Joy is an emotion generated by the mind alone. Whether it is related to sensory objects or not, joy is always a creation of the mind. Either the mind creates joy with the help of objects, or it does so without objects. That is why people prefer a virtuous life to a merely prosperous one.
You can learn to delight on values and inner enrichment. This is how ethics become supreme in making a civilization strong and lasting.
Although Krishna has been stressing the need for asakti(detachment) throughout (in Bhagavadgeta), he knows very well how hard it is for the human mind to give up sakti (attachment) or to rise above its attachmental notes. Right in the beginning he had denounced sanga,showing in an explicit manner how it leads to total downfall (Bhagavadgeeta 2.62-63). He also emphasized the need for expanding the mind by developing a non-attachmental vision, anabhisneha: (2.57). His cardinal position is: One given to detached activity is by far the excellent human model (3.7).
[An extract from a question-answer session with a seeker.]
Question: Is saadhana meditational?
Answer: Meditation is only one part of it. I emphasize more and more the pre- and post-meditational saadhana. I call it `Interactional Saadhana'.
People are meditating but they are not able to strike the right chord. Even after decades of practice, they say, they have not made any progress. It is because they lack purity of mind, subtlety and refinement of intelligence. They don't have qualities like love, sympathy and tolerance.
