Live in joy, in love, even among those who hate.
Live in joy, in health, even among the afflicted.
Live in joy, in peace, even among the troubled.
Live in joy, without possessions, like the shining ones.
The winner sows hatred because the loser suffers.
Let go of winning and losing and find joy.
There is no fire like passion, no crime like hatred,
no sorrow like separation, no sickness like hunger,
and no joy like the joy of freedom.
Health, contentment and trust are your greatest possessions,
and freedom your greatest joy. Look within. Be still.
Free from fear and attachment, know the sweet joy of the way.
How joyful to look upon the awakened and to keep company with the wise.
How long the road to the man who travels with a fool.
But whoever follows those who follow the way discovers his family, and is filled with joy.
Follow then the shining ones, the wise, the awakened, the loving, for they know how to work and forbear.
Follow them as the moon follows the path of the stars.
It is a pleasant surprise to meditate on these sutras of today. They go against the idea that prevails all over the world about Gautama the Buddha.
He is represented by his enemies and even by his friends and followers as the pessimist par excellence.
He is not a pessimist at all; he is one of the most joyous persons ever. These sutras will give you immense insight into the heart of this awakened man:
Live in joy, in love, even among those who hate.
Joy is the keyword of all these sutras. Joy is not happiness, because happiness is always mixed with unhappiness. It is never found in purity, it is always polluted. It always has a long shadow of misery behind it. Just as day is followed by night, happiness is followed by unhappiness.
Then what is joy?
Joy is a state of transcendence.
One is neither happy nor unhappy, but is utterly peaceful, quiet, in absolute equilibrium;
so silent and so alive that his silence is a song, and his song is nothing but his silence.
Joy is forever, happiness is momentary. Happiness is caused by the outside, hence can be taken away from the outside.
You have to depend on others for happiness, and any dependence is ugly, any dependence is bondage.
Joy arises within; it has nothing to do with the outside. It is not caused by others.
It is not caused at all, it is the spontaneous flow of your own energy.