A Thing of Beauty: On Joy That Endures

VICTOR KANNAN on beauty, joy, spiritual growth, and the search for what endures.

What is a thing of beauty? We experience beauty as something that gives joy. But beauty commonly fades. If that is so, can the joy it brings endure forever? And if our joy can endure, must there be a kind of beauty that does not fade? And would enduring joy remain unchanged, or deepen as our understanding deepens?

We often take beauty to mean form, color, or expression. But these change, diminish, and disappear. That kind of beauty cannot sustain joy.

I have heard it said that simple is beautiful, small is beautiful. There is something true in this—but not in the way we usually take it. Beauty is not decoration. It is not something added. There is something innate about beauty—original, natural, uncontrived, authentic. It is without pretension. It is true to itself, and for that reason, it is grounded in reality. What we recognize as beautiful has a certain quality: it does not depend on conditions to sustain it. It does not exhaust itself. It is this kind of beauty that gives rise to a joy that does not fade.

In spirituality, we seek reality. All our seeking—whether in love, relationship, work, or meaning—is for that reality. Even if we seem to seek in the wrong places, we are only seeking that. We do not knowingly seek in the wrong places; we do so unconsciously. As we grow in our seeking, we become pattern-bound, and those patterns are supported by unawareness.

As our seeking evolves, we begin to experience joy—an inner condition that is subtler, steadier, and more satisfying. As awareness deepens, this inner condition begins to guide our seeking, becoming a key indicator that we are moving in the right direction and guiding our spiritual practice.

Daaji talks about AEIOU—acquiring a spiritual condition, expanding it, imbibing it, becoming one with it, and uniting with it completely. It is a matter of receiving a condition and deepening it until we become that condition. In time, another condition arrives and settles upon it, and the process continues.

Through such practice, we are transformed. Yet this transformation is not the creation of something new; we discover that what we have become is what we originally were. The condition we experience now is what we had when we were first created—innocent, pure, radiant. A thing of beauty.

Joy in Wisdom

As Daaji explains in his book, The Power of Paradox, the innocence of a child is not sustainable as we grow into adulthood. We must develop wisdom. Wisdom in the adult is the equivalent of innocence in the child. Both arise from purity. Purity and wisdom are inseparable.

We say that we are growing older and wiser. But aging does not guarantee wisdom. Wisdom brings the right perspective in life, and that perspective sustains the inner condition of joy. A joyful heart shows even in an aging face—settled through time, integrated with the evolution of life itself.

What does this inner condition of joy consist of? We have many terms to describe it—happiness, pleasure, fun, feeling good. These are often used interchangeably, but they do not refer to the same thing. They describe how we feel at a given moment.

Joy is often spoken of in this way. We say that when shared, it multiplies.

"Shared joy is a double joy; shared sorrow is half a sorrow" is a well-known Swedish proverb that emphasizes the importance of community, companionship, and empathy in life's highs and lows. It means sharing positive news magnifies happiness, while sharing pain or grief with others lightens the emotional burden.

Joy in Service

I read a Chinese saying when I was a very young boy: “If you want to lift yourself up, lift someone else up.” This stayed with me. When you help someone in need, their heart fills with gratitude, and that feeling reflects back to you. You feel happy.

Wisdom in the adult is the equivalent of
innocence in the child. Both arise from purity.
Purity and wisdom are inseparable.
 

Joy in service is the fulfillment that comes from giving time, energy, and love to others without expecting anything in return. It shifts our attention away from ourselves and gives meaning even to small acts. In this sense, service becomes a condition for the emergence and continuity of joy.

“We cannot give what we do not have” is a truism. Not all of us have money, time, or energy to give. But love is not limited in this way. We can always give love, because it does not require anything else as a precondition. As Mother Teresa reminds us, it is not the scale of what we do, but the love with which we do it that matters.

As I was leaving for the US in 1983, my Master Chariji advised me to serve unobtrusively.  To serve in this way is to be attentive without drawing notice—anticipating what is needed, responding quietly, and creating ease for others without interrupting or placing oneself at the center. When love is present, it expresses itself naturally in this way—without effort, without display.

Joy in Greeting

When joy exudes from the heart in a natural manner, one cannot help but greet others joyfully. Joyful greetings go beyond simple pleasantries—they express warmth, care, and genuine interest.

Joyful greetings go beyond
simple pleasantries—they
express warmth, care, and
genuine interest.

We see this most easily in the way we greet children, especially when they are young—“Good morning, sunshine.” When this becomes natural in us, it extends to others as well.

When someone greets us with that same warmth—“It is wonderful to see you”—we respond in kind. Such greetings acknowledge the other person and create a natural connection.

Losing and Finding Joy in the Jungle of Life

We know life is no bed of roses—even if they do come with thorns. Most of the time, it is because we take joy as being conditional. When joy depends on circumstances, it becomes unstable—rising and falling as those circumstances change. Recognizing and fostering unconditional love, happiness, and joy alone make them real.

Babuji often placed the word “real” before qualities like love, happiness, and joy to emphasize that, when tied to material conditions, they are ephemeral.  Pleasure is ephemeral. If pleasure becomes the basis of happiness, happiness becomes ephemeral. And if such happiness becomes the basis of joy, that joy cannot endure.

The Katha Upanishad distinguishes between preyas and shreyas—the pleasant and the truly good. Pleasure appeals to the senses and gives immediate satisfaction. But when the conditions that gave rise to pleasure pass, sorrow follows. To avoid that sorrow, we seek the same pleasure again, and in doing so, become bound to the very action that produces it. Pleasure-seeking is therefore not wise. And where there is no wisdom, can there be room for joy?

Whereas, if we recognize that inner joy is unconditional and can only be attained through the spiritual orientation of our being and our seeking, we attain freedom. Preyas brings about ignorance and bondage. Shreyas begets joy and freedom.

If material well-being becomes the basis on which we depend for love, happiness, joy, and even the fulfillment of our goals, then all of these remain uncertain and cannot endure. For even in the pursuit of material goals, if we seek something lasting in them, we are in fact reaching beyond the material to the real. Otherwise, the beauty and joy with which we were greeted at birth are lost in the jungle of life.

The good news is that only in this jungle of existence can we find beauty, joy, and lasting reality. No amount of reading about it can convince us. It requires a change in orientation—a turning toward the divine, keeping it in view—and, above all, a direct, felt experience of that forceless force that carries life within it.

Without existence, we cannot experience reality, nor can we experience bliss. Existence is given. We are in it. We are part of it. The real question is: how do we exist in such a way that this becomes a living reality?

Joy in Spiritual Search and Finding

The great saints and sages who came before us walked the earth like us. They toiled to find answers to the eternal question of why we are here and the purpose of creation. As we move through this search, cultivating joy becomes a companion.
As we live our lives cultivating joy in all our expressions, we begin to attract grace. Even in the normal course of life, when we feel joy in our hearts, we act with patience. We greet people with warmth and concern. We open doors for others. We yield while driving. We understand when someone cuts us off. We do not react unnecessarily. We remain centered, connected, and in the flow of life.

Babuji expressed this simply: “Joy attracts grace.” I take this to mean not only in the spiritual sense, but in all dimensions of life. 

As we live our lives cultivating joy in all our
expressions, we begin to attract grace. Even in the
normal course of life, when we feel joy in our hearts, we
act with patience. 

How can we separate spiritual life from daily life? How can we separate night from day? How can we separate ourselves from others? We are connected in many ways—not by a single fiber, but by many.

Joy is one such fiber, along with love, humility, and authenticity. When life becomes well-connected in this way, it becomes a thing of beauty. So it is joyful. This is a certainty, not merely a hope. Get involved in life in a way that reveals the real beauty within. Then joy is no longer something we seek, but something that expresses itself naturally in all that we do.

^{1 Chariji refers to Shri Parthasarathi Rajagopalachari (1927–2014), the third guide of the Heartfulness tradition.}

^{2 Babuji refers to Shri Ram Chandra of Shahjahanpur (1899–1983), the second guide of the Heartfulness tradition.}
 

Illustrations by LAKSHMI GADDAM