Copyright 2010 SOUL Research Institute
C
bliss
REAL HAPPINESS
As we briefly discussed in the last newsletter, there are two types of intentions: wholesome & unwholesome. Unwholesome intentions are rooted in greed, hatred, and delusion. Wholesome intentions are rooted in generosity, loving-kindness, and wisdom.
If you cultivate wholesome intentions in your mind, it will lead to you taking a delightful interest in life _in yourself, your family, friends, community, and whatever you do for living. A delightful interest eventually leads to the experience of rapture, joy, elation, ecstasy, exultation, and so on--collectively known as real happiness.
Unless we cultivate wholesome intentions, we can not develop delightful interest. Unless there is delightful interest in what we do, we cannot derive real happiness from our life. It is important to cultivate wholesome intentions to become truly, really happy.
If a person craves money and wins a jackpot at a casino, he will experience unreal happiness, because it is rooted greed. If a person craves money for funding an immunization project in Africa and wins a grant, he will experience real happiness, because it is rooted in generosity and loving-kindness. If a person ardently contemplates on the nature of separate self and eventually understands the reality behind this illusion, he experiences real happiness because it is rooted in wisdom. Unless this is understood clearly, real happiness cannot be experienced. In fact, unreal happiness becomes an impediment because it binds and imprisons us.
Before you take any action, check your intentions to make sure they are rooted in generosity, loving-kindness, or wisdom. If you notice any trace of greed or hatred in your intentions, simply freeze your actions and plans. Abandon them like a hot potato. Then, fill up that emptied space in your mind with wholesome intentions. Always make a diligent, ardent effort to cultivate the mind with wholesome intentions with the understanding that it will lead to real happiness.
SOUL RESEARCH INSTITUTE NEWSLETTER, AUGUST 29, 2010
EVENTS AT S.R.I.
INSPIRATIONS
Open Eye Meditation Workshop
Sunday Gathering and Potluck
Sam Adettiwar is back from India. He will conduct the workshop on coming Sunday, August 27, 2010. Timings as usual (see below).
Come and go anytime as you likeNO FEES. JUST PRACTICE.
10.00-10.30am: Soul Yoga
10.30-11.00am: Soul Breathing
11.00-11.30am: Open Eye Meditation
11.30-Noon: Questions/Answers
Noon - 12.30pm: Potluck (Veg.)
12.30 - Whatever: Noble Discussion
Where: Fire Dept. Hall: 2490 Research Parkway, Briargate Area, Colorado Springs, CO
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"True happiness lies in taking a delightful interest in all the details of daily life and elevating them to an art."
Based on William Morris
"That is (real) happiness - to be dissolved into something great."
Willa Cather
"True happiness is the natural state of a generous, loving heart."
Anonymous
"The purpose of our life is to be happy."
Dalai Lama
"Happiness is a thing to be practiced, like a violin."
Proverb
Real happiness deepens the spiritual practice because it especially restrains the forces of greed and hatred. Real happiness wakes up, stirs up, and stimulates the mind to attain higher states and thus awakens mind’s ultimate potential. In this sense, real happiness is the source of wholesome mental power. Without it, we cannot deepen the spiritual practice.
Real happiness also plays a fundamental role in the development of higher intelligences such as emotional and spiritual intelligence, and serves as a forerunner to bliss.
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