"Unstoppable Joy" is a kirtan-infused music video and song by Marya Stark that centers a liberatory vision: what if all beings in all worlds were free from suffering and desire, bursting into collective joy? The work weaves together mantric affirmation ("I am that I am that I am Love, Unstoppable Love"), visual art (sand mandalas, human mandalas, flash mobs), and the philosophical premise that joy is not individual attainment but a shared resonance available when consciousness recognizes its own unified nature. Adapted from Paul Mataruse's marimba composition "Tenda," the song operates as both spiritual inquiry and invocation—asking what becomes possible when all eyes see the perfection inherent in existence.
What Is the Central Vision of "Unstoppable Joy"?
The song opens with a contemplative question that frames the entire work: "I wonder what might happen if all the beings in all the worlds were free from suffering and without desire and burst into unstoppable joy." This is not a naïve optimism or escapist fantasy. Rather, it articulates a specific spiritual inquiry rooted in Buddhist and Vedantic philosophy. The question assumes that suffering and desire are not inherent conditions but habitual patterns that can be released. Once released, the natural state—according to the tradition—is joy, not as an emotional high but as a stable resonance of being.
The second verse expands the vision from individual liberation to cosmic interconnection: "I wonder what might happen if all the stars in all the skies were strung together with a common thread and shone together in common light, the light of love." Here, Stark shifts from a question about consciousness to an image of unified radiance. The "common thread" and "common light" suggest that separation is illusory—that all phenomena, when perceived from their true nature, are already woven together. This aligns with Advaita Vedanta and non-dual mysticism, where the appearance of multiplicity masks an underlying oneness.
How Does Mantric Affirmation Work in the Chorus?
The chorus pivots from inquiry to declaration: "I am that I am that I am Love, Unstoppable Love / I am that I am that I am Light, Un-fade-able Light / I am that I am that I am Joy, Unstoppable Joy / I am that I am that I am that I am, Unstoppable Joy."
This structure mirrors classical mantra and kirtan practice. The repetition of "I am that I am" echoes the Hindu mahavakyas (great utterances) such as "Tat Tvam Asi" (Thou Art That) and "Aham Brahmasmi" (I Am Brahman). By chanting these lines, practitioners are not asserting ego-based identity but rather invoking an identification with the unchanging, eternal source of existence. Love, Light, and Joy are not presented as qualities to acquire but as the intrinsic nature of what "I" truly is when the false, conditioned self-sense dissolves.
The cumulative repetition—stacking "I am that" across multiple rounds—creates a rhythmic anchor that allows both singer and listener to move beyond conceptual understanding into direct resonance. The breath, the body, the voice all become vehicles for embodying the recognition. This is the method of mantra: not intellectual affirmation but vibrational alignment.
What Role Does Visual Art Play in Conveying the Message?
The official music video is not merely decoration; it is integral to the teaching. Three primary visual motifs appear:
- Sand Mandalas: Andres Amador creates sand mandalas (intricate geometric designs made on beaches or in natural spaces) that are then erased or dissolved. This directly embodies the Buddhist principle of impermanence and the illusory nature of form. The mandala's destruction is not tragic but liberating—it demonstrates that all appearances arise and dissolve within a timeless emptiness.
- Human Mandalas: Filmed at Boom Festival, hundreds of people arrange themselves into a massive mandala pattern when viewed from above. This visualizes the concept that individual consciousness, when aligned to a shared intention, creates coherent form. The bodies become brushstrokes in a living mandala, demonstrating unity-in-diversity.
- Flash Mobs: Organized by Brynne Flidais and Moveintuit in Santa Cruz and Portland, spontaneous gatherings of dancers break into choreographed movement to the song. Flash mobs are inherently about collective joy erupting unexpectedly in mundane public space—joy that "cannot be stopped" because it arises from genuine recognition of connection, not from manufactured enthusiasm.
Together, these visual elements translate the song's abstract philosophy into sensory experience. The viewer witnesses impermanence, unity, and collective joy not as concepts but as lived events.
What Does "Perfect in You and Me" Mean in the Third Verse?
The third verse asks: "I wonder what might happen if all the eyes began to see the mystery of love unfolding in the perfection of you and me." This verse shifts from cosmic-scale inquiry to intimate recognition. "The mystery of love unfolding" suggests that love is not something to achieve but something continuously revealing itself. The "perfection of you and me" does not mean flawlessness in a conventional sense but rather the recognition that within each being, exactly as they are, the fullness of existence is already present.
This is a crucial teaching: liberation does not require becoming someone other than who you are. Rather, it requires seeing through the illusion that separation and incompleteness are real. When "all eyes" see this perfection simultaneously, the foundation for unstoppable joy is laid. Joy arises not from denial of difficulty or pain but from the recognition that beneath all forms, a unified consciousness persists.
How Does the Song Address the Rhythm of Collective Awakening?
The chorus builds to a phrase that emphasizes collective synchronization: "the boats hands together to the rhythm of one song singing." This image—boats and hands, multiple forms moving to one rhythm—again illustrates the principle of unity-in-diversity. It is not that all boats become one boat, or all hands become one hand. Rather, separate forms discover a common rhythm, a shared frequency. "One song singing" suggests that beneath the noise of individual concerns, there is a single note of existence resonating through all things.
The song itself becomes that "one song"—when listeners and performers join their voices and bodies to it, they are not merely enjoying entertainment but literally enacting the vision: separate beings aligning to a common frequency. This is the power of congregational kirtan and the reason such practices have persisted in spiritual traditions for millennia.
What Is the Philosophical Foundation of This Vision?
The song draws on several overlapping traditions. The Hindu concept of Brahman (the unchanging, non-dual source) provides the metaphysical framework. Buddhist philosophy contributes the understanding that suffering is not intrinsic but arises from ignorance and desire. Contemporary earth-based and festival culture (evidenced by the Boom Festival footage) adds the embodied, celebratory dimension—the insistence that spiritual realization is not separate from joy, dance, color, and community.
Importantly, the song is not preaching a future state. It is asking what becomes possible when such recognition is present now. The "unstoppable joy" is not a reward for future enlightenment but the natural expression of consciousness recognizing itself. The video, through its flash mobs and mandalas, suggests that this recognition is not rare or reserved for monastics but potentially available to any gathering of beings who align to this intention.
Where to Go From Here
If the vision of "Unstoppable Joy" resonates, several paths of engagement are available. First, listen to the song repeatedly—not as background music but as mantra, allowing the repetition to work on the nervous system and psyche. Second, explore the philosophical sources: read selections from Advaita Vedanta (Ramakrishna, Ramana Maharshi) and Buddhist teachings on emptiness and interconnection. Third, consider attending or participating in congregational kirtan, where the principles explored in this song are enacted in real time with other practitioners. Finally, notice in your own experience moments when the boundaries between self and other feel permeable, when joy arises not from personal gain but from connection—these glimpses are the lived foundation of what Stark is pointing toward.
