What is required to find true happiness?

Contentment. Be content with what you have and then reach out to create more. This is how we prosper, succeed and become wealthy. Contentment is one of the goals of yoga and one of the most difficult things for us to attain. There is a natural tendency for humans to want more. Even when we experience happiness, we want more happiness. Contentment means to be happy with what you have and not desire that which you have not earned. Jean Paul Sartre said, “Happiness is not doing what you want, but wanting what you do.” To find happiness, stop anguishing. It never solved anything. Anguish only brings pain, stress and ill health. Approach the world with selfless motives. Know that you are the source (potential) of your happiness. Stop expecting and start enjoying life and you will see a very different world. You will begin to use the world for a very different purpose and that will bring you happiness. Remember the greatest amount of negative karma goes into destroying happiness and joy. So, change the way you look at things and the way you see things will change. In yoga there is a pose called the Prosperous pose, or lotus pose. It is also called the happy pose. In Sanskrit it means the swirling motion of a cross symbolizing the spinning of creation and evolution. Happiness is created within and then evolves outward into our intellectual view of the world and is present in how we move through the world; be it graceful or awkward. Move with grace and you will discover happiness. Gratitude is good for your health, body, mind and soul Be Grateful for the Sunrise It brings you a new day Be Grateful for your friends They are your greatest support Be grateful for what you have Count your blessings END There is a fable about a musk deer that best describes our search for happiness. The fabled musk deer has a scented spot above its forehead that gives off the scent of musk. The deer is intensely attracted to the scent of the musk and so runs here and there in search of it, not realizing that the scent is on its forehead. Happiness is like that. We run here and there in search of it never realizing that happiness is within us and not somewhere out there. Understanding this you will find contentment. Then when you ask yourself “who am I” the answer will be, “I am happy.” Be the source of your happiness because it is truly a gift to be treasured. Be mindful of each step you take along the pathway of life, and each step will be an end in itself. With no distinction between the journey and the destination you will discover that happiness is not a destination. It is here ~ right now – just like the musk deer, right in your head. Be mindful ~ Be happy! EGO Flip your hands up and extend out your index finger. How can we be happy when we are sad, hurt, angry and alone? All of the seeds of life’s emotions and feelings are within us. What we feed these emotions and feelings is what will manifest. So, if we feed sorrow with sorrow, sorrow will manifest. But if we feed sorrow with happiness before long happiness will be your state of being. That is the whole point to happiness. It is within us and we alone have the power to be happy no matter what the circumstances. Pull your index finger in and place your thumb on top (symbol of your soul) Happiness then is about self-realization; realize you have the power to self-control and direct your life. Money and material gain won’t buy happiness. Those things of the world come and go. But remember this; happiness does not come without work. You must work your karma (make punja – good merits) so your life works for you, and in this you will discover true happiness. Namaste~ may you walk the path of life with health, happiness and peace Doctor Lynn For course, classes, books and more – http://www.doctorlynn.com From the movie: Café Society. “Live life every day as if it is your last day and one day, you’ll be right.”