#5 Joyful Presence 2019

O friend, understand the body

is like the ocean

rich with hidden treasures.

Open your inmost chamber and

light its lamp.

—Mirabai, translated by Jane Hirshfield

Mirabai, mystic, singer, dancer, celebrant of the Divine Beloved, guides us through these days, teaching us about the inner light that enlivens and sustains us in joy.

Mirabai goes on to enchant us with the news that within the body are gardens, flowers, and a ‘lake of bliss.’ Thus our first joyful imagining creates those exquisite inner gardens. What flowers are blooming in your heart today, so richly that every smile carries the presence of joy? What luscious fruit adorns the flesh of your hands, making every touch – of a friend, a lover, a dog, a purring cat, even the bright air – a particular gift of joy? What peaceful waters rest in your too-busy head, ready to provide calm reflections of joy whenever you wish?

For this month let us also imagine the Joyful Presence as an ecstatic friend, walking, bounding, singing beside us, perhaps Mirabai herself, living in an ever-flowing fountain of joy. Within our energy field.

Even when distress comes, pain strikes, anger builds, that singing Presence reminds us that joy is alive, within and without, no matter what else might be happening.

Practice the Presence

Tasting Joy. Take a bite of some food you like, imagining that this is your first ever taste of it. Savor it; hang on to the deliciousness as long as you can. As it becomes part of your body, sense it turning into expressions of Joyful Presence – exquisite gardens, forests, lakes, nourishing not only your body but also your mind with beauty and joy.

Joy in the World

And in me.