“Wanting your own happiness is key to enlightenment.” ~ Cee
At first this may seem like an odd, even selfish statement. What about the happiness of others? What about compassion? What about “the world”?
The fact of the matter is that none who suffer are satisfied with their suffering, regardless of how big or small. Somewhere within ourselves the unnaturalness behind suffering is intuited and the movement toward happiness naturally arises.
What does enlightenment have to do with being happy and natural?
a) No one who seeks happiness wants a happiness that is partial. The happiness we want is full, overflowing, and without limits. We may compromise and accept lesser forms of happiness but in our hearts it is not what we want.
b) No one who seeks happiness wants a happiness that is temporary. When we are happy, we want that happiness to abide uninterrupted. It is not a fleeting distraction, a rare moment of escape or release that we desire but rather a happiness that is continuous and pervading all experience.
c) No one who seeks happiness wants a happiness that is caused. On some level, we want happiness but we also want to be free and independent from the causes of our happiness. We don’t want to be dependent on others or on circumstances for our happiness. We want to be happy and we ourselves want to be the happiness we enjoy.
Once the above points are wholly acknowledged from our hearts and minds, it leaves only one option: enlightenment. Happiness as it is described above is not just happiness in the ordinary sense with which we are familiar. That happiness which is full, timeless, and uncaused is known as bliss.
And there is only one place to find bliss: your own existence. Just as the nature of water is fluid, wet, and clear, so is the nature of your existence Being, Consciousness, and Bliss.
To rediscover this truth is called enlightenment, or self-realization. It is the most worthwhile endeavor that can be undertaken. It is never a waste of time.
Seeking perfect happiness for yourself does not invalidate or negate the happiness of others. If you seek perfect happiness, you seek bliss. If you seek bliss, you seek revelation of truth. In and by the revelation of truth, all of manifest existence is benefitted. Even the Buddha, a once powerful and influential prince, left behind his empire to seek his own happiness and as a result he brought more light into this world than he would have if he had remained just another king.
Therefore I urge you: Do not deny yourself happiness. Aspire for that happiness which can only be described as bliss. Do not settle for the temporary and limited forms of happiness promised by your desires and fears.
Know what you seek and do not settle for less.
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