Philosophy
Speak of the child as the Divine with His holy attributes, love, beauty, life, truth, and joy. Let the child be the Divine who holds all the joy, beauty, life, and love in the world. Decide that joy is that mysterious force that makes everything move in this universe. Then, Joy takes on many names, fondness, kindness, strength, but still remains the same essence present everywhere in the world. Every sentient move the child makes is directed by his original Self, a sentient joy, the Divine. Every interaction of the child with his environment brings about changes that result in a diversified creation. The distribution of the essence of joy, love, beauty, and life, about the child and his actions, varies with the purpose and the amount of joy involved in the actions. The distribution and the exchange of joy, love, life, and beauty among living beings make the Ecology of Joy.
The purpose of the ecology of happiness is to educate the children to value joy, love, beauty, and life in their everyday lives. Educators and parents tend to think that as long as children are happy and perhaps showing some signs of affection, the children are getting the best chance for human education. Unfortunately, that is not enough. Telling children to be happy will not make them better human beings as they grow up. Making them happy will certainly give children an excellent opportunity to develop some of their potentials, but that potential may merely be learning academic subjects in better conditions.
What happens to all the tender feelings when the child has become an adult? We do not have to wait so long to notice a lack of spirituality. From age seven, the main functions of the brain are set. If these functions do not include the study of love, joy, and beauty, the child has already wasted the best potential of his childhood. It is not enough to make successful graduates if their social life is unhappy. It is also not enough to make moral adults who are just as passive because they cannot pass their inner blocks.
The purpose of this magical philosophy is to help the child realize his true Self and learn to be in union with himself and the world. Such an approach to life predisposes the child to realise the true value of his Happiness and its effects on the world. His happiness becomes a source of infinite potential, an inner force which he must use in his daily life. His life is set for fantastic adventures that can only bring success and Joy.
An intuitive education
There are two forms of consciousness: (1) The artificial consciousness provided by your brains; that is the one you use all the time. (2) And the consciousness of your true self, the one that expresses joy, kindness, compassion, beauty, wonder.... That is the one that is called the Divine — the Divine within you. That is the one that provides your beautiful emotions, the concepts of righteousness and morality. Intuition is the use of that divine consciousness.
Divine consciousness – your true self – provides intuitive intelligence. Your brain’s artificial consciousness provides intellectual intelligence (which is artificial intelligence).
Traditional school education only focuses on the development and the use of intellectual intelligence (your brain). Nothing of it promotes intuitive intelligence. Consequently, nothing is taught about the most important things of life, happiness, kindness, respect, integrity, self-worth, family, etc. Although intellectual intelligence is necessary to develop, education should begin with intuitive intelligence.
Intuitive intelligence and divine consciousness are recognizable by their happiness, kindness, and compassion. Intuitive intelligence also provides a clearer and deeper sense of awareness. It feels alive and powerful, yet gentle and subtle. An intuitive education is to train the child to develop (or retain) that divine awareness.
Intuitive intelligence
The Ecology of Joy is a philosophy and a program to develop intuitive intelligence. It states that the feeling of happiness we casually feel is the expression of a much deeper consciousness that encompasses and operates our universe. Happiness, love, beauty, life... are attributes of that consciousness.
The Ecology of Joy uses a practical approach to train the child to live intuitively by interacting with nature. It teaches the child to recognize his feeling of happiness and identify with it. Then, the child needs to transmute his feeling into an inner force, which he learns to use when performing any action in his daily life.
As a result, the child develops a spiritual identity, grounded in love and happiness, which reflects on his environment. Moreover, his loving connection to the environment enables him to interact with it in a magical way, thus surpassing himself in every field, and revealing a prodigious personality.
The Ecology of Joy promotes the use of happiness as a life-force or presence to transform yourself, and interact with your environment.
The purpose is to live intuitively in harmony with nature.
How can you do this? By attributing divine qualities to your Self, the way you do things, and the way you see your environment.
What are these qualities? Joy, Love, Beauty, Life, Wonder, Truth....
EOJ has the understanding that Happiness is Consciousness. You are Consciousness; therefore, human beings naturally identify with happiness.
You learn to use happiness... in everything you do.
How? Through feeling, flowing, acting correctly, letting go of control, and learning to wonder and trust.
And so, you embark on a fantastic journey of the soul with practical implications in your mundane life.
The practises
The Ecology of Joy promotes three practises.
Celebrations
The celebrations of happiness, love, beauty... consist in offering your most beautiful feeling as a gift to someone or something for his benefit.
Invite Joy
Invite the Divine to do what you want to do, especially, when you face a challenge.
Mindfulness
Calm your mind following your breathing. Accept the way you feel.
The principles
The Ecology of Joy’s philosophy stands on four principles:
FEEL
. Know who you are
· Acknowledge that the Divine is happiness.
· Identify with your happy feeling.
FLOW
. Let the Divine do
· Use your beautiful feelings to do things.
WORLD
. Do for others
· The world is you.
LET GO
· Let go of control.
1. KNOW WHO YOU ARE
ACKNOWLEDGE THAT THE DIVINE IS HAPPINESS
Joy
Let the child know that Joy is the greatest value in the universe. Joy is Life in every living being. Joy is the infinite Consciousness that creates this universe. Nothing moves without Joy. In this grand game of creation, you tend to forget who you are. But life allows lets you realise that the happiness that is in you, is the force that can bring back this world to its original happiness.
The Divine is happiness
We all search for the meaning of life, especially when our lives are miserable. We all come to value peace, happiness, and love more than anything else. The reason is that this universe is made to celebrate love and happiness. That is also the reason why we keep on returning to it, especially with the experience of old age. We intuitively know that there is a connection between divine love and the love we feel.
Love and happiness are the highest values that we know. We describe our creator as absolute bliss. We do not know what ‘absolute’ means, but we know something about love and happiness.
Nature teaches us how to love. We all learn to love our parents, our children, our friends, the places where we live, our traditions, and our country.
Absolute happiness is the source of spirituality. Because happiness is also divine consciousness, it is the stuff the world is made of. Happiness is everywhere, just as consciousness lies quiescent in every atom, every stone, every organism, and every human being.
Not only is happiness the stuff the world is made of, but happiness also makes the force by which everything moves.
IDENTIFY WITH YOUR HAPPINESS
Joy is the child’s True Self
Most people identify with their body, name, status, skills, and crude mind. EOJ gives the child only one identity, Joy. Joy is the child's feeling when he is himself, 'You are the joy you feel.' If the child feels unpleasant feelings, he is not himself. In this case, Joy has sunk deep inside the child and needs to be recalled. The child needs to be revived. Guide the child to always identify with Joy.
Why Joy?
Happiness dwells in every child. Children are filled with happiness. We can see how happy they generally are and how thrilled with Joy they can be. They are masters of happiness. As they have a little ego and no mental blocks to cover it, they manifest it easily. But when we observe them more closely, we quickly see that happiness is not the only quality they have. Their face shines with wonder. There is beauty in their eyes, their looks, and their cuteness. Happiness in children expresses with many subtle qualities. Love is spontaneous. We can see that happiness sometimes manifests with Joy and sometimes with love freely given. And their wonder adds a fascinating beauty to it.
The child identifies with Joy: ‘I am the Joy I feel’
Giving the child a divine identity is the most precious gift you can give to him. When he is able to recognise his feeling, he must identify with it. It helps the child looking inwardly when searching for answers instead of looking outside at superficial things for random associations.
Who are you? Where do you come from? Why are you here? What is all this? These are tough questions every human being asks for himself at one time or another. Some people never get any answer. Others identify themselves with their personality, the way they look, or their influence among people.
The child is not his body. However cute the child appears, he is not just a physical body with an innocent mind. He is the closest one can be to the Divine, for the qualities he exalts are those of the Divine: innocence, beauty, happiness, dynamicity, speed, creativity, playfulness, love.... The child is a genuine manifestation of the Divine for as long as his mind has not been taken over with mundane perceptions.
The feeling of love is to be experienced in the classroom and in life. It is a noble thing to feel love through one’s action, but it is another to realise that the Divine is actually doing things through us and experience it first-hand. Love is Joy –- Love is the child.
Tell the child who he is. Tell it simply. Do not go into complicated explanations.
Just speak the essential without trying to ‘explain’ too much. Songs are a very good medium. What makes a spiritual concept difficult is an absence of inner beauty on the part of the adult, being complicated, dry-reasoning along with unseen fears, complexes, and the like. When the teacher can present a concept with a feeling of joy, love, or beauty, the lesson is imparted. But of course, it is the duty of the teacher to let the child experience happiness as his true self. No mere ‘explanation’ can make the child experience joy or beauty.
It makes a huge difference to one’s self-esteem to know that the Divine is constantly expressing through one’s person. Experiencing one’s joy as the Divine’s presence guaranties an assuring origin.
‘Beauty is life when life unveils her holy face.
But you are life and you are the veil.
Beauty is eternity gazing at itself in a mirror.
But you are eternity and you are the mirror.’
— Gibran Kahlil Gibran: 1883-1931
When addressing the child, talk to Joy
Do not talk to his body. Talk to Joy in the child’s body. Assume that the child’s level of consciousness is no less than Joy’s Consciousness. Grant the child with the aesthetic qualities and the understanding that an old soul possesses. If the child behaves otherwise, he is not himself and needs to be revived.
Who is Joy?
Joy is consciousness, happiness, love, beauty. Joy is also the child’s True Self.
2. LET THE DIVINE DO
A mind dominated by fears and selfishness generates a dark and painful world. It is the kind of situation humanity has endured until now. But nature is not supposed to create darkness, no more than humanity exists to suffer aimlessly. Every human being wants fulfilment and happiness, and nature is made to provide it. That is its true purpose. Darkness subsists only when you cannot connect to your True Self. Once you connect to your original consciousness, nature becomes benevolent. It transforms your life and makes it a life of fulfilment and joy. Letting the Divine do means letting the best part of you take the lead in your life. The best part of you is divine.
Children are already in a lofty state of consciousness. They must learn how to preserve it like their most precious treasure. They must be trained to use their innate happiness to lead meaningful lives.
YOUR SUBTLE MIND
Human beings have two minds
The mind that we are accustomed to is the crude mind produced by the brain. That mind is considered to be an imitation of the original mind, which is the soul. The crude mind imparts an artificial intelligence based on information that is gathered through the senses of the body. The crude mind uses reactive thinking, based on the assumption that it must protect itself against a dangerous world. The crude mind is easily scared, anxious, and upset and provides a behaviour that is often contrary to the soul’s more human conduct.
The subtle mind is the soul. It is the portion of the subtle mind that continues its journey after the body dies. The subtle mind is considered to be happier and more balanced than the crude mind. Joy is the original consciousness that resides within the soul. The child is expected to be connected to his soul and original consciousness as far as possible. EOJ proposes to guide the child to identify with his original consciousness and not with his soul, even though the two work together. In fact, the children are closer to their souls than adults. Their subconscious is still shallow and free, allowing them to easily cross from their crude mind to their subtle mind.
What to tell the child? Do not tell the child about his subtle mind. Simply, mention Joy. Therefore, there is only Joy and his body.
‘Ask Joy’ is a magical practise that trains the children to look inward.
Why should you ask Joy?
You are the embodiment of happiness. Therefore, it is expected that you use happiness in your actions. Here again, happiness includes love, beauty, life, and truth. So, you are expected to use happiness, love, beauty, life, and truth in your actions.
You must recognise your feeling of happiness as the Divines’ happiness. And as you do anything, you literally flow with the Divine’s happiness into your action.
You ask Joy to help because this universe is too big, and your small human mind cannot compute such a significant work. Joy or the universe manages to provide what is right for you. You cannot do it by yourself. Joy can, and Joy wants to do it because you are Joy’s body, and this is Joy’s world.
Why ask?
Letting Joy do your work is not enough. You may say, ‘OK, Joy, you do it,’ and a few seconds later forget what you just said. That wouldn’t work. Therefore, you want to feel Joy doing its work through you. You want to feel the flow of love or happiness running through your body and mind.
‘Letting’ sounds like ‘expecting’ Joy to work through you while you are watching. And your subconscious mind may not let Joy do its job. To make sure that you address Joy, you must go beyond your subconscious mind. That is why you must address Joy specifically and ask Joy to do what you want to do. The words are simple: ‘Joy, you do it.’
Asking Joy means switching minds
When speaking to Joy, you also address your subtle mind. Joy refers to the other ‘you’ — your True ‘You’. Train the children to use their subtle minds. Asking Joy means switching from your brain to your subtle mind (soul).
What can you ask from Joy?
You can only ask for positive actions. They should also be devotional actions. Do not ask for things you do not do. When doing your positive action with a loving feeling, it becomes a devotional action. (Loving or happy, kind, heartfelt, beautiful, painful, great.)
Do not ask for stuff and favours. It doesn’t work. For example, do not ask Joy to take care of your family, then wait and see. Joy will take care of your family only if you take care of your family yourself. Then Joy will do it through you with improvements.
Do not ask Joy to do something negative with you. It doesn’t work. Only ask for positive actions.
Do not ask Joy to do things for you. Joy is your boss; you are a servant. Ask Joy to do things with you or through you.
Can I say, ‘Joy, help me’? Yes, but it ruins your purpose. Your purpose is to surrender to Joy. Your body belongs to Joy; you work for Joy. Joy wants to do things Himself through you (your body). ‘Joy, help me,’ gives importance to you (your brain and body). But the important entity is Joy, not you. The correct wording is: ‘Joy, you do it.’
After you have asked Joy to do something with you, you still have to do it yourself. Your action must be a devotional action. That is, you must do what you do with a beautiful feeling. That is called a Celebration.
Children must learn to use happiness in what they do in their everyday life.
After asking Joy to do what you want to do, you still have to do it. And of course, you must do it with your best feeling. When you do something for someone, you share your beautiful feeling with that person.
When you do anything with happiness (love, beauty), it is a Celebration. It is the celebration of joy, love, beauty, life, and truth. You celebrate joy when you employ Joy in what you do.
A Celebration is the gift of your best feeling to someone or something.
CELEBRATIONS
Children are fascinated by magic. It is a fantastic medium that focuses on their subtle mind and inner essence, Joy. When Joy does anything, it is magical. When you do anything using a sweet feeling, it becomes magical. That is, the outcome tends to improve.
Guide the child to see magic
Let the children see the magic in everything positive. Simple phenomena that we take for granted, such as shimmering light, vibrant colours, good health, good mood, etc., are magical when perceived from an elevated soul. Children’s perceptions need to be kept as high as possible, ideally, from their souls. To the children, you may say, light is Joy, bright colours are joyful, good mood is Joy’s happiness that they feel like their own.
It is essential to guide children to switch from their brains to their souls, from intellectual intelligence to intuitive intelligence. Do it as often as possible. However, it doesn’t mean that rationality should be neglected.
3. DO FOR OTHERS
THE WORLD IS WITH YOU
The world is the playground upon which we learn life-lessons. But the playground is not separate from us. It is our unconscious mind displayed before us. The playground is the part of ‘me’ that we still need to explore. The world is foreign to us when the issues it represents lies deep in our unconscious mind.
People are other ‘me’
The most important human being in the world is the child himself – 'me.' Other people are other 'me.' They are the replica of his human consciousness. The child and his entourage share the same consciousness, but they often get confused by their body's awareness.
DO FOR OTHERS
Selfishness is a paradox
Doing for others is the most misunderstood concept in human life. Most people are consciously or unconsciously driven by selfishness. Being selfish is a paradox that always creates havoc in our lives. It seems that our universe has been designed to promote sharing between all its creations. Animals and plants do not have a choice as they are guided by nature. But human beings are free to choose between good and evil. Being selfish is behaving like animals. Therefore, if we want to be genuinely human, our motivations must always include the benefitting of others and the universe. When we do that, then the universe grants us everything we need. The key to more happiness is to offer it to others.
Doing for others is an essential lesson that we have to learn in this world. It leads to developing morality, giving respect to others and nature, and developing the spirit of sacrifice. We live in this world in the pursuit of these human qualities — because they are divine qualities.
4. LETTING GO
LETTING GO OF CONTROL
Control is not an issue for young children. It applies only to adults.
Letting go of expectations and control
Expecting means controlling. You are not aware that you want to control what should happen. But you do it anyway. When you get scared and doubt yourself, you do control what should come to you. And when you try to control the work of the Divine, you block it. That is why you must let go of expectations and control.
Letting go of expectations may not apply to young children
Young children reach high levels of consciousness and know magic. Their ability to know is well above the adult’s awareness, which is diminished by expectations.
Adults expect an outcome
Once you ask the Divine to do what you want to do, you generally expect it to happen. At least, you hope to see some improvement in something you would poorly do. Such an expectation is counterproductive. Your thoughts can influence the outcome and ruin it. Therefore, accept whatever comes. If you fail, do not call it a failure. In the beginning, your subconscious mind needs to adjust to your new belief, and it may take some time. The facts show that the less you expect, the better the outcome is. And if the outcome takes a long time to manifest, trust that Nature is preparing something that will exceed your expectations.
TRUST YOURSELF, YOUR BEAUTIFUL FEELING, OR THE DIVINE
Trust is not an issue for young children. It only applies to adults.
Young children know
Trust is an issue that concerns adults but not young children. Young children have no difficulties believing what you say. If you say, ‘that exists,’ they know that it exists. They do not doubt it. You indeed have to convince a child that doesn’t understand what you say, but the child will believe your logic. Children are used to not understanding the world around them. They will give you time to prove your argument until they experience it.
Trust
You must trust your beautiful feeling, trust that love is consciousness, trust that it is for real. Trust is a practise. Trust the flow of Joy that runs through your body. Trust what comes after you have asked Joy to do something you want to do.
The fear of uncertainty