Nothing makes us happy.

Nothing makes us happy.
Nothing makes us unhappy.
To understand happiness
we need to understand
what makes us unhappy.

 Happiness is something we all seek,
and will never find,
because that which seeks happiness,
is happiness itself!

 That is not a conundrum
or merely poetic:
it literally is our problem.
We are what we seek!

 We might say that we are unhappy because others are unhappy. But this unhappiness is a misunderstanding of the seeming reality in which we are all caught up.

 Unfortunately, conventional descriptions of happiness define it as something to be attained, a contentment or pleasure. Even in some traditions, it is defined as “ultimate freedom from suffering, a state of everlasting peace”.

This is a misnomer – or maybe we need a different word! How can we have freedom from something that never existed? Perhaps this is a perfect example of expedient and literal language 😉

We are aware of unhappiness in the arising of negative emotions. To understand why this happens, we have to know something of our true nature. This is not difficult: our true nature is unconfined, empty cognisance – pure inner space. There is just one mental obstacle in the way – our mistaken reflection of an “I”.

 This inner, divine, unlimited spaciousness is pure joy, pure happiness…for no reason but being. Now and again we get a glimpse of this unconditional happiness, which is what we are, and which needs no conditions to make it happy. It is happiness that has always been so, and will always be so, under any circumstances.

 When emotions arise, there is a movement in this spaciousness: that is awareness instantaneously aware of something. In this moment, awareness can either return to its stillness of divine pure emptiness (which it lost for a moment), or be ambushed by the demon space invaders of our own likes and dislikes, which clouds pure perception. When we indulge in negative emotions, we create suffering: the cause of this suffering is the protection of a mistaken reflection of an “I” which turns nasty! This adds to our karmic load, and waits, ready to jump out at us the next time a situation presses our button.

 The first instance of emotion is bright awareness. That very moment is a moment of wisdom (in Tibetan Buddhism, it is described as one of the five Buddha families). Unfortunately, we do not notice this moment, and the result is engrossment in negative emotions…again.

 Once we understand and recognise what is going on, that is the clarity of pure perception. Compassion arises, and this recognition is happiness. The moment of unhappiness reveals happiness. The situation in which we find ourselves may still seem crummy, but as we watch, it passes.

HAPPINESS
is home.