20 Aug Happiness lies deep within us
Happiness lies deep within us, in the very core of our being.
Happiness does not exist in any external object, but only in us,
who are the consciousness that experiences happiness.
Though we seem to derive happiness from external objects or
experiences, the happiness that we thus enjoy in fact arises
from within us.
Whatever turmoil our mind may be in, in the centre of our
being there always exists a state of perfect peace and joy, like
the calm in the eye of a storm. Desire and fear agitate our
mind, and obscure from its vision the happiness that always
exists within it. When a desire is satisfied, or the cause of a
fear is removed, the surface agitation of our mind subsides,
and in that temporary calm our mind enjoys a taste of its own
innate happiness.
Happiness is thus a state of being – a state in which our
mind’s habitual agitation is calmed. The activity of our mind
disturbs it from its calm state of just being, and causes it to
lose sight of its own innermost happiness. To enjoy happiness,
therefore, all our mind need do is to cease all activity,
returning calmly to its natural state of inactive being, as it
does daily in deep sleep.
Therefore to master the art of being happy, we must master
the art and science of just being. We must discover what the
innermost core of our being is, and we must learn to abide
consciously and constantly in that state of pure being, which
underlies and supports (but nevertheless remains unaffected
by) all the superficial activities of our mind: thinking, feeling
and perceiving, remembering and forgetting, and so on.
HAPPINESS AND THE ART OF BEING
Michael James
Image: http://thevishnuexperience.com/product/
