Awakening Joy: 10 Steps That Will Put You on the Road to Real Happiness

Meher Baba, the great Indian master, says, “Love is essentially self-communicative; those who do not have it catch it from those who have it.”

Speak or act with an impure [confused] mind And trouble will follow you As the wheel follows the ox that draws the cart. … Speak or act with a pure [clear] mind And happiness will follow you As your shadow, unshakable.

Because I wasn’t pushing away or denying those images and feelings, I found that my guilt and shame and sadness were diminishing. In their place a tender understanding of my ignorance was arising. I could see how confused I had been to think that any of my deceptions or betrayals or denials could bring me happiness.

In the same way, when we convert our thoughts, whether positive or negative, into words and actions, we increase their impact.

When you feel overwhelmed by an intense emotion: Look around you for something in the moment to appreciate.

This approach reminds me of another story about the wise fool Mulla Nasruddin. Mulla’s students find him one afternoon meticulously spreading bread crumbs around the perimeter of his house. After watching him for a while, one student finally asks him, “Mulla, why are you placing those crumbs like that?” Mulla responds, “To keep away the tigers.” Th

Years later, a school teacher myself, I would try to have my students not only take in important information by reading or hearing, but also by discussing it, drawing it, and writing about it. The more senses that were involved, the deeper the material was absorbed.

Whether doing formal meditation practice or just taking a few minutes to quiet the mind, most people find that soon after they begin to pay attention to their breath or to some sensation in their body, without even knowing it, they’re gone, lost in their thoughts. This is not bad. It’s just the way it is.

Too much on our plate gives us indigestion.

LABELING TO CALM THE MIND Researchers in the Brain Mapping Center at the UCLA School of Medicine made a significant discovery about the value of using words to label fearful circumstances. When subjects in an experiment were shown faces with expressions of anger or fear, the fear centers in their brains showed increased blood flow, indicating that