On Being Happy

The traditional goal of meditation is to arrive at a state of wellbeing that is imperturbable.

The French monk Matthieu Ricard described such happiness as a deep sense of flourishing that arises from an exceptionally healthy mind.

The purpose of meditation is to recognize that you already have such a mind, and that discovery, in turn, helps you cease doing the things that produce needless confusion and suffering for yourself and others.

Of course, most people never truly master the practice of meditation, and so they don't reach a condition of truly imperturbable happiness.

The nearer goal, therefore, is to have an increasingly healthy mind, that is, to be moving one's mind in the right direction.

But conventional sources of happiness are unreliable being dependent upon changing conditions.

It is difficult to raise a happy family and to keep yourself and those you love healthy...

And to acquire wealth and to find creative and fulfilling ways to enjoy it...

And to form deep friendships all the while...

And then to contribute to society in ways that are emotionally rewarding.

And then...

Once all this is accomplished, to keep the machinery of happiness running day after day.

There is nothing wrong with being fulfilled in all these ways, except for the fact that if you pay close attention, you will see that there is still something wrong with it.

These forms of happiness aren't good enough.

Because feelings of fulfillment do not last...

And the stress of life continues...

Mindfulness is a matter of becoming increasingly sensitive to all this and discovering that it's possible to be truly free only now.