The Joy of Mother

“We are born of Love; Love is our Mother.”
Rumi, Persian poet and mystic 1207-1273

Our first experience of Love is also our first experience of Mother. It is a blissful connection, and it is actually a re-connection. We knew our mother, only knew our mother, for the nine months prior to our birth into this world. We swam around constantly nourished and supported. All needs were met. There was a momentary separation that was soon repaired by our first instinct-driven meal. Mother’s milk. All nourishing, all supporting, once again. The same, yet something was new.

The full appreciation of this “newness” takes time, at least until adulthood. Even then many of us never can quite make it back to that direct connection with unqualified support and love. And yet..this is the essence of the Spiritual Path- to return to that state of uncompromising Bliss.

Many approach the Path as a way to return Home. Often there is a strong desire to escape this World of suffering and get back to a place of Joy. Is this the Purpose of Existence? Is this What the Divine desires? Does our Cosmic Divine Mother truly wish to throw us as a boomerang into a world of suffering only to return as we left? That would be an enormous amount of effort, to what gain?

Rather let’s think of it as what good mothers everywhere strive to accomplish- providing us with the tools and support to actualize our highest good. Fathers’ faces beam when their sons or daughters succeed. Mothers’ hearts swell with Joy when their children are happy and fulfilled. (Fathers in this modern world can also have their hearts burst with happiness, and mothers can take pride at their children’s successes, but it’s the “Mother” factor that rejoices in their Happiness).

It would seem that the “Joy” is an important element on the road to Enlightenment. If each day is a mere “getting by”, “surviving”, then leaving this world better off than how we entered becomes nigh impossible. Joy is the elevating and leavening component in the complex calculus of Life. When Joy leaves, the Path forward can become a downward spiral. So, how to find or at times reclaim our birthright of Joy?

I have had the pleasure of attending the seemingly impossible task and effort of Birthing.  (It is not called “labor” for no reason). Yet the moment the child first wails “I am here”, something shifts. Joy suffuses the scene, and pain recedes. This first Contact is very tactile, very experiential. Babe pressed against the Divine Breast. Asking All, giving All. No questions, just pure Joy and Bliss. This natural state is a reflection of a higher principle and a higher relationship. It is also something we can experience continually with practice, purpose and process.

So, let’s get to the “How”. This starts best with an affirmation of that Relationship. We ARE children of the Divine, born from Love, supported by Love, and returning on the Wave of Love. Without Love there can be no Joy. Again, one may ask, how exactly is this accomplished, given the common experience of a world most often seemingly devoid of love, kindness and understanding?

The first challenge for us is to root out those “Joy-killers” in our own inner garden of emotions, thoughts, and feelings. Weeds have been planted in that Edenic space, most often unconsciously by the world, our families, and even our friends. These pernicious weeds need first to be rooted out, and this necessitates our own hard work. It is our garden, and ultimately it is our responsibility to do this onerous work. We must catch these killers of Joy as soon as they surface, lest they crowd out our better impulses and desires. These weeds most often fall into two categories: (a) The “Shoulds”, and (b) The “Should nots”. They are two sides of the same coin, the currency of the Killjoys.

When we find them in our inner thoughts and feelings, and they threaten to bring down our natural state of Joy into various circles of Hell, simply take some time out, take some deep breaths and utter your own form of Self-Affirmation. Next, take it as an opportunity to plant seeds of Joy. Resolve to nourish what nourishes you. This may take the form of reading a book, going fishing, listening to some music, etc. How do you know it is the “right” one? This is simple- you feel Joyful. Allow yourself, one more time, to suckle on that ever-present gift of Love- that of the Mother.

Many of us have heard the phrase “to be born again”. Yes, that is a start, but without Joy, we cannot be nourished and we cannot proceed down that long path to our Fulfillment. Let our common Mother, who manifests as Love and Joy, be our constant and consistent companion. Allow Her Help. Ask for it. It is not something we can ever earn, yet it is also something that cannot EVER be denied us if we are truly open and ready to receive this Gift.

If, in following our Path, we can truly open our HeartMind to Her, we will receive the Ultimate Gift of Understanding- the Joy of Mother is the Mother of (all) Joy.