An introduction to joy.
Posted by John on March 30, 2002 at 11:26:42:

When the physical human body has consciously let go of all of the negative emotional tensions that have contracted blocks of muscles within our bodies
in reaction to the impact of aggravating events in our lives—when we have awarely and intentionally let go of all the tensions of fear, loneliness, anger,
envy, shame, anxiety, sadness, and guilt from within—then, whatever it is that happens to be going on at that time . . . . . . joy appears in the field.
And, in mindful awareness, we can know this joy experientially.

So that doesn't mean that joy is just an absence. Joy is not just an absence of tensions. Joy is a positive emotional force of its own. And just as the
negative emotions are clearly *feelable*, the phenomenon of joy is clearly *feelable* as well. You can go into your body with your mindfulness turned
on and know it with the same certainty that you can know fear, anger, and sadness, for instance, the tangible negative feelings. Joy is real. Joy is a
positive force that is present where negative emotions used to be. Negative emotions are a contracting force. And joy—the experience of all the
positive emotions—is an expanding force.

Notice that I am using "joy" as a combining term here. Joy is all the positive emotional feelings combined, in this model. But I'll also get into the specific
positive feelings later on in this class—courage, solitude, humor, artistic sensitivity, sweet rest, enthusiasm, tenderness love, and friendly love. I'd like
to attempt to demonstrate here that for each of the particular basic negative emotional feelings, there are these particular corresponding, reciprocal
positive emotional feelings, as well. And when I get to this I'll show you that the locations of the positive feelings are *the same places in your body*
where the corresponding negative feelings show up. (For instance, the experience of courage shows up in the shoulders where fear takes place,
humor shows up in mouth and jaw, in the same muscles where anger takes place, tenderness love is perceived in the heart area where sadness was
taking place, etc.)

To make this all easy to understand, what you need to get in touch with is that all emotional feelings, negative and positive, have a *direction*. The
direction of the negative feelings is inward. The direction of the positive emotional feelings is outward. With negative feelings, the body is clutching-
up, getting "uptight," as they say. With positive feelings the body is releasing, getting "loose." Negative feelings are all *contracting*, and positive
feelings are all *expanding*. The story of the negative and positive emotional feelings that all of us humans have is about "being heavy" . . . and "being
light."

You students here have already seen alot of the contracting side of human emotions in this class—the clutching up of negative emotions, and
discussions we've had about working with that. But you haven't become very familiar so far with the expanding side of this picture. And there is a
way of consciously working with this expanding side of our emotional life, as well.

Let's take a little inventory of a few of the common things in life that are associated with "good feelings." What are the things that obviously feel really
good? — Orgasm is a good example. See if you can empathize that orgasm is an "outward phenomenon." The direction is outward, opening
outward in the world. It is an explosion outward of tensions that have built up within. — Or, take laughter. Ha, ha, ha, ha! The direction of laughter
is from within, outward. Farting is another good example. Right? It feels good. Again, there is a build-up of tension within, and the direction is
obviously outward. Or, take excitement and enthusiasm. Imagine a cheerleader, leaping off of the ground, throwing the head and the arms and the
legs outward with great excitement. That's enthusiasm! Cheering, itself, is a good example of this. Most of the remarkable things that feel good in
ordinary life have an outward direction. They involve the explosive transition from tensions that have been building up on the inside of our bodies to
sudden expansive movement in an outward direction—orgasm, laughter, farting, excitement. — Joy is an outward explosion of inward tensions.

Here I might point out that this same direction, or orientation—moving inward and moving outward—can be seen as the basic orientation of all the
major organic functions of our human lives— coming out of the Earth and Sky. Being born into life, breathing air in and out . . . going out into the
world, and coming home . . . eating and drinking and deficating, in and out . . . conversation with fellow humans (hearing in, and talking out) . . .
having sex and procreating . . . eventually, dying to life and returning to the Earth and Sky. Everything in human life goes in and out. So there is
nothing unusual about the fact that human emotional feelings are also oriented in and out.

I'm not just trying to give you students an intellectual theory here. I'm trying to give you something *observable* about your life— something you
can witness and experience when you are being mindful.

When the direction of emotions is inward, the body becomes heavier, more dense, more compact, more solid. When the direction of emotions is
outward, the human body becomes lighter, more expansive, more spacious. As the body becomes more dense, we have the negative emotional
feelings. As the body becomes more light, we have the positive emotional feelings. As we clutch up, negative feelings appear in the field. As we
release and let go, positive feelings appear. Put another way, the negative feelings are a function of tightening up, tightening up, tightening up. The
positive feelings are a function of releasing, releasing, releasing.

This human emotional process of tightening and releasing, tightening and releasing is going on in our bodies all the time. The "way we feel" at any
given moment is a function of where we are in this cycle. When we are really tight, we feel tangibly awful. When we are releasing and really loose,
we feel tangibly "sublime." This is joy.

And here is where that simple cosmic principle that I mentioned recently comes in—"Resistance creates persistence." Resistance is "not flowing with the
way that it is." If we are not awarely flowing with the body when it is tightening up—if we are not acknowledging and accepting the reality of that
(cf. processing)—then there is resistance. And, on the other side, if we are not flowing with the body when it is releasing—if we are not
acknowledging and accepting the reality of that—then there is resistance.

So there can be aware processing of both negative and positive emotional feelings. But usually in ordinary everyday life, there is not. Processing the
negative feelings makes them dissolve. Processing the positive feelings makes them "fly farther and farther into the space" (that is, augments them,
"makes them become great," so to speak). But in the ordinary sleep of everyday life, people don't participate in their emotional life this way.

And this is HOW all the human emotional troubles come in. When we are tight—with anger, let's say—what do we do? Do we experience it and
acknowledge it? Do we accept it as it is? For the most part, what we do is deny it. We oppose it, we fight against it. We are asleep. We are
untrained. What ordinary humans normally do with a negative emotional feeling like anger is resist it. And resistance creates persistance of the
heaviness of it. Instead of the natural process flowing onward unimpeded, flowing on to joy again, our resistance gets in the way. And we become
stuck in anger, for instance (the same is true with the other negative emotional feelings) for prolonged periods of time. Our very resistance to it is
what makes it go on lasting. Resistance keeps us stuck on the tight side of the cycle, and keeps the light side of the cycle out of our lives.

The exercises of processing feelings are designed to create the acceptance of negative feelings, the aware experience of them as they are, without
resistance. By intervening with our ordinary human resistance to these negative feelings, and changing that into aware acceptance, the cycle is freed
up and moves on to the positive side again, and joy.

Processing feelings is both acceptance of inward tensions, and letting go. It is in this intentional letting go, consciously, awarely, that one aligns one's
body with the expansive phase of the cycle. In letting go, letting go, letting go, one deliberately aligns one's body with the direction that leads
towards joy.

The experiences you shared about this the other day, Deirdre, are all very pertinent to these observations.

>I wouldn't turn anger on another -- why would I turn it on myself.

Mindfully working with the emotional feelings this way is not "turning it on the other person." And it isn't "turning it on yourself," either. It is just
"going with it, the way it goes." This work has to do with mindfully and deliberately putting one's body into the natural flow of the emotional feelings
themselves. In doing so, one *knows* all of these feelings experientially, yet one's body becomes less and less *at the effect* of these emotions . . . and
more and more "at one with" them, in tune-with and in harmony with the simple obvious reality of human emotions.

>I wonder why when I have joy it is not something that needs to be verbally or physically expressed.

When you have joy, Deirdre, it *is* expressed. It's expressed in the expression on your face, the tone of your voice, the demeanor of your body, the
dance your body does around the room. It's expressed in your vibes. And it is an opportunity for you to put your whole body into it, intentionally,
and express your joy to the very fullest.

If you are not doing that—as most people may not—it may be an example of "resistance." Jesus once taught, "Resist not evil." The awareness game
coaches, "Resist not joy," as well. Too many people in this world spend too much of their time resisting joy when it comes to them. You are entitled to
the fullest measure of all of the joy that you get, when joy comes around. And, of course, almost universally, humans are devoted to resisting anger,
too, when anger comes around.

When your body is being angry, resist not anger (lest you wind up acting-it out violently—unconsciously and automatically). When your body is
joyful, resist not joy (lest you cheat your Being of all the natural joy that you've got coming in life). That's the way to fly, in this approach. And your
joy is not only a gift to you, but a gift to those all around you, as well.

>[Joy] just needs to be felt and unfortunatly it will relax into the field of our general experience until the next time we recognize joy again.

Yes, I get it! I understand what you mean in expressing your experience so vividly here. I can relate to this. I am only saying there is something you
can do about this. Processing both sides of the cycle awarely shortens anger and prolongs joy. But you consciously have to put in a burst of your
own energy, on purpose, to have joy last longer than it usually does (in the ordinary human condition). Joy is not necessarily supposed to be fleeting.
Align your being consciously with joy, when it's there, and you may see what I mean.

>Anger tho seems to have a feel of cummulation and is not so easily released.

Yes, that's true. So, process, process, process! Work on it "cumulatively," persistently. (*Great* experience-sharing here, Deirdre!)

>I would prefer to hold on to joy and yet it is difficult to hold -- anger however seems to have a more sticking adhesive. Two emotional experiences that, in general, our selves seem to hold entirely different. At least from my own experience.

Yes, good observation. They *are* different. Anger is contracting and joy is expanding. So, "holding onto joy" isn't the way that works if you wish to
have more of it. You are right that we can't "hold on to joy." Trying to hold onto joy cuts it off.

In processing anger, we start in releasing to it, releasing to it, and anger dissolves into joy. And when joy appears—instead of trying to hold onto it—
keep right on with the *releasing*! Release to joy, release to joy, keep releasing to it. Release to joy joyfully! This is the way to align your body with
the expansive experience of joy.

........................................................................

Well, I'm running a day behind . . . missed out posting on the last day of the school year, by golly. And we're a day into Spring Break already. Talk
about "contrition." Sorry about that, Folks. I'll have more to share, to round this topic out when the next semester begins. Even though I've got a late
shift today, I don't have time now to get the rest of this class done. It will have to just stand, for the time being, as "An introduction to joy."

I hope this is being a joyful Passover and Easter time for those of you observing that. I hope it will be a joyful Spring Break for all of you.

I haven't decided exactly when the Sixth Grade will commence. I'll post a notice before long.

I apologize Eddie and Student John for intended responses that didn't get done. I'll keep my notes and get back to that when we gather again. —
Hi, Jeff. Good to know you've been around. Eon and Rakesh, hope you are doing well in your hectic parts of the world.

I love you All, and I thank you from the bottom of my heart for the contributions you have been making to this class. Here's to joy, to every one of
you!!!

Coach

As has been our custom in the past, you students can post conversations in Classroom Talk during vacations and breaks, as you feel moved to do. I'm
sure I'll check in from time to time, to see if anything's going on . . . but I probably won't post more responses until later. See you then!

Gotta run.

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