Daily Meditation: Saturday, February 18, 2012

Ideal, spiritual - aspiration to greater joy

02/18/2012

Even if they recognize how important it is to have an ideal, most people are afraid of having to sacrifice something for it. It is fear that prevents them from renouncing certain things. But fear is born of ignorance. So many people imagine a spiritual ideal will deprive them of life’s joys and pleasures! And yet the opposite is true: to have a spiritual ideal is to aspire to greater joys than the ones you were once content with. The five senses atrophy in those who lead an ordinary, mundane life. Those with a spiritual outlook, on the other hand, can sense the nuances and subtleties of beings and things. Not only are they not deprived of any joys, they actually increase the pleasures they are able to experience and heighten their quality. For the whole of nature is ready to shower its treasures upon the soul and spirit of those whose intelligence and heart are open to receive them.