The art of happiness

[Ciel]

Never read a thread as this creating such complexities out of nowt.

Happiness rises outside the realms of complex...... it is not a complex thing.

But if you want.......
It is a matter of discarding the layers of should and should not towards the simplicity of the core of inner being where life is spontaneous, acting without external cause, gracefully natural and unconstrained..........

Happiness is opening to love and inner God space where life flows outward generating the positive.

- c -

[Ahanu]

Happiness rises outside the realms of complex...... it is not a complex thing.

Yeah, but humans are complex. We have complex emotions. We must identify the weeds and pull them out, so that happiness may grow. For example, saying, "you need to be happy" is like saying, "you need to love." Hello, I think it is more complex than that (). However, I see what you are saying.

[Ciel]

Originally Posted by Ahanu

Yeah, but humans are complex. We have complex emotions. We must identify the weeds and pull them out, so that happiness may grow. For example, saying, "you need to be happy" is like saying, "you need to love." Hello, I think it is more complex than that (). However, I see what you are saying.

Ahanu,

What do you notice first, the weeds or the flowers?

- c -

[Ahanu]

The weeds.

[Netti-Netti]

Originally Posted by Ciel

Never read a thread as this creating such complexities out of nowt.

Umm, what is the rationale for Bhakti Yoga?

Happiness rises outside the realms of complex...... it is not a complex thing.

True but that's not incompatible with a need to understand the causes for unhappiness.

Consider Soul Ties. Bonds between people can be very powerful. Arguably, they make the world go round. Sometimes unwholesome intentions create bonds, which then become forms of bondage and unfortunate existence. It helps a lot to recognize how this happens. Mindfulness can be a useful way to avoid afflictions and ensure happiness in the long-term.

The effort to understand the causes for unhappiness is not always a matter of second-guessing G-d's blessings and failing to open up out of irrational fear. It can be a way to remain alert to the ever-present possibilities for what Reinhold Niebuhr calls the corruption of love by boundless self-assertion. It's a problem that even the most optimistic religionists can't define out of existence. Obviously, it would be that much more of a problem without Redemption.

[Ciel]

Nettie-Nettie,

The thing is your way has never worked for me......
And believe me when I say...... I've been there.

Has it worked for you?

So, I speak from a way and place I do know works from experience.

Ah, mindfullness yes, awareness, yes.. but above all open-ness to love.
This mind is something of an empty space otherwise connected. It graduated some time ago when it realised it didn't need to do the dirty work of delving into a bottomless pit forever....

Now life is the moment and the only way.

- c -

[Netti-Netti]

Originally Posted by Ciel

Nettie-Nettie,

The thing is your way has never worked for me......
And believe me when I say...... I've been there.

Hi Ciel,

I'm surprised you feel I've given you enough information about "my way" to give you a basis for comparison. I don't think I have ever given anyone a complete statement on what I believe and what exactly I do in terms of religious practice. I think you are sizing me up a little too fast based on a handful of quick comments about craving and clinging.

Has it worked for you?

I feel very blessed and at times am overcome by a sense of gratitude that is almost unbearable. But that doesn't mean I won't remain mindful of the possibilities for wrong thinking and wrong intention like a faithful watchdog.

This mind is something of an empty space otherwise connected. It graduated some time ago when it realised it didn't need to do the dirty work of delving into a bottomless pit forever....

Human history and human existence are far more tragic than most of us will admit to ourselves. One does not need to go all the way down to the bottom - or even close to the bottom - to get an inkling of it.

I only delve far enough to preserve a basic sense of humility and to remember my origins. Any farther than that is not necessary and not useful.

[Ciel]

Hi Nettie,

True I don't know you except for your postings on CR.

Would you understand if I said the words are only the second issue compared with expression and application. You might call it,"The art of the post"

The positive and negative stance.
Our steps are a different dance.
Can happiness dance flipped over.
Just different

peace - c -

[Ciel]

Originally Posted by Ahanu

However, I see what you are saying.

Ahanu,
Thank you for the flower..........
Love and peace to the weeds.

- c -

[Netti-Netti]

Originally Posted by Ciel

True I don't know you except for your postings on CR.

Hi Ciel,

Elsewhere you wrote:

You know only what you consider you know about Ciel.
It is as small as a grain of sand.

Why would it be any different for anyone else?

Would you understand if I said the words are only the second issue compared with expression and application.

Of course. Why wouldn't I?

[Ciel]

Netti-Netti,

I see you have taken the time to review my past post.........

I believe in accentuating the positive to create nourishment.

- c -

[seattlegal]

Originally Posted by Ciel

Netti-Netti,

I see you have taken the time to review my past post.........

I believe in accentuating the positive to create nourishment.

- c -

Quotes from the Dalai Lama:

• It is very important to generate a good attitude, a good heart, as much as possible. From this, happiness in both the short term and the long term for both yourself and others will come.
  
• If you want others to be happy, practice compassion. If you want to be happy, practice compassion.

[Netti-Netti]

I went to see the Dalai Lama. He talked about compassion quite a bit.

I don't recall him saying much about where compassion comes from....

[seattlegal]

Originally Posted by Netti-Netti

I went to see the Dalai Lama. He talked about compassion quite a bit.

I don't recall him saying much about where compassion comes from....

"True compassion is not just an emotional response, but a firm commitment based on reason."
~Dalai Lama

Seeds of Compassion conference webcasts

From the Dhammapada:

]Dhammapada 1:1-5
1. Mind precedes all mental states. Mind is their chief; they are all mind-wrought. If with an impure mind a person speaks or acts suffering follows him like the wheel that follows the foot of the ox.

2. Mind precedes all mental states. Mind is their chief; they are all mind-wrought. If with a pure mind a person speaks or acts happiness follows him like his never-departing shadow.

3. "He abused me, he struck me, he overpowered me, he robbed me." Those who harbor such thoughts do not still their hatred.

4. "He abused me, he struck me, he overpowered me, he robbed me." Those who do not harbor such thoughts still their hatred.

5. Hatred is never appeased by hatred in this world. By non-hatred alone is hatred appeased. This is a law eternal.

[Ciel]

Originally Posted by Netti-Netti

I went to see the Dalai Lama. He talked about compassion quite a bit.

I don't recall him saying much about where compassion comes from....

N-N
Did it come from him when he spoke of it?

- c -