so for me, the natural reduction of what Sri Sri said is that what we have or don't have in life has nothing to do with happiness...

therefore its pointless to seek happiness.

Does misery come from what we have or don't have? -- I'd say so...

We have to move beyond happiness and misery. Both are fleeting and never last. And as long as we hold both as opposites the more we are deluded.

A wonderful response indeed.

I also like this from Hugh Laurie:

"I've never been convinced that happiness is the object of the game. I'm wary of happiness. It is a snare and a delusion. It's jolly nice sometimes, like steak and chips, but is it a goal?"

Strangely enough, and though very true, this statement is also paradoxical.

Most of the people in our society suffer because they are so focussed on 'what they do not have' rather that what they have.

Our incessant hankering after things and states leaves us wanting more. Even spiritual hankering can become so at one point, if pursued mindlessly.

With love, Parmjit

www.ParmjitSingh.org

Saira, Very beautiful message.
Like the good old saying "Happiness is a journey, not a destination".
Setting goals and trying to achieve results in life is good, but they cannot determine the happiness. The reason we lose happiness is that we get too attached to process and the manifestations of a process. Detach from the results of an action. Perform action just for the sake of doing it.

Any spiritual guru, or religion or culture speaks the same language, Seek the Intangible (Higher consciousness), which comes only through the process of Awareness and observation and that is Bliss. Sometimes I feel Bliss is a different state from Happiness. Happiness is a part of a Bipolar state that has Sadness waiting on the other side of the coin. Polarities tend to change based on certain parameters.

But Bliss is somewhere in the middle. Is that where both Hapiness and Sadness meet and become One? Is that the place of ultimate union? Is that the place where Mind and its judegements dissolve into the silence of spirit?

Getting away from polarities is probably the true essence of life. Is that Zen? Is that Enlightenment? Is that Yoga?

So easy, but too hard.

Suresh writes:
"so for me, the natural reduction of what Sri Sri said is that what we have or don't have in life has nothing to do with happiness...
therefore its pointless to seek happiness"

I agree with the 1st sentence, but not the second. I think a valid conclusion that could be drawn is that happiness (or misery) lies within us, and is a choice we can exercise with total disregard for our external circumstances. It may be pointless to seek happiness *in* anything external, but extremely beneficial to choose to be happy, period. Our body thrives when we are happy, people around us tend to thrive, we tend to not perpetuate other people's unhappiness... in fact, I believe we achieve more of what we want when we strive from a place of comfort and peace, without necessarily getting unhappy at what we want to change.

Is happiness the goal? A journey? A destination? I don't know, but if it's accessible here and now, why not have it first and then go after anything else we want?

Below is something that I wrote a while ago on Saira.com --

I have always felt Happiness when I've made a good decision. Is Happiness the emotion of successful decisions? When I am on a path, where every step feels closer to where I'm supposed to be, I have always found Happiness along the way. Actually, my level of Happiness tells me whether or not I'm headed in the right direction in the first place. If the path I have chosen is paved with thoughtful values - and I'm (often) experiencing things along the way that really matter most - then I know that I'm walking in rhythm with who I really am.
Is the "Quest for Happiness" better thought of as a "Process of Discovery"? Once I find those little things inside that define who I really am, I am able to experience the real me. That's all that is required to bring a smile to my face.
I never ask myself what makes me Happy. Rather, I try to ask myself what matters most...and what changes in my life do I need to make so that I can experience what matters most more often?.

Secret to Happiness:

Always say thank you.

Does three things:

Build's character and..

shows appreciation and gratitude

Real simple,

Cheers,

Steve

what if what u think u have, u really don' t have, after all?

that's called loss of confidence, and is hopefully a short-lived thing. confidence is long-term low-level delusion and everyone has it - if you come out from the delusion for a while it's fine, you will go back under very soon. :)

love, heath

I think happiness is relative...a cliche statement I know. However, I think people's discontent comes from what they think they should have, have, but not what they actually want. We are all bombarded by images of what a full life should entail, a partner maybe, children, work, money, comfort, a purpose in life..but it is within a context of course. If you are starving and your children are dying, happiness is equated with basic amenities like food,water, shelter. If you are a millionaire and are surrounded by people who you are not sure love you for yourself or what you possess, then you look for understanding.

Ultimately, we look within ourselves as to what make us feel content..but sometimes we are scared of the truth.

Does that makes sense..this is where statement like 'money does not make you happy'. What does make someone happy-understanding oneself and to be understood by others..or perhaps there is too much onus placed on happiness-afterall, what is happiness linked to..

Sorry missing words above-but you can read between the lines, as it where:-

One of the greatest discoveries a man makes, one of his great surprises, is to find he can do what he was afraid he couldn't do."

"process of discovery" - beautiful phrase...reminds me of an old indian shloka..om poornamadha poornamidham.....every part of the whole is a whole by itself...every moment in this journey of life is complete by itself...and all those moments, pleasant and painful when webbed together create a colourful fabric...

Happiness is a new experience. That is what life is all about experience. One that produces information that you like. That is why women get happy going shopping, new clothes are a new experience. That is why we get happy when we travel, the best way to have a new expereince is to go somewhere you have never been. The same old expereince gets boring, and no one is happy being bored.

Yet sometimes we find happiness in an old experience after some time has passed. Yet in some ways it is a new experience because we are not the same as when we experienced it before as a result of newly accumulated experience since the previous one.

An old experience is never the same as it was at the time.

Of course there is also the same old experience with a variation which would technically qualify it as a new experience.

Happiness is knowing there is nothing in the outside world that one can find security in so there is no need to bother to try and create it.

In a discussion on 'Happiness', the subject speciffically was "How can people be Happy with what they have in Life". Sri Sri's simple response (which came at me at light speed) was "How can people be Happy with what we don't have in Life?"

As I am slowly but steadily learning. Happiness for me is not in what I do or don't have but in being what I am, with all that I have and all that I don't have. All that I am and all that I am not. All that "you" are and all that "you" are not.

peace comes from acceptance..........thank you Mieke

derek

Dear Saira,
Well said,only our mind has to be convinced to believe in what has been said.Our external stumli and our mind keep us on run throughout life looking for that elusive thing known as happiness.At end of all suffering you realise that whole search was useless and uncalled for.We need spiritual masters who can make us believe futility of this struggle,for what we are looking for is already within us.
I feel that this mind comes under control only through knowledge,and this knowledge comes through discussion.
asraiips@gmail.com

1. The pre-dominence of "I" or "Me" or "Myself"
2. Quest for self-love , self-satisfaction, all words prefixed with self..
3. Lack of team spirit.
4. Always thinking about one's own happiness and needs before even sparing a thought for our co-habitants of our planet.

Another interesting finding from recent research is that we tend to constantly compare ourselves with people who have more, rather than with people who have less.

And this could be in relation to material, spiritual, physical or any other facet of life.

This seems like a recipe for disaster as there's no logical end to this unless you have more than everybody else.

Which is abit of a bugga.

We all feel unhappiness and spend our lives fiddling with it. Everyone is different. There are no secrets. It is trial and error. For most of us philosophies don't work but we fiddle with them anyway. Things will get better.