On April 14, I posted about laughing so much, maybe too much. Since then, I have noticed other related stressors. I asked a Zen teacher of mine if she ever ran into the problem of too much delight, too much joy, too much appreciation of every damned thing. She said,"Not hardly. Not yet." I appreciate the "not yet". I would not be surprised if she or others doing similar things have the problem or develop it.
There are concepts and a vocabulary that has developed to guide Americans toward applying certain parts of Buddhism to their lives. Words like
joy
awake
aware
focused
calm
self knowledge
acceptance
quiet
stillness
mindfulness
Over time, a person can become accustomed to meditating regularly. And applying the concepts over and over.
At some point, one is deeply aware of aging and of the many miracles of the body and the mind. Vision, memory, physical balance, digestion, the many aspects of habits and the unconscious but useful parts of living can get to be given top billing, steady attention. You can develop consciousness of the miracles of history, time, science, contacts with others. You can get to the point where you can elicit appreciation for your luck and skills at any time and do so deeply.
Sure, I have friends who like to say that the country is broken, dysfunctional, that the planet is becoming polluted on the way be being uninhabitable. These are educated thoughtful people, mind you. But I say that there is so much love, skill, compassion, empathy, insight as to be overwhelming. The books one can read, the movies and videos one can watch, the movements and projects one can engage in, the friends that can be written to, the minutes one can meditate, the prayers one can pray, the articles one can write -- it can all be too much.
It can help to associate with some of your favorite sourpusses, to savor the half-truths of silly commentators and writers, to see how limited the thoughts of many pundits are. Don't let yourself get swamped by over-whelming love and joy!
