3. Leading a Joyous Life Religious scriptures The Holy Spirit rests on him only who has a joyous heart. Jerusalem Talmud, Sukkot 5.1 (Judaism) Let us live happily, without hate amongst those who hate. Let us dwell unhating amidst hateful men. Let us live happily, in good health amongst those who are sick. Let us dwell in good health amidst ailing men. Let us live happily, without yearning for sensual pleasures amongst those who yearn for them. Let us dwell without yearning amidst those who yearn. Let us live happily, we who have no impediments. We shall subsist on joy even as the radiant gods. Dhammapada 197-200 (Buddhism) Awake, O north wind, and come, O south wind! Blow upon my garden, let its fragrance be wafted abroad. Let my beloved come to his garden, and eat its choicest fruits. I come to my garden, my sister, my bride, I gather my myrrh with my spice, I eat my honeycomb with my honey, I drink my wine with my milk. Eat, O friends, and drink: drink deeply, O lovers! Song of Solomon 4:16-5:1 Teachings of Sun Myung Moon God comes and extends His blessing to whatever thing you do with pleasure. (308:214, January 5, 1999) If two-thirds of your life of seventy or eighty years was sorrowful, to compensate for the sorrow of those years, why don’t you make the remainder of your life a joyful time centering on God? Live your life as you would in the Kingdom of God. The Kingdom of God is where one gives, and gives again. God is giving. Parents give to their children. The parental heart is such that even after giving, it wants to give and give again when there is something better to give. (34:141, August 30, 1970) Why does a man need a woman, and a woman need a man? It is so they can resonate with God’s love. It is to reach a state of ecstasy where they exclaim, “Wow, it is wonderful!” They are too happy even to eat or sleep. A man and woman need each other because only in the fullness of conjugal love can they resonate in full consonance with God’s love. (102:21, November 19, 1978) The horizontal love between a husband and wife blossoms with God’s ideal love, and the fragrance of their love resonates throughout the universe even as God adds His love to their love. This is the perfection of the parent-child relationship between God and human beings. The heavenly Parent sings of His children’s happiness, their hopes and everything about them. Together the Parent and His son and daughter sing of love. It does not end there. To that precious gift, the love they possess, God adds a third dimension of love. Then their universe expands like a balloon when air is blown into it. Their world used to be flat, but now it is big enough to hold all the created beings in the world with room to spare. It materializes with the power of their love, permeating the whole. (101:35, October 28, 1978) |