We All Want to Be Happy
I’m thinking about what I want to talk about at the next Sunday Sangha. There have been a lot of new people coming — many brand new to meditation — so I thought I might start with this passage from Mindfulness in Plain English, by Bhante Gunaratana:
“Happiness and peace are really the prime issues in human existence…
“So what is this happiness? For most of us, the idea of perfect happiness would be to have everything we wanted and be in control of everything, playing Caesar, making the whole world dance a jig according to our every whim. Once again, it does not work that way.
“Take a look at the people in history who have actually held this type of power. They were not happy people. Certainly, they were not at peace with themselves. Why not? Because they were driven to control the world totally and absolutely and they could not…. These powerful people could not control the stars. They still got sick. They still had to die.
“You can’t ever get everything you want. It is impossible. Luckily, there is another option. You can learn to control your mind, to step outside of the endless cycle of desire and aversion.”
***
And how do you do that?
By meditating.
And how does that work?
Stop in at Sunday Sangha and find out!
(“Sunday Sangha” is a Mindfulness Meditation Sitting Group that meets every Sunday, 11:00 am to 12:30 pm, at 7700 Clayton Road, Suite 319.)