Happy

One can only be really happy when he/she is content. 

If a rich person thinks he can only be satisfied when he become a millionaire, he will not be happy because he will have a lot of anxiety and other mental suffering such as fear of losing money, angry of not making satisfactory profit, grief of losing someone he loves (family members, business partners, favorite colleagues and subordinates, customers, etc.), lamentations of working with difficult people, despair of facing unsolvable problems, pressure and depression of struggling to meet deadlines, etc.

If you have just come out from a buffet lunch and a friend offers you a free delicious meal with him, would you load yourself and become uncomfortable? Should you feel sad that you couldn’t have the free stuff? You are wise if you don’t make yourself unhappy. Similarly, if you are content with your life, because you are in a much better position than billions others in the world, it is possible to have the wisdom and equanimity that will make your heart unmoved by whatever outcome in the next second or the future. If you condition yourself to feel that you have had enough good things in your life, you will be able to let go of everything including your body and go wherever the “Invisible Hand” or unseen force dictates. Then, you are fully liberated and possess true freedom. Nothing can ever make you unhappy anymore when you see that the body is not the self, and the true self is not inside the body. You are ready to enter Nibbana (cessation of consciousness) any minute. You will have the ability to feel happy under any circumstances.

A pregnant lady was told by her rich husband that she would inherit half of the family wealth if she gave birth to a son. However, she would get nothing if the baby isn’t a boy. She was anxious to know whether the fetus was a boy or a girl. Unwilling to wait for a few more months, she cut open her belly to find the answer. Of course, she killed herself and the fetus. It is unwise to commit suicide just to get to the Heaven earlier. There is a time for everything to happen naturally. Even if one has no more clinging to everything, including his body, he can always live happily and enjoy his journey in this world until the time comes for him to leave. No clinging to fear, obligation, and guilt (FOG). The fully liberated self is truly free to go anywhere anytime as dictated by Nature.

The worst things that can happen in life are none other than aging, illness, death, association with the disliked, separation from loved ones, not getting what one wants, and rebirth in a woeful plane. Birth is the cause of all suffering; including birth in the human or deva plane, simply because everything is impermanent. Every pleasant situation will end, followed by a painful or unpleasant situation. However, there are silver-linings in everything, including suffering. Unpleasant situation is also impermanent. Suffering makes an intelligent person think and find a solution to end the suffering fast, and also ensure the same problem will never again occur. 

When Gotama Buddha shaved off his hair and went forth into homelessness, his parents and family members were extremely sad. Gotama Buddha didn’t take any blame and he should not be blamed. One who got hurt feels the suffering because he/she gave permission for his/her heart to be hurt. One makes himself/herself suffer (fear, anger, grief, lamentation and despair) due to his/her lack of wisdom and equanimity. When Gotama was still a prince, he felt suffering too; thus, he had to go forth and save himself from the suffering. His going forth brings immeasurable benefits to countless beings. We are so fortunate to have the best teacher in the world and learn from him the path to cessation of suffering. We don’t have to go forth into homelessness, compared to Gotama Buddha who didn’t have the benefit of hindsight.

When the worst things in life happen, no one should feel unhappy. Neither the first party, the second party, nor the third party should give permission for his/her heart to be hurt. One who has no greed and has perfected his virtue does not have guilt 心地无非自性戒. One who doesn’t let his heart be moved by external events and has perfected his equanimity does not have fear 心地无乱自性定. One who doesn’t take responsibility when it isn’t his obligation is not deluded. Each person only has an obligation to bring happiness to oneself; one who also helps others to be happy is indeed doing great charity (dana). This is the perfection of wisdom 心地无痴自性慧. If everyone practices personal accountability for one’s happiness through perfection of virtue, equanimity and wisdom, one will become unbreakable like diamond 不增不减自金刚. There will be no violence and the world will become truly peaceful. Of course, nothing is perfect. One who is content with any degree of imperfection will not become unhappy under any circumstances. He will remain tranquil (samadhi) wherever he is 身去身来本三昧. 

One who sees reality as it is, rather than what one wishes to see, has Right View. Sufferings (dukkha) are inevitable in life. All sufferings are due to desires (but not all desires cause sufferings). Sufferings cease when one stops having unwholesome desire. The way leading to cessation of sufferings is the Noble Eightfold Path. Through thorough understanding of sufferings (dukkha), impermanence (anicca), and non-self (anatta), the three marks of existence, one understands the arising, disappearance, gratification, danger, and escape of every phenomenon. One will then have no fear, obligation, and guilt (FOG).  If one has no delusion of what should or shouldn’t happens, knowing that everything arises due to conditions and disappears due to cessation of the conditions (万事万物因缘和合而生、因缘散尽而灭), he will naturally have perfect mindfulness to concentrate his attention on deep peace of mind and has no clinging to anything including his body.

The body is an aggregate of six sense-organs: eyes, ears, nose, tongue, touch senses, and mind. Each sense-organ comes in contact with a sense object (form, sound, smell, taste, tactile, and thought/idea) and gives rise to an aggregate of six feelings. This is followed by the aggregates of perceptions, volitions (mental activities), and consciousness. They are called Five Aggregates of Clinging. One clings to these five aggregates and gets an illusion of existence. He feels the world through the six senses and five aggregates of clinging; thus he sees the body as the self, or the self is inside the body. He then starts desiring to protect the body and everything he owns (wealth, relationship, fame, food, and leisure). This leads to the various kinds of sufferings.

When one gets hit by an arrow, his body will feel pain. It is possible to have no mental suffering (dukkha) if he has full control over the five aggregates of clinging. When one exercises hard until he feels pain in his muscle, he may perceive a sense of happiness instead of displeasure. Similarly, feelings (pleasant, unpleasant, neither pleasant nor unpleasant) need not have adverse effects on one’s perceptions, volitions, and consciousness. 

Is there a self? If one trusts his five aggregates of clinging, he will see a self. However, if one doesn’t trust the five aggregates of clinging, he will see no self. There is a self, but it is not what one feels through the six senses; it is unfathomable using the five aggregates of clinging. When you are in a dream, you can’t possibly tell the situation of the real self. The world is like an illusion or shadow which is impermanent. The “object” which is the conditioner for the shadow to appear is also impermanent like the shadow; this “object” appears due to another conditioner. The five aggregates of clinging are impermanent and do not fit to be regarded as the self. To take them as self is synonymous to considering a “corpse” as the self. By not seeing the body as the self, and not thinking the self is in the body, this Right View is very useful to one’s happiness. Clinging to views, insisting on right vs. wrong, is unwise because it only leads to suffering. This is a philosophy, an attitude, or a way of thinking. Right is wrong if it leads to chaos; wrong is right if it leads to harmony. Electric flux and magnetic flux are just mathematical concepts; they do not physically exist. That doesn’t mean the concepts are wrong.

Try to live life to the fullest possible but not feel hesitate when you have to let go. 不增不减自金刚 When there is no self, one cannot possibly gain or lose anything, thus becomes solid like diamond. His inner peace is unmoved by the outer world.