Wednesday, December 17, 2008

The Commitment to Peace, Love and Happiness.

Why is it that when we find something that seems so exciting like a new relationship, hobby or spiritual practice it seems like its the one thing you were meant to do, then you set out to keep and nurture this new found love, only to have it fall by the wayside a few months or years down the track? What makes us lose commitment or interest with what once filled us with such immense joy?

Could it just be the initial impact of this novel introduction into our lives that stimulates our imagination and provides hope it will bring happiness to us, as we so hoped something would? Or do we fall into the trap of being sold by the event that once seems so enticing in a film or ad that sold it as a panacea of happiness?

Well I think that it is the expectation we set up around external things that set them up to inevitably fail in what we made them promise us: eternal happiness. You see, nothing outside of ourselves can make us happy in any lasting way, the reason is because happiness comes from within ourselves, and is always there, we only need to uncover it.

I once thought that if only I could find the perfect relationship then I would be happy. I found a great woman, but the initial happiness waned and I was left wondering what went wrong. Well, I expecting to suck and feed off this eternal source of happiness that lay inherent within this relationship with this person, until this amazing other who made up the other half of the relationship asked 'where have you gone? You don't do anything anymore. You just look for faults in me.'

That was a wake up call because I realized that I became dependent and lazy. I no longer took responsibility for the experience I was having between us. I had stopped providing it with happiness. What a humbling revelation!

I see the same thing in spiritual life or just living in everyday life: what am I bringing to the world, to the situation I find myself in, what am I offering? The insight was quite clear, if I wanted to experience love and happiness in my relationships, my work, my life, I had to bring love and happiness to those situations. And then the world changed and opened itself up to a whole host of wonderful experiences.

Oh, I still have days and moments when I'm in a funk, and everything seems difficult or gloomy. But having a practice everyday that happens like clockwork reminds me that I can experience something more wonderful. When I'm too stuck to overcome the meddling thoughts that toss around in my head vying for attention, then I seek help from someone really good at going inside to find love and happiness everyday. Luckily I have my teacher, John Morris.

So here's my message: find a practice like meditation that you can do everyday to get back in touch with that inner source of happiness. Find someone who can access that inner source of love and happiness readily so that they can inspire your own journey within. Its hard to remember to be on track to regularly go within to find your well of happiness when most things in the world want us to do the opposite by finding happiness outside of us.

Make your commitment towards yourselves: get rid of the clutter inside you that prevents you from experiencing your own peace, love and happiness inside.

Stay on track!

Lots of love,

Jason

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