Over the last few months, I’ve had people saying to me “how are you so happy all the time” and “Why are you happy when things aren’t going so good”. The answer is, I have no answer, I just am. I don’t understand this myself as I have never felt this way before, the other day I got into the office after working from home for a few days and my iPhone charger had been taken off my desk, in the past this would have made me really unhappy, and my outward mood would have reflected this, but even though I was a little annoyed, it didn’t make me unhappy, I just shrugged, thought “it can be replaced”, I let it go, and carried on feeling happy, to the complete amazement of my work colleagues.
Like I said, I’m not sure why I feel this way, but I hope it stays. Me being me I then started searching for the reason why, and didn’t really find anything that rang true, but by complete chance during a visit to my local charity book shop I found the book “Meditation – Inquiry into self, by James B. Swartz”, and bought it only because I want to explore meditation more, and to my surprise when I started to read it, there’s a full chapter on Happiness. In the following excerpt I think Swartz sums true happiness perfectly.
What is Happiness?
Happiness, like its synonym love, is difficult to define. Often only defined by negatives.
“Happiness is the absence of unhappiness, pain, suffering, addiction, an sorrow”.
So, happiness is a void, a kind of neutral blank state? No not at all! One feels very good, but the feeling is not connected with the presence or absence of anyone or anything. Happiness is a causeless, objectless, unspecified sense of well-being. Though not an emotion, it uplifts the emotions.
But feelings are temporary, are they not?
Feelings are fleeting but the “feeling” of true real Happiness is not. “True” means it lasts forever. “Real” means unchanging, undying.
Happiness is the sense that nothing is missing or lacking on any level, inwardly or outwardly; that no matter what, one is perfectly equipped to deal with whatever life has to offer.
Happiness is the feeling of endless possibility, invincibility and unqualified freedom seen in children before they’ve been compromised by conditioning.
Happiness is wholeness, completeness, an unshakable conviction that nothing can be gained or lost. Even if someone or something very dear is taken away, one is undiminished.
Happiness is the knowledge that one is more powerful than all the Objects in the world and all the thoughts in one’s own mind. It is the knowledge that no separation exists between oneself and the world, between oneself and others.
Happiness is unconditional, disinterested love for the sake of the beloved. It is fearlessness, fullness, inexhaustible inner abundance. And the absence of desire, especially the absence of desire. Happiness, beyond the intellect and unaffected by time, “the peace that surpasses understanding.”
Taken from – Meditation – Inquiry into self, by James B. Swartz
And as usual this inspired me to write a poem so my unusual mind could then understand it.
Unravelling Happiness
Happiness, a mirage in a desert of definitions,
a dance with absence, a hollowed-out refrain.
Not the void, but a fullness deep within,
unmoored from objects, a current that can't wane.
Feelings, flickering fireflies in the night,
transient sparks, yet happiness a steady light.
True, it endures, a beacon in the storm,
real, unchanging, weathering life's every form.
A chalice full, no emptiness to be addressed,
inner strength a fortress, putting worries to rest.
Children, unbound, with possibility's embrace,
a glimpse of happiness, untarnished by life's chase.
Wholeness, a foundation where nothing's amiss,
a quiet knowing, a state of perfect bliss.
Loss may come, a teardrop on the cheek,
yet happiness remains, eternally unique.
Beyond the trinkets, the whispers of the mind,
a knowing whispers, a powerful, gentle kind.
Self and world, a seamless, vibrant twine,
no separation, a love that is truly thine.
Unconditional, a rose blooming in the wild,
fearless abundance, a boundless, joyful child.
Desire fades, a moth drawn to the flame,
happiness whispers its own eternal name.
A peace that transcends, a wisdom without age,
happiness, a presence on life's unfolding page.
