A Path to Happiness

1. Live in the present.
2. Find inner peace.
3. Successful happiness.

So, number 1 seems to be self-explanatory - and number 3 the result.. so let's focus on number 2, and my latest topic of soul searching: Inner peace.

I have known for a while now that inner peace is not a temporary state. And if lasts temporarily, then it's not really inner peace. I've been told by some that they attain inner peace for a little while and at the slight provocation of others they fly into a rage and are pushed into leaving their inner peace. Honestly, that's not inner peace then. Peace is not some bug you are going to get for a while that others can drive away. Peace is a sort of permanence that you found and develop and grow into something stable. Inner peace cannot be obtained so easily as to be lost almost instantaneously. It is a lasting feeling, a lasting perception, that takes us straight to nirvana - to enlightenment.

I recently read a short book, "A Path to Happiness" by Thubten Chodron. It is a series of talks given by a Buddhist nun. And boy does she do a good job of explaining herself! However, most of what she says is what I've always felt or believed in. Reading the book felt like reassurance for my thoughts, and urged me to delve a bit deeper to try and understand the other side - the folks who this book is geared towards - those who have constantly told me they "lose" their inner peace. Don't they see? It's so clear, and yet they seem entrapped.

Chodron puts one particular aspect of all of this very nicely:
"When we're outrageously angry or burning with jealousy or when attachment is eating away at us, we can't deny that we have these negative emotions. Of course, we try to say that it's the other person's fault, that we have these horrible emotions only because they made us have them. But after we've listened to the Buddha's teachings, this rationale doesn't work any more. We know in our hearts that our happiness and suffering come from our own minds. Then, even though we try to blame our difficulties on other people, we know we can't. We are forced to look at them ourselves. And when we do, we also see that they are incredible opportunities to grow and learn."

There are so many things explained in this simple paragraph that I don't even know where to begin. For example, the simple fact that negative emotions blind us to the point where we ignore the reality of the situation and simply look to blame others. This notion seems to be within human nature so deeply, that it feels hard to get rid of. But the truth is so blatant, that someone has got to be truly, heavily ignorant to not realize that blaming is probably one of the worst actions we can do. I particularly come away from Chodron's paragraph with the sensibility that no one can hinder our path to enlightenment, except ourselves - our mind. It is we who decide our happiness and suffering. Others come along on the path and are there only on the sideline - even those who we feel hinder us from our path, are really there to teach us some lesson. From everything good, and everything bad, comes something for us to learn - and to grow!

The people who harm us end up pushing us towards our Dharma in search of answers we wouldn't seek if things were always good. Take a look at the soul searching I am doing right now - it all started a long time ago out of a very bad experience. That situation left me asking many questions, and with no answers. And today I'm in a place where I can not only look at the answers, but actually see them carefully. Out of all of this, I've realized, Karma, Dharma, Life only helps those who help themselves. Inner peace is easier then a lot of people seem to think. A lot more permanent then others want to believe. All it takes is living in the present - forgetting the past, not worrying about what's next. The true task is staying calm. It's easy being a monk in a monastery - try being a monk in bustling society.

Impermanence is the other name of life. People are born, people die - every second of the day. Situations are great and some are dire - they change with the seasons. Time seems the only continuity and even that never ceases to change. And from all of this stems peace. It is permanent, and it is the only relief from impermanence. At the end of the day - at the end of life - it is the peace that will deliver, no one, no thing, else. We must end suffering, and it will only end with our minds, our senses being in check and control. I was once asked how I could be a Hindu and believe in Buddhism? And this is exactly how; as I sit here and write this I realize I am simultaneously thinking of the Buddha and Krishna. The Buddha preached about enlightenment and nirvana, and showed us how peace and bringing our mind into a firm meditation will help us achieve that. And Krishna - embarked on a chariot - represents the virtue of self, the right path that we must follow. His horses, the reign he holds as he drives Arjuna's chariot represent Krishna reigning his senses - holding a firm mind, and not letting the situation deter him.

They are all telling us the same thing. The Buddha, Krishna, Ms. Chodron. Inner peace is our path to happiness - our path to a higher sense - something away from worldly things. All we have to do is listen. Is to be aware, to live in the moment, to be conscious of every moment - to let our minds meditate. We need not fear others, we have no enemies, our biggest challenge is our self. I am a 100% sure that what our ancestors messages say, we understand - accepting it for what it is.. there is the difficulty, and the challenge, that we must overcome, and before long it will all fall into place..

Hence, the path to happiness therein lies.

The Dalai Lama Piece

Take a look at this link:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/29841454/?gt1=43001

Is this what our world has really become? A competition of money vs. everything else..??
The Dalai Lama is an advocate of peace and follows the buddhist path. And HE was barred from a peace conference? Are you serious? I don't know whether to shake my head or laugh at the irony..

I don't care much for politics, and do not wish to get involved in any political matters, but you bring in something pure and innocent and turn it into a hypocrite action - I object! Hypocricy has definitely taken precedence as my biggest problem with the world we live in and our society. A man who is well known for his peace related talks and his simple advice is being told not to attend an event because of the country who doesn't accept his views. Dalai Lama had to leave China because his views didn't go with the norm.. now that country still won't leave him alone. A peace conference is being held in South Africa, and just to save the economic tie with China, South Africa has said the Dalai Lama cannot attend.

Why is it money dictates everything? Why can't an individual, an idea, a concept take prevalence? The whole point of a peace conference is "peace".. and yet that has propelled South Africa to stop a peaceful man. Somehow this doesn't make sense to me. Human value, what we stand for, the things we try to talk about and celebrate (like peace) are all depreciated when all of a sudden money or the economy is involved!

I wonder sometimes, is that what everything really comes down to for people? The economy - how much money is circulating, which country is trading with which other, if someone doesn't like someone they will get their "friends" to not like them - I mean come on, did the world never leave high school?! Whatever has happened to the spirit of people.. have they forgotten that we created the economy. Economics and business is a man-made, technically hypothetical, entity. We made it, and now we are being consumed by it.

Somehow I feel that the followers, believers, or simply good-wishers of the Dalai Lama will be in an uproar. But the Dalai Lama will probably accept it quietly as is the way of a truly peaceful buddhist. The path he follows is a difficult one, and in the world we live in - an almost impossible one. If one man can adhere to his path, why have the rest of us forgotten it? Yes we all have different goals, yes it is entirely foolish to never think about finances in this world, but no our lives cannot revolve around money - no matter what our goal, no matter what our path. Money is superficial - it will come and it will go. I think most of us want something more permanent in our lives. Don't we?

I certainly do. Peace is permanent in one's mind. We may feel that there might be outside factors that drag us back from our peace - or things that prevent us from feeling it. Some of us start out to find peace, claim we do, and the minute something goes wrong, fall right back to where we were before "peace" found us.. that is not really peace - that is a manifestation. I read somewhere once that it is very easy to be a peaceful person amongst a group of monks in a secluded forest.. but the true test is being a peaceful person amongst the bustling world all around us. That is the task the Dalai Lama is being put to.. that is the test we are all put through. Obtaining and maintaining a peaceful mind, a pure heart.. in a world run by the "economy." I wonder.. how many will pull through?