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May all find the teacher within to guide oneself towards unconditional love and peace

Thursday, November 17, 2011

Where does happy feeling or sensation comes from when we feel happy?

When the mind is being one-pointedness being in the present moment now, at that moment the mind is free from the past experiences/memories and free from the future projections/imaginations/anticipations. And thus, there is no judgments, comparisons and expectations, free from duality of good and bad, positive and negative, pleasantness and unpleasantness. And thus the mind is free from craving and aversion, doubts, fear and worry... At that moment, peace is there. Blissful feeling of happiness is there...

The truth is, it is not the objects or happenings out there that give us the state of mind of peace and happiness. It is not what we do or don't do that make our mind feel happy or unhappy.

All the objects, happenings, names and forms (sights, sounds, smells, taste, touch, thinking/thoughts) out there, they have no qualities or intentions to make us happy or not happy, peaceful or not peaceful. It is the one-pointedness state of the mind that is free from craving and aversion, free from greed and dissatisfaction when we do the things or get in contact with the things that we like and want, that generates the (momentary) peace and happiness in the mind. When the mind loses it one-pointedness due to impermanence or disturbance from other objects, names and forms, that momentary peace and happiness will be disturbed and fade away. Emptiness or dissatisfaction/greed/craving for some other satisfaction and happy feelings immediately take over the experience of momentary contentment, peace and happiness that comes from one-pointedness or concentration of the mind.

That's why different people find (momentary) peace and happiness in many different ways by doing the things and getting the objects that they like and want. Some people feel good from doing good actions and enjoy doing good actions. Some people feel good from doing evil actions and enjoy doing evil actions. It is not the good actions or the evil actions that give us the good and happy feelings. It is the one-pointedness state of mind while doing any actions that gives us the momentary state of satisfaction and happy sensation in the mind.

We often hear people say that there are many different ways or methods of how to be happy in life. There's nothing wrong with this saying. We do get (momentary) happy feelings or sensations when we are able to do the things that we like to do, when we can get the things that we like, when we can enjoy some precious moments with our family and friends, when we can do some charity works helping other beings, when we can contribute to the society and the world through many ways, when we can live a good quality and healthy lifestyle, when we can enjoy active social life and interactions with one another, when we can live our life meaningfully by doing the things that we like to do and want to do, achieve our goals and dreams, or attain some sort of power, material belongings, name and fame, and etc...

Definitely, there will be momentary happy feelings and satisfaction coming from doing or attaining all the things being mentioned in the above. In the teachings of yoga and meditation, this type of momentary happy feelings and satisfaction is called conditional happiness and satisfaction that is conditioned and determined by the qualities of the external objects, happenings, names and forms. It will be disturbed by some other objects, greed, dissatisfaction, craving and aversion, and it will fade away. This momentary satisfaction and happy feeling is conditioned and determined by what we like and dislike, want and don't want, and what we agree and disagree with. When our craving for certain things is being gratified, our mind experience contentment and feel good. And when the craving is not being gratified, the mind experience discontentment and doesn't feel good.

There is no doubt that there are many ways and methods to be happy in life, but what really generates the happy feelings or sensations in us is because of the mind is being in the present moment, free from the past or the future, free from craving and aversion for that time being when the momentary satisfaction arise due to we are able to do and getting the things that we like and want, or when we come in contact with the objects that we agree with.

This type of momentary conditional happiness is not the unchangeable real happiness that the teachings of yoga and meditation talk about. Those who really practice yoga and meditation will not waste energy in chasing after all these momentary happiness and satisfaction that are impermanent, changeable, dissatisfying, and are conditioned and limited by the different qualities of names and forms. The real peace and happiness is already there within us, never increase nor decrease, never disappear, undisturbed or unaffected or undetermined by impermanent conditional external objects, happenings, names and forms. We just need to purify our mind to remove impurities and ignorance, calming the restless agitated state of mind, and we will realize this true and eternal peace and happiness that is always there with us and never leave us.

Realize this Truth, we will stop looking out for momentary peace and happiness and we will rest in peace and happiness that is already there in us that is unconditional, unlimited and undisturbed by any external objects, happenings, names and forms.

It also means that, no matter what is the condition of our body and the mind, or the condition of our life, the environment and the entire worldly existence, we will always rest in peace in our true Self or true nature. That is the means of yoga and meditation practice...

All the names and forms are just being what they are. They are not something good or bad, positive or negative, happiness or suffering...

The pure and calm mind that is free from the influence of the ego and the intellect (being free from selfish intentions, judgment, comparison, expectation, craving, aversion, dissatisfaction, greed, pride, arrogance, anger, hatred, jealousy, fear and worry, and all sorts of impurities) will be able to perceive the reality of everything as it is, not necessary the way that we want it to be or the way that we think it should be...

There is no craving for something that is being categorized by the intellect as good, positive and happy. There is no aversion towards something that is being categorized by the intellect as bad, negative and suffering.

Suffering disappears. Unhappiness disappears. Fear and worry disappear.

When there is no suffering, unhappiness, fear and worry, there's no need to looking for peace and happiness, because peace and happiness is already there...

The moment when the craving for peace and happiness, as well as the aversion towards unpeacefulness and unhappiness stop, that moment is peaceful...

Peaceful feeling or sensation that comes from being with the people that we like and agree with, by getting or coming in contact with the objects that we like and want or desire, and being in a pleasant environment, it's conditional, it's limited, it's impermanent. It will change, be disturbed and disappear. It is dissatisfying in its nature.

When we stop attaching to this peace and happy feeling or sensation that are conditioned and limited by external objects, happenings, names and forms, we will rest in the unconditional and unlimited peace in our true nature.

If we depend on certain good conditions or objects to feel peace and happiness, then very soon we will be disappointed and being unhappy when impermanence strikes.

The essential teachings in yoga and meditation is to realize the Truth about we are not the body, we are not the mind. This body and this mind don't belong to us, and they are not us.

There is not a thing that is "I". There is no "I" am performing some actions or not performing any actions. There is no "I" there to go through birth, growth, decay, old age, sickness, and death. There is no "I" there being happy or unhappy.

It is just the body and mind being existing, changing and eventually will stop existing.

There is no "I" there to experience all the perceptions of sights, sounds, smells, taste, touch and thinking/thoughts. It is just the body and mind experiencing all these impermanent names and forms.

There's no "I" there to experience all sorts of emotions, feelings and sensations, pleasant and unpleasant experiences.

There is no "I" being good or not good.

There is no "I" there to have fear, worry, doubts, dissatisfaction, craving, aversion, pride, arrogance, to be happy or sad, to be praised or censured, to be positive or negative, to be healthy or sick, to be strong or weak, to experience success or failure, respectful or disrespectful, auspiciousness or inauspiciousness, completeness or incompleteness, and to be loved or to love...

All the qualities, dualities, names and forms disappear.

There is no arguments, criticisms or justifications.

The mind is resting in silence...

That is when we realize the Truth of ourselves and the entire worldly existence...

Om shanti.

No matter what we do or don't do to find peace and happiness in life, true and lasting happiness is there when we are free from being conditioned and determined by all the external objects of names and forms, and when we are free from being determined by judgment and expectation coming from our own self and other people, and when we are free from the attachment towards our actions and the fruit of our actions...

1 comment:

  1. Thank you, Meng, for reminding me. Om shanti. Piia

    ReplyDelete

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Know thyself. Everything is impermanent and selfless. There is no 'I'. There is no 'I am selfless'/'I am not selfless'. There is no 'I am hurt'/'I need to be healed from hurt'. Non-blind believing, non-blind following, non-blind practicing and non-blind propagating, but be open-minded to inquire the truth of everything. Be free. Be peaceful. Be happy.

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