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Thursday, May 15, 2014

HAPPINESS IS.......

What kind of Happiness are you looking for? I know of two kinds – one is yogic and the other is tantric -- and I've had the good fortune to explore both alternatives – The one we usually explore first is based on the false assumption of Separation. It is Happiness as an opposite of unhappiness. The second kind comes to some with later emotional maturity; it is the kind of Happiness that is the ABSENCE of unhappiness?

The first kind of happiness I sought was the Happiness that is the opposite of Unhappiness. That journey took me through states of doing, performances of cheerfulness, exhilaration, joy, mirthfulness, rejoicing, rapture, ecstasy, airiness, ardour, ebullience, enthusiasm, exuberance, fervour, gaiety, get-up-and-go, high spirits, hilarity, playfulness, vivacity; joviality, pleasantness; flippantness, frivolousness, and tricksiness. Whew! All pretty exhausting, I have to say, and the other side of the same coin – unhappiness – always lurked nearby, ready to pounce any time I dropped my guard.

Maybe it's an age thing, but in later years I've opted for the other alternative – Happiness as “the absence of unhappiness”. It hasn't come easily and the journey has been interesting to say the least. This kind of happiness is characterised by states of being - like contentedness, wholeness, peace of mind, satisfaction; wellbeing; blissfulness, warm joy, self-contentment and deep gratitude.

I wish I'd discovered this kind of happiness a lot earlier: but then I would have missed out on stuff like chronic anxiety, depression, blood pressure, diabetes and heart disease. Hmm. Well, I did ask for wisdom........

Old habits die hard – but - Happiness as the ABSENCE of unhappiness. Are you willing to let go of Unhappiness? Yes? Completely?


[Happiness Is – Ray Conniff – 2:13]

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