(back to Still Water Dharma Topics)

Simple, Unadulterated Delight
Thursday, August 14, 2008

 
 
Dear Sangha,

When I am drawing my last breaths and I look at all the riches of my existence, at the top of the list will be fatherhood, and the spectacular gift of dancing through life with my son, Daniel.

Dan has a singular gift for delight - the ability to be captivated, surprised, and overjoyed by his experiences. Last Sunday, he and I went on an outing together. I kept it a surprise, telling him only that we were going to do something fun. I was really excited, myself - we were going to the movies to see an animated film about a fun-loving, introspective and rotund panda who aspires to be a martial artist. We got to the movie theater, and five seconds after I bought the tickets Dan said, rather glumly, "I don't wanna see a movie." 

"Uh oh," I thought. "This isn't going well." 

But I asked him to just watch a little bit and see how he liked it, and he agreed, still not knowing what movie was playing. We sat down in the theater and watched a couple of previews. Then, when the movie started he instantly recognized the title. His face absolutely burst forth in a big, bright smile, and he said, "Kung Fu Panda!!" (Captivated, surprised, and overjoyed, remember?) I was watching him as he reacted to the movie, and I couldn't help being completely drawn in. And although I liked watching the movie itself, being present to Dan's un-self-conscious happiness and engagement made it a gajillion times more fun. 

My capacity for delight has grown enormously since Dan came to our family. To be sure, it's partly because of my exposure to his capacity for engagement with the world. But it's also because of my willingness to be fully present to him during those moments, so that perhaps I am learning it from him at a limbic level.

This evening at Still Water, I'd like to do something a little different. I invite you to simply share your experiences with delight, and to see what it feels like to be present to that delight - your own and others' - while we share. 

I think it'll be fun!

Warm wishes,

Peter Cook