Victor, thank you for your questions and comments. The purpose of this book is to show you how you can shift the place where you stand. Now if you feel that you are the one who does actions and enjoys their results, you should know that in reality you are the one who abides as the source of happiness itself.
The only way you can know the depth of this happiness is by standing here. Happiness, as described here, is not an object that you see or feel in the usual way. You know this happiness in a more direct way. You know it because you are it.
This is confusing to many people. How can you experience something if you don’t see it, hear it, and if it’s not the usual type of feeling? The best answer that I can give is that happiness has its own intelligence, which you can only know by standing in your true nature.
An analogy might be that the sun does not need a candle to see itself. The sun knows light because the sun is light. In this very same way you are happiness. When you find a job that needs doing you are happiness. While you do the job you remain in your natural state. And when the job is completed you are the same bliss.
Now I know that many people have the concept that they can only be happy after the job is done. That’s why here in America we have the expression, “Thank God it’s Friday,” the last day of work before you get to enjoy the weekend. But if you think about it, out of a seven day week, you would only have two days to be happy. If this was the formula for happiness, you would spend nearly three-quarters of your life in misery. I hope there’s a better way.
Now here’s where a little experimenting can go a long way. In the midst of the most difficult and challenging task that you do — you know the task that causes the most suffering — see if you can find happiness. Here’s a little secret that might help you with this experiment: happiness comes from the place where you actually experience it, not from the things that you do, or the objects that you see.
So without breaking your concentration on the job at hand, see if you can find happiness in the last place you would ever expect. If you can find happiness even in the midst of this difficult job, you will find the unexpressed meaning of these words.
Remember, never assume that suffering is natural. The only thing that is natural is your own Consciousness and Bliss. If your experience is anything less than this, ask questions and find your innate freedom.
Victor’s Reply,
Hello Michael,
Thank you for your view on this subject.
Yes, in the middle of a difficult job I can find happiness, for instance, if I recall the great view of Arrábida’s landscape falling to the sea. This is one of the most wonderful places that I know, and when I am there I feel a great happiness.
Is this what you mean?
Victor
Here was our response. Victor, you know that when you are at Arrábida, or when you even think of the Arrábida landscape falling into the sea, you feel happy. This is a great place to start, because when you meditate on happiness you want to start with what you experience.
But now you can take your experience of happiness even deeper. So here’s the question that you want to ask yourself: when you remember the Arrábida landscape and feel happy, where do you actually experience this happiness? Is it in Arrábida or is it in your own heart? You do not have to answer this question in words; you can answer it by your deepest feelings.
So dive deeper into the happiness that you feel, and determine where you actually experience it. I’m sure that you will notice that you actually feel the happiness here, and not over there at the cliffs going down to the sea.
You may be surprised to notice that Arrábida was not actually the cause of your happiness. Rather it reminded you of the happiness that you already have on the inside. This happiness is not dependent on Arrábida. Rather it wells up from a place inside of you that was there before your first thought about Arrábida.
Now what’s even more magical, you will begin to notice that just as Arrábida was not actually the cause of your happiness, your thoughts are not the cause of your happiness either. If you don’t believe me, try this out for yourself. The next time you feel this joy, start thinking about rubber bands, and ghosts, and goats, and dogs, and cats, and mice, and buildings, and work.
Let your thoughts go wild and see if they affect your happiness one little bit. Here you will find the most remarkable result of this meditation on the source of happiness. Your sense of happiness is much deeper than the thoughts going through your mind. So in order to experience this happiness, you do not have to take thought of anything special. The happiness that you experience comes right from your center.
Now let’s go back to this difficult job. If it was so difficult that you didn’t even have time to take thought of Arrábida, could you still be happy? Of course you could; since your happiness is not dependent on your thoughts, even in the most difficult circumstances you can still be happy and at peace.
In fact you will discover that happiness is so deep that it is just who you are. No circumstance including death can ever snatch it away from you. This is the freedom promised by the sages of old like Christ and Shankara, and the sages of today too.
Please meditate on where you actually experience happiness and let me know if more questions arise for you. As you know, here questions are always welcome. When you start to question what you take to be normal, you will discover that normal and happiness are the same thing.
Where can I go?
If you are just starting your meditation practice, or if you are reevaluating it, it’s time to ask a few questions. You can ask: what is the potential for meditation? Where do I want to go with my meditations and how can I possibly get there?
Meditation is the process of making that which is spiritual your own experience. Here we are using spiritual to mean anything that is nonphysical. This covers a wide ground.
Some meditation practices such as Hatha Yoga involve working with physical postures and with the breath. Others work with visualizations or controlling the mind. Other practices lead to subtle experiences (non physical experiences) including out of the body experiences, seeing subtle light or hearing subtle sounds. Some work with subtle energies such as kundalini or with ki (chi).
We are not here to criticize these various practices. We know that people have a wide variety of desires and that is part of what makes the world a beautiful place. Oftentimes, however, people start a meditation path without asking the question: “Is this meditation practice going to take me where I really want to go?” Life is too short to spend it moving towards the wrong goals. Especially when you discover that you were born with a powerful rocket that can take you to unimaginable heights.
Other people just outgrow their path. They feel that their meditation has gone flat. The intriguing quality that it once had seems to have left. At that point people tend to blame themselves, “It couldn’t be the meditation, it must be me. Somehow I am just not disciplined enough these days.” We recommend sticking to your meditation — don’t slack off. At the same time be sensitive to be sure you are growing in the direction that you want. If not, then reevaluate your meditation.
Lets start off with a benchmark. How far or how high can your meditations go? It’s no accident that I started off with a quote from Jesus in “The Gospel According to Thomas” about transcending death.
Incidentally,
