Joy, Loving Kindness, Respect

You are searching for joy in your life. However, it is never possible to sustain joy if you are causing suffering in any way to other living beings. One of the things that has led to a distinct lack of joy in today’s world is the complete disregard that most people have for the feelings of other living beings. This does not just include human beings but also applies to animals. A culture that thinks nothing of slaughtering millions of animals a day to satisfy their craving for hamburgers will never be able to experience guilt-free happiness. When the mentality is to exterminate any creature that has the audacity to invade the artificial space that humans have stolen from nature, the mentality of the populace will never be peaceful. If you want your life to be more peaceful you have to look at the amount of respect you show to all living beings in all aspects of your life. You must be able to acknowledge every form of life and recognize that it is also a living creation of God and has as much right to exist on this planet as you do. When you make a conscious decision to respect that right and therefore not be responsible for knowingly taking the life of another living being then you will begin to find your life changing. The next step is to move from not harming others to actually showing loving kindness toward all living beings you encounter. When you reach this stage of acting with love towards everyone and everything then you will certainly be joyful and enthusiastic about living a wonderful life.