“This perpetual longing for happiness – which can, by definition, never be fulfilled because that very search itself denies the happiness that is present in our own being now – condemns us to an endless search in the future and thus perpetuates unhappiness. It is for this reason that the poet said, “Most men lead... Continue Reading →
Cherishing Ordinary Moments "In our most ordinary days we have moments of happiness, moments of comfort and enjoyment, moments of seeing something that pleased us, something that touched us, moments of contacting the tenderness of our hearts. We can take joy in that. I find that it’s essential during the day to actually note when... Continue Reading →
All living beings seek happiness and the causes and conditions of happiness and wish to avoid suffering and the causes and conditions of suffering. That natural intelligence is a sign of the buddhanature and is known as the natural disposition toward enlightenment.The activation of that natural disposition into actual movement toward enlightenment starts when you... Continue Reading →
We speak of the preciousness of human existence and its potential for constructive productivity, yet few of us manage to put this into practice before we grow old. We spend decades of our lives wanting happiness, peace, and contentment — without sowing the causes for that aspiration. Why did we not plant the seeds of... Continue Reading →
The aim of far too many teachings these days is to make people “feel good,” and even some Buddhist masters are beginning to sound like New Age apostles. Their talks are entirely devoted to validating the manifestation of ego and endorsing the “rightness” of our feelings, neither of which have anything to do with the... Continue Reading →
If you plant a seed in the ground and all the right conditions are present, such as perfect soil, water, and heat—every thing is together and there are no obstacles—then no matter how much you pray for the plant not to grow, it will grow. It will definitely grow because the seed planted in the... Continue Reading →
Whenever the competitive mind and jealousy come up, then you need to do the work. Now, some people will think that this is very positive thinking: “We need to work with competitive companies and competitive people and we need to work harder to improve.” But my point is that our competitive and comparing mind is... Continue Reading →
When I was a young monk, I wondered why the Buddha kept practicing mindfulness and meditation even after he had already become a Buddha. Now I find the answer is plain enough to see. Happiness is impermanent, like everything else. In order for happiness to be extended and renewed, you have to learn how to... Continue Reading →
Our first concern tends to be our own search for happiness and our attempts to escape suffering. But if you step back and see yourself as just one among the whole infinity of sentient beings, your individual wants and fears begin to look insignificant in comparison. Just as you want to be happy, so too... Continue Reading →
“There is no one thing that can make us happy. When we expect stability from the world of things we make ourselves vulnerable to disappointment. When things change, a they inevitably do, we think the phenomenal world has turned on us, our bodies disappoint us , the pleasant feeling we got from our meditation session... Continue Reading →
Consider this: whomever we think is close to us now, and for whom we have warm feelings toward now, all these relations will eventually change. By the same token, someone who we feel aggression towards now, could later become close. Relationships always change. So that aggression, just as much as our attachments, has no permanent,... Continue Reading →
When it is warm with tenderness and affection toward others, our own heart can give us the most pure and profound happiness that exists and enable us to radiate that happiness to others. That happiness is right here within us. It is not something on the outside for which we need to search and strive.... Continue Reading →
Among the most central of all Buddhist psychological principles are the Four Noble Truths, which begin by acknowledging the inevitable suffering in human life. This truth, too, is hard to talk about in modern culture, where people are taught to avoid discomfort at any cost, where “the pursuit of happiness” has become “the right to... Continue Reading →
The discovery that peace, happiness and love are ever-present within our own Being, and completely available at every moment of experience, under all conditions, is the most important discovery that anyone can make. - Rupert Spira
Since everything in the world simply arises, remains, and then passes away, how could it bring us any lasting happiness? We have to ask ourself, ‘Have we ever experienced happiness in the past? Have we ever experienced pleasure? Pain? Suffering?’ We can see that these feelings simply arise, remain, and then pass away. There is... Continue Reading →
Gradually I began to recognize how feeble and transitory the thoughts and emotions that had troubled me for years actually were, and how fixating on small problems had turned them into big ones. Just by sitting quietly and observing how rapidly, and in many ways illogically, my thoughts and emotions came and went, I began... Continue Reading →
Nazim Hikmat, the great Turkish Poet once asked his friend Abidin Dino, Turkish artist and famous painter, to draw a picture of Happiness. He drew picture of a whole family, cramped up on a broken bed, under a leaky roof in a shabby room, but still with a smile on each member's face! The painting... Continue Reading →
Many great teachers have said” “it is only the foolish that go looking for happiness outside of themselves; the wise and learned know that all happiness and the causes of happiness are present in ourselves, in our own mind and heart.” What this means is that happiness is up to us. If we know how... Continue Reading →
