How to bring joy into meditation and at what stage?
Right from the beginning, by looking forward to meditation and then by encouraging and developing the delight and pleasure of a relaxed body in the beginning stages of meditation. Then you will realise that the joy actually lives in your mind and gets generated by the way it looks at your body. Once cultivated that joy will also arise when you watch your breathing in meditation (or anything else in the world) with a still and kind mind.
In life you can smile at yourself in the mirror in the morning to boost your joy. Just as Ajahn was taught by his first meditation teacher. Exercise your joy muscles and know the benefits of joy and value them. When you smile you will find that you have more strength and resilience.
(This short video clips was extracted from the Q&A sessions of the 9-day meditation retreat at Jhana Grove in July 2023 led by Ajahn Brahm. If you would like to view the entire retreat here is the KZfaq playlist: • 2023 July | 9 Day Retr... )