Living the Zen Life

Where’s the joy?

Where’s the joy?

Where’s the joy?


“Happiness is not a station to arrive at, but a manner of traveling.”
—Margaret Lee Runbeck
 

O

ne of the most astonishing discoveries I made during my Zen training was that I could be crying in sadness and experience happiness at the same time. I could also be yelling with anger and be happy. I could be experiencing any emotion at all with full consciousness instead of getting swept into the habitual drama of it.

A question I learned to ask was, “Where’s the joy?” Because life is joy. If I wasn’t experiencing joy, I was encouraged to go looking for it. To ask myself, “Where’s the joy?” and to discover what I was doing instead of residing in joy.

In this way, happiness became a way of living rather than a state to achieve. Instead of hoping it would randomly occur due to circumstances, I became the creator of my own happiness regardless of the circumstances.
 

In lovingkindness,


If you enjoyed this article, you can find a version of it in my book, Living the Zen Life: Practicing Conscious, Compassionate Awareness (Volume One).

If you enjoyed this article, you can find a version of it in my book, Living the Zen Life: Practicing Conscious, Compassionate Awareness (Volume Two).

If you enjoyed this article, you can find a version of it in my book, Living the Zen Life: Practicing Conscious, Compassionate Awareness (Volume Three).

If you enjoyed this article, you can find a version of it in my book, A Shift to Love: Zen Stories and Lessons by Alex Mill.

If you enjoyed this article, you can find a version of it in my book, Meditation and Reinventing Yourself.

If you enjoyed this article, you can find a version of it in my book, The Zen Life: Spiritual Training for Modern Times.

 


  Alex Mill trained in a Zen Buddhist monastery for nearly 14 years. He now offers his extensive experience to transform people’s lives and businesses through timeless Zen principles.

He is the creator of three powerful 30-day programs, Heart-to-Heart: Compassionate Self-Mentoring, Help Yourself to Change, and Your Practice, as well as the online Zen meditation workshop, Taming Your Inner Noise (now offered as The FREE Zen Workshop).

Alex has also written seven books on Zen awareness practice. The latest are entitled A Shift to Love: Zen Stories and Lessons (Get it for FREE here) and the 3-book series Living the Zen Life: Practicing Conscious, Compassionate Awareness.

He is a full-time Zen Life Coach who offers guidance and life-changing support to his private clients worldwide. Book a call.