The Philosophy of Joy by Sri Sri Ravi Shankar
The only search of every being is joy. Whenever one is looking, whatever it is that one is looking for, one is looking for joy, be it spiritual or material, be it in the movies, in the bars, in the church or in the temple; be it money, fame or power. The search is simply joy and the Divine is all joy and bliss.
Bliss is nothing but qualified joy, a joy that is free from fever, suffering, and pain. Love comes along with pain. The silence is a bit serious; joy is mischievous. One cannot have mischief if there is no joy and Krishna is all mischief. Krishna is absolute joy, absolute bliss. Nothing could take away the joy of Krishna.
If you look at his life, he was miserable, he was born into misery. Kansa, Krishna’s uncle, is a symbol of the ego. The ego is very far from joy; the ego tries to kill the joy in us. Children are so full of joy because there is no ego. The moment the ego comes, the separation comes. We destroy the joy, the beauty, that innocent joy. Kansa sent several people to kill Krishna but was unsuccessful. Krishna, when he was only eight or ten years old, he fell in love with Radha, she was much older than Krishna. That love was such a pure love. People did not know why they were so in love with Krishna; everyone would gather around him.
Mischief is the result of joy. Children are very naughty. Parents say: ‘Don’t do this!’, ‘Stop doing that!’ It is very normal for children to be naughty; we must let them do it. Sometimes it’s a problem for parents, but it’s also fun. What is life without fun? Krishna told many lies, played games and annoyed the people around him. The people around him would like him to bother them. People complained angrily, but the moment they came into his presence, they started giggling, all his anger vanished.
In the presence of pure bliss, joy, all complaints vanish and life appears like a play. You can see every problem as a challenge or you can spend it crying and complaining. You know, what you have in your hand indicates what you are inside. If he has a gun in his hand, it indicates fear or violence. If you have a flower in your hand, it indicates that you are like a flower. If you have a flute in your hand, you are like a flute: hollow and empty.
Krishna has the flute in his hand and the whole style of standing up indicates his whole philosophy. One leg is firmly on the ground. A dance can occur when your feet first hit the ground. If your legs are buried in the mud, there can be no dance. Not even if it’s on the ground. One leg has to be steady on the ground, the other can be in the air, and then the dance begins. Joy is the dance of life and Krishna’s life is such a dance.
One can imagine Krishna everywhere; you cannot identify Krishna as one thing. He sometimes he can ride a horse, be a charioteer and somewhere else he can be dancing. Krishna is the symbol of all possibilities, the full flowering of all aspects, human or divine, whatever you call it. It is very difficult to really understand the personality of Krishna. The rishis called him the full embodiment of total Divinity because everything a human can be, everything a being can be, is all in Krishna. You can see him as the perfect friend.
Once one of his close helpers tells Krishna, “Oh Krishna, I cannot understand you. I’ve been with you for the last fifteen years, you confuse me more every day! At one point I see you as such a brave person that you could fight the war alone with so many people, at other times you hide in the closet. You behave completely eccentric. Once you are so powerful, another time so scared. Once you come out with such great wisdom, another time you ask me for advice”. Sometimes he is a servant, other times king of the whole province, who takes good care of all the subjects.
contrast energies
Arjuna was ready to drop everything and go to the Himalayas. He was not ready to fight the war. Krishna convinced him. Krishna was a good teacher because he taught as a friend. He said, “You are a great warrior. They are all already dead anyway.
I do everything, you just be an instrument.” On the battlefield, if someone could maintain the depth of consciousness, the clarity of mind when everyone is in such chaos, and give the highest knowledge, that leaves you in awe of Krishna.
You can have a great smile when everything is firm and smooth, but when everything is upside down and you smile, then you have achieved something. Everything was upside down, chaotic, wherever Krishna went, and yet the smile just captured it all. His smile was so big that people forgot their sorrow and joy just washed over them.
Even saints would fall in love in that energy field; people who have given up everything would be interested. The dispassionate will be attracted. The word Krishna itself means that which is attractive, which attracts everything. The very core of your being is such; the bliss of the self, the joy of the self is like that. Just draw everything. Symbolically, too, it’s so beautiful. Krishna was so charming that people could not get away from him. Young and old, boys and girls, and even the rishis, could not keep away; they would just follow him.
The gopis said, ”the love between you and me; only my soul knows.” The depth of love, joy and devotion was like wildfire around Krishna. In love there is 2 percent lust. In lust there is 2 percent love. You will have noticed when children are deeply in love, they come and hug you, they hang around your neck, they kiss you, they lick all the parts of your face. What do you call it, love or lust? Love. But the act is very lustful.
It’s the same with a puppy. When you return home, the puppy will jump on you and lick you with what he is expressing his love for. Intense love wants expression. You hug, you shake hands, you give flowers… nothing really satisfies. Love cannot be fully expressed, but it cannot be without expression. That is the nature of joy and love. You want to find an expression.
The love of the gopis and Krishna was such love. Krishna means the most attractive. It is the divinity that is most attractive; the energy that draws everything to it. Krishna is the formless center that is everywhere. Any attraction from anywhere comes only from Krishna. Often people fail to see the spirit behind the attraction and simply cling to the outer shell. And the moment you try to possess the shell, you will see that Krishna has played a trick on you and you will be left with an empty shell in your hands and tears in your eyes.
The mind moves towards beauty, joy and truth. Krishna tells Arjuna: ”I am the beauty in the Beautiful, the strength in the Strong, the wisdom in the Wise”. Be smart like Radha, don’t be fooled by Krishna. Krishna could not escape from Radha, because his whole world was full of Krishna. If you can see that wherever there is an attraction, there is Krishna; then you are Radha, you are in your center.
