Everyone is seeking happiness

Everybody seeks happiness, yet it seems very illusive and fleeting. One minute it is here and the next minute it is gone and once again it leaves us seeking. If only we could press the pause button when we find ourselves in the state of happiness! It seems like happiness is playing hide and seek, with us.

Happy woman who knows how to cultivate happiness.

What is more, happiness is hard to define with exactness. Some people equate happiness with pleasure and others explain it as a range of positive emotions, such as joy, contentment, gratitude or elation. Some say that good health is happiness. Yet others describe it as flourishing. Somebody else may explain happiness as the experience of joy, contentment, well-being, coupled with the inner feeling that all is well.

We have a sense that all of the above contributes to happiness and yet often we still don’t feel totally content. Worldly things always seem to leave us wanting…

Have you ever asked yourself what is happiness and where is it to be found? Not every one does, but sooner or later one does begin to wonder about these more existential questions, especially when life seems to go in the other direction than we had hoped for.

Meaning and Purpose

It would be hard to feel the fullness of life, without meaning and purpose. It is vital that our life feels meaningful and that we feel we are useful to others in some way - this gives us the purpose and reason for living. Serving others in some little or great way, most definitely adds to our happiness quota.

In fact, we are told by ancient wisdom that true happiness is being free from personal desires, which cause expectation, disappointment and anger, if unfulfilled and instead focus on what we can give to others instead. It is the act of moving from a grasping consciousness to selflessness.

When we search for happiness, if we look below the surface, we will see that there is a belief that we are not happy already, in the here and now or we would not be looking for it. We never search for what we already know we have, we only search for what we think is missing in our life. Reflecting on the actions of the billions of humans on this planet, we can see that there is a constant external search for more and more things that we think will give us happiness. We also seek happiness in our relationships. All of those are external seeking.

Seeking for happiness within

Scriptures say that we are not wrong in searching for happiness but that we are looking for it in the wrong place and that the cause of this relentless search for happiness is due to the fact that we don’t know the truth of our being. These ancient teachings say that we are to look within our own selves for the happiness that we seek and that this happiness is the actual core fabric of our true nature. So if happiness is within and it is our true nature then how do we find it?

Here are 3 tips to get you started:

Spend 20 minutes per day doing some form of sitting meditation. Rise above your thoughts and rest in stillness and silence and reflect on your deepest aspirations.

In your daily life, come into the present moment whenever you can, by being totally present with what you are seeing, feeling or sensing, in that moment i.e. your inner and outer world.

Allow your mind to remain free from thinking for periods of time, during your day or evening, by concentrating on something that requires your full attention e.g. mindful drawing, singing, mindful movement such as yoga or Tai Chi or your bike ride.

Happiness is something that we cultivate moment-to-moment over time, through contemplation (meditation) and present moment living (mindfulness). Through close examination, we need to be honest with ourselves, as we observe our thoughts, words and actions. We must come to know which of those contribute to suffering and which lead to well-being. Furthermore, this observation must give rise to a deep desire for change. A desire for change is a natural consequence of seeing that the ego, which leads us to suffering, is seen as a great burden. Next we must start the process of eliminating those thoughts, words and actions, which cause suffering.

In addition, we are also encouraged to practice a form of contemplation, to become aware of our deepest aspiration, which includes us and yet extends beyond us, such as love, peace, wisdom and joy for all beings.

In the end, we must withdraw our own projections, that we have projected onto the world and see and accept things and people as they are. This is how to cultivate happiness. We can then become conscious co-creators and bring forth something beautiful for the world, in our unique way.

Cultivating happiness

So to conclude, happiness is a natural urge that arises from within but let us be wise and seek for it where it can be found. Let us be willing to apply ourselves wholeheartedly to the cultivation of happiness, for the greater good. If we do this in the correct manner, as described above, we will one day be able to let go of the exhausting and relentless pursuit of external happiness, as we discover that happiness exists already within our core and it is not dependant on anything external.

We then remain content within ourselves, in the here and now and experience happiness as life unfolds. We also become a conscious presence and all people and beings that we come in contact with, will profit from our state of consciousness. This is the art of how to cultivate happiness.

If you would like to know more about the cultivation of happiness, then please contact Katarina Tilley at www.katarinatilley.co.uk

With love and blessings

Katarina Tilley, Living in the Light, Meditation Centre, Little Clacton, (near Colchester, Ipswich and Chelmsford), in Essex.