Joy in the context of spirituality is not the same as happiness.
Happiness is a feeling that,
like all feelings, comes and goes,
while joy is a more fundamental attitude toward life.
This joy doesn’t change your circumstance;
it embraces it.
Joy doesn’t make your situation other than it is;
but reveals the greater reality in which it is.
Being aware of the greater reality
always manifests as joy.
The more narrow the attention,
the more focused we are on fleeting moments
of happiness and sadness.
The wider our attention becomes
the more aware we are
of an unending flow of joy.
Rabbi Rami Shapiro
