Acceptance, Enjoyment, and Enthusiasm

I am in Denver for a gathering of Anusara Yoga certified teachers for a week - and I am looking forward to seeing friends, experiencing community, and imbibing words of wisdom from the Siva scholar, Paul Ortega-Muller, whom I have had the pleasure of listening to before. To hear him speak is to literally drink in and become intoxicated by poetic musings that are both ecstatic and sensual. I simply cannot wait for the many delights this week will surely yield!

Last night I read the final chapter in Eckhart Tolle's A New Earth. I have been savoring this book - line by line - and morsel by morsel. Like a fine gourmet meal - I am satisfied but I will surely miss the web casts and discussions.

In the twilight of evening, as the day yielded gracefully into the evening - I listened to music on my deck for what seemed to be hours. I enjoyed each and every moment as I danced in the moonlight and was kissed by the evening breeze and was blessed by rustling limbs on the trees. Beauty and joy surrounded me.

Then when I retired, I read the last chapter. Here are some of the sections that spoke to me - and related to my experiences earlier in the evening...

There are three ways in which consciousness can flow into what you do and thus through you into this world...The modalities of awakened doing are acceptance, enjoyment, and enthusiasm...If you are not in the state of either acceptance, enjoyment, or enthusiasm, look closely and you will find that you are creating suffering for yourself and others...

Whatever you cannot enjoy doing, you can at least accept that this is what you have to do...Performing an action in the state of acceptance means you are at peace while you do it...

The peace that comes with surrendered action turns to a sense of aliveness when you actually enjoy what you are doing...Joy is the dynamic aspect of Being...

Joy does not come from what you do, it flows into what you do and thus into this world from deep within you...You will enjoy any activity in which you are fully present...

The joy of Being is the joy of being conscious...

Enthusiasm means there is deep enjoyment in what you do plus the added element of a goal or vision that you work towards...

This is why Ralph Waldo Emerson said that, "Nothing great has ever been achieved without enthusiasm..."

I thought of this on the plane as I watched the movie "The Bucket List" with Morgan Freeman and Jack Nicholson. I remember the movie did not get great reviews. Yet parts of it touched me profoundly...

There is a moment when both of the actors are gazing at the pyramids and the Morgan Freeman character recalls - as I posted recently - that ancient Egyptians were asked two questions before they were allowed to proceed to the afterlife: Did they experience joy in their lives - and did they bring joy to others?

Without giving details of the plot away, let me just say that one of the characters does experience joy profoundly before he dies by opening his heart to giving and receiving love...

I end this day with gratitude for the many blessings received, and for the opportunity to experience joy in so many simple ways.

May you too, find and bring joy!