Joy Is Not Complicity

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Joy Is Not Complicity

Rated

4.9

Type

talks

Activity

Meditation

Suitable for

Everyone

Plays

60

A student in my Finding Serenity course named Jackie put it better than I ever have: joy doesn't come with the price tag of complicity. In this talk, I share her message and my response — an honest conversation about the daily challenge of acceptance in turbulent times. Acceptance is not surrender. We can grieve what's happening, take action to change what we see as harmful, and still wake up each day with joy, love, and goodwill.

Meet your Teacher

Los Angeles, CA, USA

Meet your Teacher

Los Angeles, CA, USA

Transcript

Jackie is an Insight Timer subscriber who is taking my Finding Serenity course. This week she left me this message. She wrote, Acceptance is an almost constant practice every time I listen to the news. I suffer with rage, Despair, Deep sorrow and shame. Acceptance is a tough one. But joy is not complicity. I can still find the joy, Love and gratitude in my life amidst the chaos. But it is a challenge. The line from her message that jumped out at me was, Joy is not complicity. I hadn't heard it put that way before. I wrote back to her. Jackie, I hear you. Me too. It seems that acceptance will always be a stretch for me in this lifetime. Listening to the news without judging is very challenging. I am continually having to remind myself that I really don't know how it will turn out. I am continually reminding myself that maybe all the people and events that make me feel rage, Despair, Deep sorrow and shame are what all of us have to go through to evolve. I recently came across this quote about acceptance. J. Krishnamurti in a talk given in the late 60s said, I have no problems because I don't mind what happens. His way of saying that as long as I keep the judgmental part of my thinking under control, I won't succumb to the cloud of suffering that follows. Jackie, I don't know if you've come across it yet in the chorus, But one of my favorite quotes is from Byron Katie who said, I'm trying to teach a cat to bark. Hopeless. And yes, Jackie, Joy doesn't come with the price tag of complicity. I get joy from taking action to change what I see as harmful. Your statement, I can still find the joy, Love and gratitude in my life amidst the chaos, Is a great description of the work I think we're all called to do. The work is to remember that the chaos is mostly between my ears and the antidote is not minding. The antidote is not arguing with reality. Jackie, Thank you for your words, Your feedback. It has helped me to grow along with you. Jackie's brilliance is so beautifully expressed in that one sentence. Joy is not complicity. Acceptance is not surrender. We can work to make the world a better place and do it each day with joy and love and goodwill.