Happiness?

Happiness is the moment we are free from the identification with the egoistic mind and the conditioned impermanent physical body, and uninfluenced by egoism and all the impurities or afflictions that arise from egoism, being free from craving and aversion towards pleasant and unpleasant experiences.

"Happiness" that derives from fulfilling our egoistic worldly desires of want and don't want, is impermanent and non-satisfying.

When we know how to stop being determined by all the good and bad, pleasant or unpleasant, agreeable and disagreeable experiences in this life existence to be happy or not, to be confident or not, we are happy as we are, not because of the qualities of names and forms that the mind experiences through the function of the body and the senses.

We do our best, live to the fullest, and make good use of all the opportunities and abilities that we have in this life existence to be serving ourselves and others, but not being determined by all these actions and the fruit of actions, success and failure, praise and condemn, to be who we are, or to be happy and confident or not.

When we are free, we don't have to forget the bad, unpleasant or disagreeable experiences, as all these experiences have no qualities, or intention, or power to make us unhappy, or give us unhappiness. The memories of all the past unpleasant or undesirable experiences will still be here and there, but we are no longer being determined by all these unpleasant experiences or memories to be in a state of unhappiness. Being free from the state of unhappiness, is happiness.

Om shanti.