《 True Happiness 》

Thay's teaching on "True Happiness" from The Energy of Prayer: How to deepen your spiritual practice. Our true happiness comes from being fully conscious in the present moment, aware of our connection to everything else in the universe.

Mindfulness is above all the capacity simply to recognize the presence of an object without taking sides, without judging, and without craving or despising that object. For example, suppose we have a zone of pain in our body. With mindfulness, we simply recognize that pain. This is a very different kind of prayer. With the energy of concentration and insight, we may be able to see and understand its importance and the real reason for its arising. We may be able to cure it based on the understanding that comes from mindfulness and concentration. If we have too much anxiety, if we are always imagining things, then this anxiety and these imaginings will bring stress into our mind and the pain will increase. It isn't cancer but we imagine that it is cancer and we can worry and grieve until we are not able to eat or sleep. The pain doubles and can lead to a more serious condition.

In the Puttamansa Sutta, the Buddha gives the example of two arrows. If a second arrow is planted in the wound caused by the first arrow, then the pain will be not only double but increase tenfold. We should not allow a second arrow or a third arrow to come and do even more harm to us because of our imaginings and our worries.

When we pursue the objects of sensual desire, such as money, fame, power, and sex, we are not able to produce true happiness. Rather, we create a great deal of suffering for ourselves and for others. Human beings are full of desires. Day and night, they run after these desires, and therefore they are not free. If they are not free, they do not feel at ease and they do not feel happy. If we have few desires, we are satisfied with a simple, wholesome life and we have the time to live deeply every moment of daily life and to love and look after our dear ones. That is the secret of true happiness. In our present society, far too many people are looking for happiness by satisfying their sensual desires. The quantity of suffering and despair has greatly increased.

The Sutra in the Forest talks about desire as a trap. If we are caught in the trap of desire, we will grieve and loose all our freedom, and we cannot have true happiness. Fear and anxiety also create suffering. If we have enough understanding to accept living a simple life and being content with what we have, we will not need to worry and fear anymore. It is only because we think that tomorrow we could lose our profession and not receive our monthly salary that we constantly live in a state of nervousness and anxiety. So, the way of consuming little and making much happiness is the only way out for our present-day-civilization.

This book began with the question of why we pray. Perhaps, really, all energy of prayer comes back to our simple human desire for happiness and being connected both to other people and to something greater than ourselves. Prayer, whether silent, chanted, or in meditation is a way to return to ourselves in the present moment and touch the peace that is there. It is, simultaneously, a way to put us in touch with the universal and the timeless. our true happiness comes from being fully conscious in the present moment, aware of our connection to everything else in the universe.