“Blissfulness is the state of the human being where spirit, soul and body are united in a comprehensive rhythm.”
“What is joy? What is it in its deeper sense?
“Seen in the light of the Arcanum ‘The World’—the Arcanum of rhythmic movement or dance—joy is the harmony of rhythms, whilst suffering is their disharmony. The pleasure that one experiences in winter when one is seated close to a fire is only the restoration of an accord between the body’s rhythm and the rhythm of the air—that which we call ‘temperature’. The joy that friendship gives is the harmony between the psychic and mental rhythms of two or more people. The joy of good conscience is the accord between the moral rhythms of the lower self and the higher Self. The beatitude (Matthew v, 8) promising those who have a pure heart that they will ‘see God’ signifies the accordance of their basic rhythm with the divine rhythm. Joy is therefore the state of harmony of inner rhythm with outer rhythm, of rhythm below with that from above, and, lastly, of the rhythm of created being with divine rhythm.” Valentin Tomberg, Meditations on the Tarot, p630.
“What is pleasure? It is the lowest constituent of the scale: pleasure—joy—blissfulness—beatitude.
“Joy is more profound than pleasure. It is still an index, but what it indicates is deeper than the relationship between a desire and the event of its being satisfied. Joy is the state of soul which participates most intensely in life and experiences it in appreciating its value. Joy is the spreading of the soul beyond the limits of conscious awareness. It signifies an augmentation of the soul’s vital élan.
“Blissfulness is the state of the human being where spirit, soul and body are united in a comprehensive rhythm. It is the rhythm of the spiritual, psychic and bodily life brought into harmony.
“Lastly, beatitude transcends blissfulness in so far as the state which it comprises is higher than that in which the rhythm of the human spirit, soul and body holds sway; it is the state of the actual Presence of the ‘Fourth’—of God. It is therefore the state of the ‘beatific vision’ (visio beatifica) of Christian tradition.” Valentin Tomberg, Meditations on the Tarot, p285.
“To work in a negative way is useless. It is only through some kind of delight, some feeling of joy or pleasure or some genuine affection or desire, that a person can work and bring about any change of Being in himself.” Maurice Nicoll, Psychological Commentaries, p1742-43.
“The opposites are thieves because what you build on one is undermined by the other. Or, to put it differently, joy leads to sorrow. But whatever is built in the centre cannot be taken from you. Let us take understanding as an example. If you really understand something, if you have seen the truth of it yourself, it is in the middle, and stands in the Third Force.” Maurice Nicoll, Psychological Commentaries, p330
“Authentic inspiration always entails an inner upheaval. It pierces the soul like an arrow in wounding it and in making it experience that profound emotion which is a synthesis of sorrow and joy. The symbol of the Rose Cross—a cross from the centre of which a rose blossoms out—renders the essence of the experience of inspiration in the best way that I know. The Rose Cross expresses the mystery of tears, i.e. that of inspiration, with force and clarity. It portrays the joy of sorrow and the sorrow of joy, which together comprise inspiration.” Meditations on the Tarot, p389
“The joy which results from truth and the belief which results from joy— here is the key which opens the door to understanding the Arcanum of the world as a work of art. For it is this Arcanum which will reveal the world to us as a work of divine creative art, i.e. the world of Wisdom ‘who was at work beside him…rejoicing before him always’ (Proverbs viii, 30), and it is this Arcanum again which will reveal the world to us as a work of art of deceptive mirage … or, in other words, on the one hand the world which reveals God by manifesting him, and on the other hand the world which hides him by covering him.” Meditations on the Tarot, p629-630
“There is no need to take pity on [the itinerant Hermit, the peacemaker]. For he has his joys, and these are intense. When, for example, he meets another itinerant hermit on the way, what joy and what happiness there is in this meeting of two solitary travellers! This joy has nothing in common with that of the intoxication of feeling free from the burden of responsibility which plunging into collectivity brings about. On the contrary, it is the joy of responsibility encountering the same responsibility, which together share and alleviate the responsibility of a third—one who said of his earthly life:
Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests; but the
Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head. (Matthew via, 20)
“For it is the Master whom all itinerant hermits follow and serve. It is then the joy of two who meet one another in his name, and where he is ‘present’.” Meditations on the Tarot, p223
Logion 86
Yeshua says...
Foxes have dens and birds have nests,
but the son of humanity
has no place to lay his head and rest.
On Joy and Sorrow
Then a woman said, Speak to us of Joy and Sorrow.
And he answered:
Your joy is your sorrow unmasked.
And the selfsame well from which your laughter rises was oftentimes filled with your tears.
And how else can it be?
The deeper that sorrow carves into your being, the more joy you can contain.
Is not the cup that holds your wine the very cup that was burned in the potter’s oven?
And is not the lute that soothes your spirit, the very wood that was hollowed with knives?
When you are joyous, look deep into your heart and you shall find it is only that which has given
you sorrow that is giving you joy.
When you are sorrowful look again in your heart, and you shall see that in truth you are weeping
for that which has been your delight.
Some of you say, “Joy is greater than sorrow,” and others say, “Nay, sorrow is the greater.”
But I say unto you, they are inseparable.
Together they come, and when one sits alone with you at your board, remember that the other is
asleep upon your bed.
Verily you are suspended like scales between your sorrow and your joy.
Only when you are empty are you at standstill and balanced.
When the treasure-keeper lifts you to weigh his gold and his silver, needs must your joy or your
sorrow rise or fall.
Kahlil Gibran
Page numbers for Maurice Nicoll refer to Psychological Commentaries on the Teachings of Gurdjieff and Ouspensky (Eureka Editions:2020) unless stated otherwise.
Quotations from the Gospel of Thomas are from Lynn C Bauman, Ward J Bauman, Cynthia Bourgeault, The Luminous Gospels (Praxis 2008)
Valentin Tomberg, Meditations on the Tarot, Jeremy Tarcher, 1985
Read the Impression introducing the Gospel of Thomas.
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