Birds and Buddha Bring Message of Joy

Ok, I get it! There needs to be more joy in more life--or, at least, I need to recognize the joy I already have and celebrate it. So how did this message arrive?

Buddha of joy
I was cleaning out my office and came across a Buddhist meditation/prayer that I don't think I have seen in about 2 years. It's called the brahmavihara or the "Four Immeasurables" (so yes, it has 4 parts). The first time I heard this prayer, its message was so clear, simple and encompassing that it stuck with me. But lately, I haven't been so good about following these 4 mantras: love, joy, sympathetic joy and equanimity. So during last week's meditation, I focused on the first one that stood out: sympathetic joy.

Sympathetic joy arises when we join in the happiness of others and wish them well-being and success. Practicing sympathetic joy takes your mind off of yourself and keeps hatred and jealousy at bay. Basically, if someone you know is excited, be excited for them. And even if it seems trivial or something that you don't feel joy over, be excited for them anyway. Joy is important and comes around way too seldom, so we should "rejoice" any time it appears, big, small or somewhere in between. Sometimes we also put off joy in order not to offend or make others feel bad. I'm learning that does no one any good.

Feathers of joy
The other message about joy arrived last night while at a friend's house. There were several people there, and we participated in a special ceremony in which my friend gave us all heron feathers. In some traditions (the specifics escape me), herons represent the ability to quickly change direction--which can be good if we realize we need to make a change.

My friend hands each of us a heron feather, each wrapped in a different color of deerskin. She had meditated earlier with each feather and with each of us in mind in order to receive a message. As she presented the feather, she delivered the message--and mine was one of healing and joy, she said, because she felt that these things are what I needed most right now in my life.

And I think my friend and Buddha are right. I could go on about the many reasons why, but suffice to say that I am going to practice more sympathetic joy; I am going to do more things that bring me joy; and I am going to focus on healing at various levels.

Do you have enough joy in your own life?