Being Happy

Happiness is not something we achieve; happiness is our original state of being. We have to let the gloss and dross of our everyday world slip away from us, like heavy snow from the branch of a tree, and simply reclaim it.

If happiness is our original state of being, then why are so many so seldom happy? What is the problem?

The problem is our thoughts. Our thoughts get in the way. When you wake up in the morning, do you ever think, 'Oh, I'll do some thinking now. I'll generate some thoughts.' Of course not! You don't have to tell yourself to think--you wake up already thinking, your thoughts are already there. And you didn't even ask for them! Really, this is the problem. Thinking happens to us the same way as breathing. We don't have to tell ourselves to breathe, we are doing it automatically. In the same way, our thinking is automatic too.

But what are we thinking about? Mostly--99% of the time--we are thinking about something that happened or about something that we have (or want) to do. That is, our thoughts are of the past or of the future. But, really, there is no past or future: there is only now. We live in the now, the right here, right now; there is only ever the right here, right now. We live in the eternal present. We seldom achieve happiness because we are seldom living in the present moment; we are seldom aware; we are seldom awake.

This process begins when we wake up. We start thinking (that is, we are being thought) and we stumble through drinking our coffee, having a shower, cooking and eating breakfast, all the time thinking about something else--what happened yesterday and what we might do today. Consider: how many people actually eat their breakfast? That is, focus on the eating of it: the smell, the taste, where the food comes from, who helped bring it to the table, what it is doing to the body etc? Very few actually.

But, you say, there is pain in this world; how can we avoid pain? No, you're right, there is pain in this world, we can't avoid pain. But we can avoid suffering! There's a reason for pain. It warns us that something is wrong, it makes us aware, and so much more. It's good that we can feel pain. When I was a young boy, there was a boy in my class at school who was always fighting. He loved fighting, and he was usually victorious in fights. The reason he loved fighting was that he suffered from a rare nerve disorder and he couldn't feel pain. One day, he left his hand on a stove cooking ring and didn't realise until he smelled his hand burning. Needless to say, that boy didn't live very long. He died at about the age of ten years. he didn't even live long enough to become a teenager. There are good reasons for pain.

But we don't have to suffer. Pain we feel; but suffering comes because of our thoughts. We dwell on the pain, we multiply things in our minds and we cause ourselves to suffer. Consider: at every funeral there is weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth. But for whom? For the dead person? No, of course not! The dead don't need our tears. The dead have passed beyond pain and suffering; often death is a joyous release from suffering. But the mourners suffer. Why? They are suffering for themselves. 'Oh, I won't ever see him again!' 'Oh, what will I do now?' 'Oh, oh, oh.'

No, happiness is our original state of being. To be alive, just to be alive, is such a privilege, such a blessing. To know at any moment that the universe is supporting us, that there is food, clothing, air to breathe, whatever... is such an amazing thing, such a wonder-filled adventure. Life is only ordinary if we have lost our sense of wonder. That is one reason why Jesus said we have to become again as little children. We have to regain our sense of wonder. That is one reason why the Zen masters say we have to recover a beginner's mind. The adult, the business CEO, the professor, their heads are so full of wood that they can never see the trees! We have to let our thoughts of what has happened and what could happen slip away from us like heavy snow from the branch of a tree, reclaim the present moment and enjoy it.

Commentary on Thomas, Logion 60

Gospel of Thomas, logion 60:

They saw a Samaritan carrying a lamb on his way to Judea.
He said to his disciples, "Why does that man carry the lamb around?"
They said to him, "So that he may kill it and eat it."
He said to them, "While it is alive, he will not eat it, but only when he has killed it and it has become a corpse."
They said to him, "He cannot do so otherwise."
He said to them, "You too, look for a place for yourselves within the Repose, lest you become a corpse and be eaten."

The Dhammapada: Watchfulness is the path to immortality and heedlessness is the path to death. The watchful do not die, but the heedless are already dead.

This saying-teaching is focused on being awake, on living in the present moment, what Zen calls mindfulness. For far too many people, life is what happens while they are busy making other plans: "I'll do such-and-such when I get enough money"; "I'll be happy when I meet the man of my dreams"; "I'll get another job as soon as I find new accommodation"; and so on. But the only place we ever live is right here, right now. Dreams of a bright future are only delusions, for there never is any future; there is only right here, right now. The Samaritan is carrying a lamb. It is still a lamb; it is not a corpse, it is not meat--not yet, right here, right now. Perhaps the Samaritan will die, or lose his appetite for meat, or maybe the lamb will escape or someone else will buy it from the Samaritan. The lamb is not yet a corpse. We don't know if the Samaritan killed it or not. We can't foresee the future. We can't foresee the future because there is only right here right now. If we want a different life, then we must seek it in the present moment: we must look for 'a place within the Repose' right here right now, for this is all we have--this moment only, and this moment is ours in its abundance or its poverty: the choice is ours.