Discover Happiness Within

[air]

Most of us in the world are trying to search for happiness. There are so many books that talk about the pursuit of happiness and how to be happy or that list out the different methods to be happy, wherein in reality, happiness is within us.

We don’t have to go looking for happiness. We have to realize it. It is within us. The discovery of happiness is not an external feature. Most of us become happy with external factors, but that is not happiness. It is only temporary happiness. It is temporary because we are happy for that moment, but when that condition changes or is removed, the happiness vanishes. Therefore, that is not true happiness. It is temporary. We all have expectations and when the expectations are fulfilled, we are happy. When expectations are not fulfilled, we are disappointed and unhappy. Only as long as our expectations are being fulfilled, we remain happy. The moment our expectations are not fulfilled, we become unhappy.

Imagine turning this around – instead of depending on things, circumstances, and people to make us happy, what if we are able to discover the truth that true happiness is actually within us and we don’t have to go anywhere or to anyone or do anything special to be happy? If only we realize and discover it, we will be able to be happy all the time.

This realization is the truth of who we are – Who are we? Why are we here? What is the purpose of life? If we can discover these answers, then we will discover the happiness within, and the happiness that’s discovered within is Ananda, joy, or bliss – this happiness is everlasting, and it will never go away! Today, start discovering the true happiness within you.

AiR

[mojomojo]

If our goal in this life was to look within and find God,
once we had done that, wouldn't it be all over.
Why did God give us a body and mind,
some might say to experience suffering and pain, to get us to look within.
Then why did God go to the trouble to make every single human being on the planet uniquely different (exception identical twins.)
If we sat in a lotus position, and went within and found God, would we still be happy, even though we may be homeless and hungry.
Is this what God wants, for us to ignore what he uniquely created and look within.
I agree, we are to connect with God, and there is joy in that, but it is also our duty to express God, through creative activity in our work,
it is also our duty to master the mind and through positivity, let God flow through us and create a better world for ourselves, that also benefits those around us.
It is our duty to step out of old mindsets, that repress, rather than expand.
God is dynamic, we been part of God are also dynamic, it is our nature to create with love and not greed.
External things are not the main focus, but there is nothing wrong with possessing material objects, it is creativity in action, 
one who works with Gods creative spirit will prosper, he who works purely for monetary gain, is subject to the laws of life, it will come and it will go.
Material wealth is not a bad thing, it is how it is accumulated and the effect it has on people.
A poor man can help very few, a wealthy man can help many.
The idea that rich people are evil, and the poor, spiritual, in my humble opinion,  is nonsense.

[baangus]

Feb 12, 2016 9:18:24 GMT air said:

the happiness that’s discovered within is joy, or bliss – this happiness is everlasting, and it will never go away! 

This I relate to, it has been my experience. It is a basic truth and understanding of most religious and spiritual paths. However, if someone is miserable and confused in life, telling them to feel joy and bliss won't help them. How then does one transform their misery and confusion into an experience of joy and bliss? 

We can only speak from our own experience. I suffered from depression for years. Family and friends would tell me to just "Cheer up, c'mon!" Needless to say that didn't work for me, and I doubt that has ever worked for anyone who is depressed. Yet here I am, two decades later, experiencing continuous joy in my life, and sometimes even a bit of bliss when I'm extra-lucky. So what happened? How was I able to evolve my relationship to life from depression to joyful relation?

In my case, it was a very conscious series of decisions I made. I identified five very specific things in my life that had lead to my years of depression. I then resolved to change my relationship to those five things by changing my life. It was hard work and a task that took years to fulfill. With any spiritual idea, there is always the elevated ideal, which is fine. But then there is the human, and sometimes very mundane, and often extremely difficult reality of what one needs to actually do, in order to achieve that inner state of elevated understanding.