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Quote by Lailah Gifty Akita

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Lailah Gifty Akita

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“Our basic instinct is something that is innate to us. It is not something we pursue or learn. A bird does not learn to sing. A bird is instinctively ‘songful’. Similarly a human being does not have to learn to be joyful. We are instinctively joyful. The reason we do not experience joy is that we have learnt its exact opposite – to be sorrowful. Sorrow is mental suffering or pain caused by injury, loss of despair. While pain is physical, sorrow and misery are mental states. Sometimes pain cannot be avoided, however, sorrow can be unlearnt. This is simply because sorrow is not real, sorrow is a mental make-up.”

“The Bodhisattva is in no rush. For once we have tasted a single drop of the bliss of bringing others into that freedom, with the Spirit of Enlightenment of love and compassion, once we have loosened the grip of the solid, separated, alienated self that is the core of self-centeredness, then we are already happy in a certain way. The Bodhisattva is always joyful, even when suffering. Bodhisattvas are always happy and cheerful under pressure, because they have felt the essence of reality as freedom (p. 223)”

“Society teaches you to find joy in the benefit of the self, as a result everyone grows up to be miserable, for the more you seek joy for yourself the more joy runs away from you, but the moment you forget the self and walk down the path of service to benefit others, joy comes running after you.”