure for human interaction to begin communication. It can create a foundation for sharing which can lead to “Knowing.” We are born into human form to communicate and to remember our Divine Wisdom. How we choose to communicate can be frustrating because very few languages have words for the deepest feelings and the full spectrum of emotions. As an example, how do find words for the flavor of the best sauce you have ever tasted which will convey this to a person who is not there to taste? How do you describe there essence of Divine Grace to someone who has not had a near death experience? The descriptions are shallow and superficial (just as these written words as you read them.) Thank you for your attempt to understand my burgeoning insights.

Each of these topics could be a full blog/article. These are in process and not fully formed. More about these in the future. Please contribute your words and thoughts until we can all find the truth in feelings and the “Knowing” and the “Remembering!”

Blessings to you in our search.

Paula Forget has added these thoughts to consider…  “My thoughts about Knowing are:

Knowing comes as a flash of recognition. (It is not learned.)

It often comes during meditation as an intuitive understanding that is perceived beyond words. It is an indisputable Truth.”
Paula Forget, author of “Guided to the Higher Realms

If you wish to discuss these topics, find more resources, or get support for your own pilgrimage, consider the Masters of the Journey’s website or our Facebook page at www.facebook.com/mastersofthejourney. Take good care of yourself and find ways to serve other seekers you meet along the way.