nmr-001

Subject: Joy
(Easter Sunday 2002)
Cherag: Nizam Monica Rose

From the Hindu Scriptures: Bhagavad Gita; 55:
When a man surrenders all desires that come to the heart and by the Grace of God finds the Joy of God, then his soul has indeed found peace.
From the Buddhist Scriptures: The Dhammapada: 197-200.
O let us live in joy, in love amongst those who hate! Among men who hate let us live in love.
O, let us live in joy, in health among those who are ill! Among men who are ill, let us live in health.
O, let us live in joy, in peace amongst those who struggle! Among men who struggle, let us live in peace.
O, let us live in joy, although having nothing! In joy let us live like spirits of light!
From the Zoroastrian Scriptures: The Zend Avesta:
from the Prologue, the Avesta of Creation: (In the Zoroastrian religion, Light creates and Darkness destroys - here, Ahura Mazda, the name for God among Zoroastrians, speaks of His creations, and the counter-creations of the Darkness of Evil) "The sixteenth of the good Kingdoms which I, Ahura Mazda created, was the Fravashi of Joy. Then came Angra Mainyu, who is all Death, and he counter-created the Khrasfstra of Sadness.
From the Jewish Scriptures: Kethuvim: Job 33.22-30
He (humanity) comes close to the Pit, his life verges on death. If he has a representative, one advocate against a thousand, to declare the man's uprightness, then He has mercy on him and decrees, "Redeem him from descending into the Pit, for I have obtained his ransom; let his flesh be healthier than in his youth; let him return to his younger days." He prays to God and is accepted by Him, he enters His Presence with shouts of joy, for he requites a man for his righteousness. He declares to men, I have sinned; I have perverted what was right; but I was not paid back for it." He redeemed him from passing into the Pit; he will enjoy the Light. Truly, God does all these things two or three times to a man, to bring him back from the Pit, that he may bask in the light of life.
From the Christian Scriptures: Mark: 16;
And when the Sabbath was passed, Mary Magdalene and Mary the Mother of James, and Salome, bought spices that they might go and annoint him. And very early on the first day of the week they went to the tomb when the sun had risen. And entering the tomb, they say a young man sitting on the right side, dressed in a white robe; and they were amazed. And he said to them, "Do not be amazed; you seek Jesus of Nazereth, who was crucified. He has risen.."
From the Scripture of Islam: Sura Light: 41.
Do you not see that Allah is glorified by all beings in the heavens and the earth, even the birds on the wing? Each one knows it own mode of prayer and of praise and Allah is aware of all that they do.
Words of Pir-o-Murshid Hazrat Inayat Khan:
Can one compare any joy to that of taking things quietly, patiently and easily? All other joys come from outward sources, but this happiness is one's own property. When a Person arrives at this feeling it expresses itself not in words, but in the "smiling forehead."
SERMON
JOY
One day Sa'adi was sitting in a bookseller's shop, where his books were sold. The bookseller was absent, and someone came in and asked for one of Sa'adi's books, not knowing that he was speaking to Sa'adi himself. Sa'adi said, "What do you like about Sa'adi's books?" He replied, "Oh, he is a funny fellow." Whereupon Sa'adi made him a present of the book, and when he wished to pay for it, said, "No, I am Sa'adi, and when you called me a funny fellow, you gave me all the reward I wish."
He wanted life to be joyous. Spirituality is not in a long face and deep sigh. No doubt there are moments when you will sympathize with the troubles of others; there are moments that move you to tears, and there are times when you must just close your lips. But there are other moments when you can see the joyous side of life and enjoy its beauties. Man is not born into this world for depression and unhappiness. His very being is happiness. Depression is something unnatural. By this I do not mean to say that sorrow is a sin or suffering always avoidable. We all have to experience both in life, to accomplish the purpose of life. We cannot always be smiling. There is not spiritual evolution in ignoring either side of life. Spirituality is in every side of life. As long as one is not bound, it is no sin to stand in the midst of life. Man need not go into the forest, away from all people, to show his goodness and virtue. Of what use is his goodness and virtue if he buries himself in the forest? It is in the very midst of life that we have to develop and express all that is beautiful and perfect and divine in our souls.
Sa'adi has expressed a wonderful thought in his work called the "Gulistan," and in simple words. He says, "every soul was meant for a certain purpose and the light of that purpose was kindled in that soul." It is one little verse, but it is a volume in itself. What does this suggest to us? That this whole universe is like one symphony, and all souls are as different notes. There activities are according to the rhythm of this symphony, and their life is purposed to perfect this symphony.
People are anxious to do something, and wait for years and years, unhappy, in despair, waiting for that moment to come. It shows that the soul knows in its subconsciousness that there is a note to strike, and the moment when it will strike that note, that soul will be satisfied, and yet does not know what note it is nor when it will be struck. What is life, and what keeps us living in this world of limitation, this world of continual changes, full of falsehood and full of suffering and trouble? If there is anything in this world that keeps us alive, it is hope--the honey of life. There is not one soul in this world who says, "now I am satisfied, I have no further desire."
In everyone, whatever be the position of life, someone very rich or one very poor, one full of life and the other ill, in all conditions, man is continually yearning and waiting for something to come, he does not know what, but he is waiting. The real explanation of life is waiting; waiting for something. And what is it that man awaits? It is the fulfillment of the purpose of life, which comes when the soul strikes that note; that note which is meant to be his note. And this he seeks, whether in the outer plane or the inner plane. And man has not fulfilled his life's purpose until he has struck that note which is his note.