Finding True Happiness

Because of free will, God will not take anything away from you--including your lessons. He will send people your way to help you, but he will not do the work for you. It is only by looking at the self that we find our answers.

All of creation is ruled by the law of duality. For every up, there is a down; for every plus, there is a minus. Every pleasure is balanced by an equal displeasure; every joy, by an equal sorrow. The greater the pleasure, the more intense is the displeasure. The greater the happiness, the greater is its comparable unhappiness.

As humans, we desire happiness yet at the same time we have difficulty releasing our old self-centered habits. Take the time to know who you are, your likes and dislikes. Know your boundaries, what you will accept and what you won't. Without boundaries, we have no power.

Patanjali, a great spiritual master from India, once taught that we all want to escape pain, and we all want to find true happiness. We all have a longing for worldly fulfillment, and we wish to avoid the disappointment that comes with such fulfillment. By worldly fulfillment, Patanjali meant three basic things: the ambition for money, the desire to escape worldly pain through drugs and alcohol, and the drive for sexual satisfaction.

These are three main delusions which humanity labors as if under a yoke. True fulfillment can never be found in any of them. Secondary to these delusions are the desire for power, fame, popularity, emotional excitement and emotional fulfillment, and for all kinds of ego satisfaction.

Many people stumble through life carelessly, not knowing why they suffer, why fulfillments are never permanent, and never realizing why happiness can flicker away in the blink of an eye.

The reason for our existence is to attain spiritual enlightenment, which requires going beyond ALL effort. It means becoming perfect peace, and it only comes by removing every obstacle to its attainment.

The most important thing we can do on the spiritual path is to become perfect peace by calming the emotions. A calm mind is the key that unlocks the door to perfect peace. Perfect peace, a peace that cannot be shattered or destroyed (think of the Dali Lama), units the soul with God.

Desires and attachments are endless. Cravings for physical pleasure and pride in our achievements and possessions belong to the physical world, not the spiritual world. If we are to attain enlightenment, we must release all these in order to obtain perfect peace.

Paramahansa Yogananda once taught: "Desires, forever gratified, never satisfied."

True healing is "self" mastery, understanding the inner causes of the dis-ease. When you work to change your way of thinking, beliefs, and emotional state of being, then and only then can true healing occur. True healing takes place when one chooses not to re-create the same condition.

Blessings to you on your journey!

With much love, Pat