Buddhism is a pretty big part of my life. Sunday mornings have become my new favorite, especially with The Kadampa Mediation Center‘s Sunday morning Advice for Life class. If I’m in town, you can count on me being there. Since Buddhist philosophy has been the guiding principal in my life and fundamentally key for my balanced mind, I’m going to share the classes / workshops / lectures I attend. So be on the look out for dharma posts, here on Peonies and Bees. It’s for you, for me, and for the world. I hope it helps you as much as it’s helped me!
Choosing Happiness
All human beings have one thing in common: our basic and shared wish, which is to be happy and avoid suffering — all humans have these shared wishes. Many people have different approaches to achieve this, but it’s the same driving force none the less.
Happiness = State of Mind
External conditions (food, money, cars, friends, family) cannot bring happiness. In fact, it tends to bring suffering. The pleasure that external conditions bring to you doesn’t last long and typically turns into suffering. Think about when you sit down for a meal, you’re typically very hungry. But after a while, you get full, perhaps even stuffed, and can barely take another bite — let alone look at the dish in front of you. You must develop a healthy balance with external conditions.
Happiness and suffering are opposites.
Pleasure is simply a reduction of previous pain. Examples; eating after you’re hungry, sitting after you’ve been standing for a long time. But after a while, this pleasure turns into pain. The mind needs to be peaceful to be happy. Find inner sources of happiness. Regardless of pleasant or unpleasant external factors.
So what can we do? We must turn inside, inside our minds. There’s a strong relationship between how we feel and how we think. Feelings come with thoughts, so abandon thoughts that cause suffering, and nurture the thoughts that create happiness.
Change your mental position so you feel peaceful, thereby enjoying more.