Finding Happiness Is A State of Mind

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Friday, 28 February 2020

Written by Robert Wilkinson

There are many ways to find happiness, and many ways not to find it.

All Beings want happiness. The pursuit of happiness leads us through all kinds of experiences which generate unhappiness. By understanding how to find happiness, we can avoid being led into unhappiness. As we open our imagination and embrace the journey to happiness, we become happiness itself as we live our lives. I last gave this to you over 5 years ago, and rewritten parts of it.

We are told that all humans seek happiness. I believe that’s true. The trick is in figuring out two things. One is recognizing what will truly make us happy here and now. The other is in learning to cultivate an attitude that welcomes the experience of being happy, and recognizing when it’s time to BE happy.

It has been said “Happiness is of the mind, joy is of the Soul, and bliss is of the Spirit.” If happiness is of the mind, then we must understand the mind to know the source of that which disrupts our happiness. We cannot have lasting happiness while generating the causes of unhappiness.

Since all humans seek happiness, one of the main issues is where will we find happiness, and why do we believe that we will find happiness in that way? Of course, regardless of where we find a form of happiness for any length of time, ultimately because life moves on and we move on, the forms of happiness also move on.

What makes us truly happy changes with time and maturity. That’s why we must have a certain level of detachment from the forms that have made us happy in the past, so that from time to time we can see if they still bring us happiness. While some things will make us happy for our whole lives, other things must be released so new things can come in that expands our sense of what will make us happy. Then we have to learn to let go of all which creates unhappiness as a result of clinging to that which no longer makes us happy.

Cultivating an attitude that welcomes happiness means releasing tendencies to be pessimistic. The mind can be very rigid in its beliefs and attitudes, and is usually more focused on “knowing” what is “right and wrong,” or “good and bad.”

This is where we must ask ourselves the classic question from time to time: “Would you rather be right or would you rather be happy?” While occasionally we can be both at the same time, more often our need to be “right” gets in the way of our being “happy.”

Even when we’ve cultivated an attitude that welcomes being happy, we have to learn to recognize when we have the opportunity to BE happy. I have known many, myself included, who yearned for happiness but didn’t take the opportunity to experience it when we could because our minds were busy elsewhere. This is where we have to learn to be in the moment, and if there’s an opportunity to feel something fulfilling, meaningful, joyous, or just simply be happy, embrace that experience in the here and now.

Lasting happiness is a state of mind that must be cultivated. Any happiness attached to an object of perception will be transitory, since all forms pass away. That’s why we can find great happiness in things, but ultimately those things leave, to be replaced with other things.

The trick is to know when and how to let go, and at the right time choose those things that will bring us renewed happiness. Great happiness is often found in giving away something we have valued to another who will value that thing, since it creates space at just the right time. Of course, we can’t take “it” with us past a certain point anyway.

A lot of life’s happiness comes as we let go of inhibitions, including any that make us feel separate from ourselves or others, or the process of Life as it unfolds each minute. A feeling of inner freedom is the nature of our Eternal Soul-Spirit. The more we remember that we are the joy of being a Loving, Wise, Intelligent Consciousness, the more we’ll experience happiness, since our minds will be attuning to a greater Love. The mind perceiving a greater Love can lead it to happy thoughts.

In our quest to be happy, from time to time we have to examine our bondage to any “craving for happiness” that we feel, since that prohibits any true happiness from taking root. We’ve all known people that try too hard to find happiness, and so usually miss it when it’s happening. Again, this is where the ability to detach from listening to the scratchy mental grooves we’ve recorded in our minds is paramount.

Because we’re all One Life together, anyone who cultivates an expanded feeling-awareness is bound to feel more of “All-That-Is.” We have three dimensions of feeling; our personal experience of our feelings, the feelings we share with others or which are the result of our direct interactions with others, and the feelings we experience in the collective field. Whether we’re aware of it or not, we also feel what others are feeling, both those in the physical space we occupy and others at a distance. This shared feeling experience can be difficult due to the general level of suffering which the entire world feels these days.

One of our tasks in Life is to understand we are not separate from anything or anyone for even a moment, and also that we are independent of our environment and can choose to generate any thought or feeling we want at any time. We are here to evolve from wondering what’s going on and what we can do to a clear sense of knowing the type of positive ideas, feelings, and actions or inactions we can bring to each moment which generates positive energy into the future.

We all go through tests of Life to bring this forth. We have all been through difficult circumstances and tragic events which threw us into unhappiness and confusion. While feeling badly during these times is natural, they are also the perfect time to understand and claim our power to change our view and our responses so we come out of the unhappy experience with understanding and wisdom. These rewards can bring happiness, and reminds us of Lincoln’s dictum, paraphrased as “a person’s about as happy as they make up their mind to be.”

When we cultivate a happy mindset, it is relative easy to be positive in our approach to the generic and specific suffering in our world, since our default doesn’t lead to unhappiness. Because we don’t respond with unhappiness, when we find ourselves in unhappy circumstances, we can be genuinely happy naturally generating ideas and feelings which cut through the density of the atmosphere of negative feelings. Our ability to choose to be happy is one of the greatest dispellers of glamor, illusion, and darkness we have.

It is said there are four sources of suffering generated by the mind, which are attachments, aversions, illusions, and “the mind suffering over its own suffering.” The antidotes to these are detachment, dispassion, discrimination, and our ability to generate positivity or Bodhichitta in the here and now. Cultivating an attitude of happiness, positivity, good will and the “will to good” is an invincible tool we all have that helps us create a happy life.

As the old proverb goes, “We cannot prevent the birds of worry from flying overhead, but we can prevent them from making a nest in our hair.” Being happy is always right here, right now. There is no other time to be happy. So the next time your mind wants to take you into an unhappy space, you have the power to decide to focus it elsewhere on that which is more fulfilling, more joyous, and more empowering to the happiness that is your Divine Birthright.

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About the author:

Robert wilkinson An internationally-known astrologer, author, public speaker, metaphysician, and futurist, with over 25 years experience as a counselor and educator. He has presented hundreds of public talks on all aspects of Astrology, the Eastern Wisdom tradition, the Western Wisdom tradition and promoted many mass gatherings and cultural events. Some of his specific areas of interest and expertise include personality profiles, degree patterns, integrative astrology, various aspect harmonics, among others.
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