Guest guest Posted July 18, 2004 Report Share Posted July 18, 2004 Let's say that an athlete wins an olympic gold medal and becomes extremely happy. For this happiness to happen, there must be a real olympic game, and a real victory. But the happiness itself is maybe just the result of some glands in the body producing 'happiness-gold- winning' chemicals. What happens when we see that the only thing we have is this moment and that winning an olympic gold medal or a Nobel prize or a billion dollars or finding the perfect mate, only alters the way the thinking mind thinks about 'its' future? Then we see that this moment is the only reality and that the 'future' where all our happiness comes from is just ideas in the mind. And *then* the same 'happiness' chemicals can be produced by the body/mind without any particular cause, like winning an olympic gold medal, or becoming a world-famous celebrity. :-) /AL Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted July 18, 2004 Report Share Posted July 18, 2004 Hi again, > Let's say that an athlete wins an olympic gold medal and becomes > extremely happy. For this happiness to happen, there must be a real > olympic game, and a real victory. But the happiness itself is maybe > just the result of some glands in the body producing 'happiness- gold- > winning' chemicals> The emotions like happiness are not chemical reactions, they are just as real as a table, they are a part of what makes a ME what it is. > > What happens when we see that the only thing we have is this moment > and that winning an olympic gold medal or a Nobel prize or a billion > dollars or finding the perfect mate, only alters the way the thinking > mind thinks about 'its' future? Then we see that this moment is the > only reality and that the 'future' where all our happiness comes from > is just ideas in the mind. A ME tries to find happiness or wants happiness, and like you say or are trying to view things happiness arises in response to events, these events push and pull a thinking ME toward or away from them, happiness arises it disappears, sadness arises it disappears. The *only* way to be 'happy' is to first have a *correct* understanding of *your own mind* and then to live life in this context with that understanding. A ME that continually seeks happiness will continually experience it's opposite so longs as it is being pushed and pulled by a unaware or unmindful mind. The only way to 'give' another true happiness or the ability to *have* happiness is to introduce them to the nature of their own mind or encourage them to discover it for themselves. Kind Regards, Scott. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted July 19, 2004 Report Share Posted July 19, 2004 Nisargadatta , " Scott Andersen " <sga_email> wrote: > > Hi again, > > > Let's say that an athlete wins an olympic gold medal and becomes > > extremely happy. For this happiness to happen, there must be a real > > olympic game, and a real victory. But the happiness itself is maybe > > just the result of some glands in the body producing 'happiness- > gold- > > winning' chemicals> > > > The emotions like happiness are not chemical reactions, they are just > as real as a table, they are a part of what makes a ME what it is. Happiness is probably caused by certain glands in the body producing chemicals such as hormones and stuff. But I agree that the chemicals in themselves is just a coarse view of what happiness is. > > > > > > What happens when we see that the only thing we have is this moment > > and that winning an olympic gold medal or a Nobel prize or a > billion > > dollars or finding the perfect mate, only alters the way the > thinking > > mind thinks about 'its' future? Then we see that this moment is the > > only reality and that the 'future' where all our happiness comes > from > > is just ideas in the mind. > > > A ME tries to find happiness or wants happiness, and like you say or > are trying to view things happiness arises in response to events, > these events push and pull a thinking ME toward or away from them, > happiness arises it disappears, sadness arises it disappears. > > The *only* way to be 'happy' is to first have a *correct* > understanding of *your own mind* and then to live life in this > context with that understanding. > > A ME that continually seeks happiness will continually experience > it's opposite so longs as it is being pushed and pulled by a unaware > or unmindful mind. > > The only way to 'give' another true happiness or the ability to > *have* happiness is to introduce them to the nature of their own mind > or encourage them to discover it for themselves. > > Kind Regards, > > Scott. I also think that a correct understanding of one's own mind is a good way to make it relax so that happiness can arise by itself, uncaused. This is a kind of a Jnana path. There is also the Bhakti path in the form of devotion and also the path of selfless service called the Karma path, or something like that (I may not remember these terms correctly). People devoted to Jesus Christ may find happiness through that devotion, and that is a form of a Bhakti path. I myself like the Jnana path, the path of knowledge so to speak. There are probably many other paths as well, and also no path at all for some people. /AL Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted July 19, 2004 Report Share Posted July 19, 2004 Hi again, > I also think that a correct understanding of one's own mind is a good > way to make it relax so that happiness can arise by itself, uncaused. Happiness is the product of a ME seeking something and fulfilling this seeking or a response of a ME to something that has happened that seems to be in line with their expectations of what is desired. But yes, inner contentment, inner peace, calmness etc can come with an understanding of mind because it is not being subjected to the same 'stresses' as in a reactionary, instinctual mind / body that gets dragged around with every thought response and reaction that occurrs. Whilst it tries in vain to keep within it's familiarity of expectations to *keep it or make it happy*. Happiness is also about recognizing *meaning* in ones life and this meaning can only be derived by a reflected self, differing entirely for every reflected self and only possible FOR a reflected self, whatever this meaning is that we derive it is completely unique for each individual. Kind Regards, Scott. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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