The Power of Joy

 Everyone wants to be happy and joyful. How wonderful it would be if we can cultivate true joy within us in everything we do!

True joy nourishes our mind and body. It can be generated in whatever we do, even in our practice of meditation. When there is joy and concentration during our walking, sitting or any other types of meditation, we are doing our practices correctly. If we do not feel joyful, something is wrong with our practice.

When we are joyful, not only does it benefit us, it can also inspire others to be joyful. This is because when we are happy, our joy is naturally felt by the people around us. When we share our joy with one person, we are already offering joy to many people.

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Source: "Answers from the Heart" by Thich Nhat Nanh

Purpose of Retreat

People go for retreats for various reasons. For those attending a Buddhist retreat, the purpose is not about learning more about Buddhist psychology or a particular sutra. Its purpose is to help us untie the knots that we possess within us.

These knots are mainly of 2 types: i) our concepts and ideas and ii) our afflictive emotions. All of us have concepts and ideas. When we become attached to them, we loose our freedom and open mind. When this occurs, we are no longer in touch with the truth in life. The second type of knots that we possess is our afflictive emotions such as fear, anger, arrogance, despair and discrimination.

If we wish to be in touch with reality, we need to remove our concepts and ideas. If we wish to be happy and be free, we need to overcome our destructive afflictive emotions. One quick way of doing so is to go for a retreat.

During the retreat, when we listen to a Dharma talk, we are not polluting ourselves with more concepts and ideas. Instead, the actual purpose of listening to a Dharma talk is to help us release the concepts and ideas that we hold on strongly. We listen so as to get free from all notions and concepts.

Source: "Answers from the Heart" by Thich Nhat Nanh