We normally think happiness and suffering are opposite emotions that fluctuate in experience. This is like looking up at the sky and thinking that sometimes the clouds are blue and sometimes they are grey. Of course, the blue sky is the ever-present background of the temporary appearances of grey clouds. Likewise, happiness is the very nature of our being, the natural condition of our self, and because our self is always present, peace and happiness are always present. It is important to understand that happiness is not a feeling but rather the background of all feelings. Peace and happiness are our natural state, what we are. They do not need to be acquired but only revealed. Suffering is an experience we dislike and resist above all else. Happiness is what we long for above all else. In order to find the latter, we must embrace the former.
Duration: 01:13:42
Audio cuepoints
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Peace and Happiness Are What We Are
Duration: 01:13:42
We normally think happiness and suffering are opposite emotions that fluctuate in experience. This is like looking up at the sky and thinking that sometimes the clouds are blue and sometimes they are grey. Of course, the blue sky is the ever-present background of the temporary appearances of grey clouds. Likewise, happiness is the very nature of our being, the natural condition of our self, and because our self is always present, peace and happiness are always present. It is important to understand that happiness is not a feeling but rather the background of all feelings. Peace and happiness are our natural state, what we are. They do not need to be acquired but only revealed. Suffering is an experience we dislike and resist above all else. Happiness is what we long for above all else. In order to find the latter, we must embrace the former.