Happiness is elusive - difficult to find, catch, achieve, and define. We know the things that make us happy and the things we hope will lead to happiness. We know the absence of happiness - dissatisfaction, boredom, loneliness, emptiness. But the presence of happiness is elusive.
So, what is happiness itself?
What is the presence of happiness - what is it made of - it’s essence?
The essence of happiness is elusive because we do not know how to orient our attention beyond the forms of life - toward essence. Happiness is beyond circumstances, situations, and conditions. Happiness shines through the forms yet it is rooted beyond them.
Happiness is huge. It is not as part of the sacred. It is not an essential quality of the sacred. It is not a piece of wholeness. Happiness is the sacred itself. Happiness is another word for wholeness, for the sacred.
Buddha said “there is no way to happiness, happiness is the way”.
We are all conditioned to orient solely toward the forms of life and we are not taught how to orient toward the sacred, toward happiness.
The sacred is not a place we land. Happiness is not a thing but it is also not nothing. I am pointing toward the real essential realm where happiness truly abides.
Happiness cannot be found the way we find other things - and this is glorious. Because happiness is not a thing, it is indestructible and freely accessible.
Learning how to orient toward essence - happiness - is a process. It is a bit like developing a muscle that you do not even feel at first. You may need the support of a weight to initially feel an undeveloped muscle. As soon as you learn how to flex the muscle against a weight, you begin to be able to flex that muscle without the external resistance of a weight.
Eventually, you will be able to orient toward happiness anywhere at anytime regardless of the conditions of your life. But, it helps to initially use the things in life that you have been assuming bring you happiness. These things are like your weights - they give some “resistance” to activate the undeveloped “muscle” of orientation beyond form. It helps to notice the effects of happiness - they way it feels in your body and mind.
We know happiness is real. What makes us happy is infinitely different but happiness itself is universally real. A moment of happiness is a moment of orienting toward the sacred - a moment of experiencing yourself as the sacred. The only difference is that we learn to associate happiness with moments and forms that come and go - rather than seeing it as an essential state of our being - universally accessible and unwavering.
Happiness is universal and it has universal qualities - facets of unity. Some of these qualities include love, peace, joy, trust, truth, radiance, wholeness, innocence, purity, integrity, oneness. These qualities are deeply nourishing. When we are nourished by these sacred qualities, life is precious, meaningful, and happy.
Happiness is woven throughout my writings, videos and courses. My heart is devoted to unpacking essence making it more and more accessible for everyone. Happiness, and all of it’s sacred qualities, is the way forward as individuals, families, communities, and nations.