I am Not Happy-1

I am Not Happy-1

Your past is like the hardened clay. You can't reshape it without breaking it. Your present is like the soft clay.

Someone emailed me the following question. I get asked this frequently, in fact.

"I need some advice about reducing my inner turmoil. I am in my fifties but feel no peace in life. I'm sick and tired of the rat race, of fighting to survive in a job and to meet the demands of family. I have become a slave to pay my bills."

At first, Buddha's view that everything is suffering seems a little pessimistic but upon deeper examination it's not too far off the truth most experience in their lives. While I meet many happy people, mostly though, I meet stressed out and sad ones. It almost feels that suffering comes on its own but happiness is something you've to work hard towards.

The truth is, happiness is our natural state but, more often than not, most people feel they have to have certain things in their life to be happy, to be at peace. It's not entirely their fault; we are programmed to believe that happiness depends on our success, on bank balance, on others' approval of us, on the volume of our material possessions. There's absolutely no doubt that a degree of material richness can make living a worthwhile experience, but, at the same time, it's absence doesn't mean we can't be at peace, or be happy.

Our world is full of people who go to bed hungry, who can't afford medication, who don't have a roof over their heads, who can't clothe themselves properly. And then there are millions who have all of the above and more, yet they are not happy. They have a family, they have friends, they have some savings (perhaps debt too), they are in good health yet they are restless.

The golden mantra of finding inner peace starts with acceptance. It begins by accepting the responsibility of the choices we've made. They are not necessarily about right-wrong or good-bad, but, each choice we make has an outcome. We can't possibly hope for some God to descend and undo our past choices, or grant us inner peace, because, everyone is already blessed with it. Only that we cover it with our desires and emotions.

Om Namah Shivay