I know that deep acceptance is the answer to my own quest for happiness. And it is meditation that has taught me how to accept.Happiness cannot be bought or sold, nor can you give it to a person who has not got it. Happiness is your own being, your own self, that self that is the most precious thing in life. All religions, all philosophical systems, have in different forms taught man how to find it by the religious path or the mystical way; and all the wise ones have in some form or another given a method by which the individual can find that happiness for which the soul is seeking.
—Hazrat Inayat Khan
Sunday, March 05, 2006
Happiness
Thomas Merton said the the monastery is a "school for happiness". The Dalai Lama says that all beings want to be happy and that this is the purpose of spiritual practice. Here's an interesting quote about the universality of the quest for happiness:
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Hi,
ReplyDeleteDuring meditation yesterday, as I was focusing on my breath, I became aware of a message. It was a kind of 'knowing': 'Pay attention to the space between the breaths, too.' So I began to become aware of that space, how my lungs feel as they get ready to fill up again...the slight pang of compression that comes before I actually draw in the new air. That space...that second in which the body takes a break from breathing...is very interesting. It is also uncomfortable. As I practiced over and over again, I became aware that this space, this uncomfortability, is part of the process. It is to be noticed...even appreciated...along with the joyful reassurance of full lungs. I think that this was a good message for me to hear...and to know. The uncomfortable parts of life are part of the process, my process. The stuff you can't figure out or that causes you pain and suffering--they are tied into the fun, peaceful times. Sad or happy, mad or at peace...these are just states of body and mind. They don't define me. And, if I choose to...or if I'm disciplined enough...I can recognize that...and accept the pluses and minuses together--as just experiences, simply experiences. One by one, they will arise and fall away...but I'll still be here.
These are all good awarenesses, Buddy. Now go one step further and ask yourself, "WHO is the 'I' who is saying 'I'll still be here'?"
ReplyDeleteoh, now that's a question.
ReplyDeletethe All that Is...God...the Spirit...who resides in me...and everyone in the universe.
this is what i feel...an instinctive, internal knowing. So, it is what I believe.
and you?
It's just a reflection question. It's the appropriate question to ask whenever we say "I".
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