It is not the worship of a person that is crucial, but the
steadiness and depth of your devotion to the task. Life itself is
the Supreme Guru; be attentive to its lessons and obedient to its
commands. When you personalize their source, you have an outer
Guru; when you take them from life directly, the Guru is within.
Nisargadatta Maharaj
Editorial
,
I have two articles for you this week, which I hope you will
enjoy. One examines how we know what we think we know. The other
deals with a much needed topic for our present times: how to achieve
happiness!
I hope you enjoy the ezine.
Regards,
Asoka Selvarajah
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John Stuart Mill, who lived from 1806 to 1873. is credited with
having the highest IQ of anyone who ever lived. So most of us
might do well to ponder his words about Happiness:
"Those only are happy who have their minds fixed on some object
other than their own happiness: on the happiness of others, on
the improvement of mankind, even on some art or pursuit, followed
not as a means, but as itself the ideal end. Aiming thus at
something else, they find happiness by the way."
Interesting isn't it?
We can't ever really find true happiness unless we fix our minds
on something other than our own happiness! It is when we do
something for its own sake, for the sheer pursuit of excellence,
that we can approach that intangible happiness we seek. Through
helping others and seeking to improve the lot of all mankind, we
find our own happiness.
People very often believe that if only they could get their own
ego needs met, then they would be happy. However, this is an
illusion. To begin with, it focuses upon lack, i.e. what you do
NOT have or are NOT. This kind of focus is not a source of
happiness in that very moment. It focuses upon striving in the
future to create that which you feel you lack NOW. However, this
is not a source of internal happiness, now or in the future.
Finally, even if you do get what you were seeking, you find that
your desires have expanded, so that you are no longer happy with
what you have striven for, now that you actually have it!
A focus upon self and one's own needs, while seeming to make
sense as a source of happiness, really does not deliver the
goods.
However, what John Stuart Mill's quote is really saying is that
we should try to be happy in the moment, in what we are doing
right now, and do it to the best of our ability.
It seems a paradox, but it is so very true. Consider this, if you
will. You can never really be unhappy, as long as you are focused
on living in the present moment, in the NOW. Your feelings of
unhappiness only really emerge from regrets and fears regarding
the past or the future. However, if you focus upon NOW, it is not
really possible to be unhappy. Eckhart Tolle is the leading
modern exponent of this concept, and is highly recommended, if
you wish to study this concept in depth.
On a metaphysical spiritual level, we might say that there is no
"other" anyhow, but rather all of us are manifestations of the
same one Spirit. Hence, it makes no sense for "me" to be happy
all by myself, if I am not also looking out to help others too.
By focusing on "my" happiness, I emphasize my own separateness,
my own illusion of division from other beings. The extreme
example of this behavior is the Saddam Hussein mentality - a
person who creates an enormous repressive structure to
subordinate an entire nation, just so that he can feel better
about himself. Yet, deep down, he never really does.
Most of us do something a bit like this, but obviously to a very
much lesser degree. We fill our lives with "stuff" we can buy,
strange career ambitions, throw in a spouse or two and a couple
of kids, and create a huge edifice that is supposed to make us
happy. Then, we sit back and wonder why it didn't!
You can reach material satisfaction without achieving true
happiness. On the other hand, you can also be very poor and be
happy. It all depends upon how you have trained your mind to BE
in the present moment. Helping others achieve happiness has a
tendency to reinforce the universal aspect of your existence, and
reduce the ego-centered "Me First" mentality.
The Bodhisattva ideal in Tibetan Buddhism is an interesting
example. Here, extremely spiritually advanced beings, having
escaped from the trap of worldly rebirth and suffering, and on
the verge of passing into the transcendent bliss of
Enlightenment, refrain from doing so and instead vow to remain
for many eons to help countless other suffering beings reach the
level they have achieved themselves.
The idea here is the same: nobody wins unless everybody wins. In
the final analysis, the division between self and other is an
illusion. The Bodhisattva ideal demonstrates this very forcibly.
Mill also stresses that happiness is largely a by-product. It is
not an end in itself. Hence, those who "pursue" happiness never
find it. Instead, you find happiness by being absorbed in a
worthwhile pursuit - making it an end in itself - rather than a
means to an end.
Many people enter a lucrative profession as a means to make a lot
of money, and not because the profession fascinates them that
much in itself. Unless they DO find a passion within the
profession, they may end up wealthy, but extremely unhappy with
their lives, hating every minute of their job and feeling the
sense of pointlessness that comes from having wasted life. This
might even be you! Of what use is all the money then?
Contrarily, those people who truly excel in a profession,
financially lucrative or otherwise, are those people who do it
because they make an end of it in itself. Often, they would do it
even if there was no financial reward at all.
You can find a way to happiness by exploring those things you
love to do and immerse yourself in them to the extent that hours
may pass without you noticing it. Do those things MORE. You can
also find happiness by helping others be happy. This is actually
one major secret to financial wealth as well, although few people
know it. Give other people what they want, and they will give you
what YOU want!
In conclusion, the message is that in order to be happy, you have
to be less involved in your own happiness and more involved in
the happiness of other beings.
Make others happy and you become happy as a result. Involve
yourself totally. Throw yourself into what you are doing in life,
and happiness will result. If you are compromising, i.e. doing
something you hate as a means to an end so that good will result
one fine day, STOP! Begin to do more of what you love NOW and let
that grow until it fills your life. Then happiness will be yours,
and you will be better able to bring happiness to the world.
Asoka Selvarajah is a writer on personal growth and
spirituality,
and the author of "The 7 Golden Secrets To Knowing Your
Higher
Self". His work helps people achieve their full
potential, deepen their
understanding of mystical truth,
and discover their soul's purpose. Learn more about his work
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