Saturday, September 23, 2017

For The Sake of Happiness

When we are unhappy we feel that something must be wrong. We just know that happiness is our real nature. We can't argue this feeling, our inherent nature tells us this is our birthright.

However, happiness for any length of time seems fleeting. 
That tells us that we are not in right relationship to what is. Mental suffering is a messenger that tells us we are not seeing correctly.

If we can take the suffering as an indicator that we are out of sync, then that suffering is a key. That key opens us to searching for a different way of seeing.

Since our way of seeing is our way of being, we need to see differently. Some radical new way of seeing is required.

Vedanta is a new way of seeing. It is radical and not easy to accept. But if our suffering is great, and our search for truth is strong, we can try to understand that way of seeing.

Vedanta says that freedom is happiness. Who doesn't want to be free? But freedom has a price. Only those willing to pay the price receive.

What is required? Commitment to listening, to reflection, to understanding, to letting go of seeking happiness in objects: people, places, and things.

Vedanta needs no outside proof, because we are subject. If we make the effort, we become the proof. Jesus said, "The truth will set you free."

Vedanta is a means of knowledge. It reveals the truth. When the student is ready he will seek the truth. When he understands, he will apply the truth. And when the truth abides, the suffering will stop. Then happiness abides. That is the proof.   

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