Is Happiness a Worthwhile Goal?
This is an excellent question that was posted on Good Life Zen: Is Happiness a Worthwhile Goal? It was surprising to me to see that no one of the readers discussed in the comments meditation as a tool to reach a state beyond the dualities of life (happy & sad, warm & cold, hungry & full, etc.), a state of eternal bliss.
You Are Already Meditating!
For example if you are really immersed in something you are doing and loving it (watching a beautiful sunset, creating an inspiring piece of art, or being immersed in the almost lost art of knitting), then after some time you come out of it and will notice that time was just flying and you really enjoyed what you were doing, it brought your number of thoughts down, it made you happy; that is a state of meditation, a glimpse of bliss. Did you feel happy when you came out of that state? This is being in the present moment, a meditation practice. Create a little awareness when you come out of such a state and observe what you experienced.
Practicing awareness and being in the present moment are worthwhile meditations for bliss and inner peace.
When we are experiencing bliss, then we are coming from a point of sharing instead of competition in all our pursuits.
Meditation is for You
Why do you want to stay in a state of suffering if through meditation you can get out of it? Why do you want to experience the ups and downs in your moods (which are merely thoughts), if you can go beyond them through meditation?
Who creates our positive and negative thoughts? Isn’t it “I”, myself, my mind, who creates them? Who is in control of my mind? It’s me. You cannot control my mind, my thoughts. If I am influenced by your words or actions, then I allowed myself being influenced by them.
Bliss – Our True Nature
There is a state of eternal bliss within all of us, it is our true nature. Regain that state of pure bliss. It’s who we really are.
All our actions like going on vacation, watching TV, creating a piece of art, doing all kinds of things, have one underlying thought: reaching bliss; are just an attempt to regain that state of bliss.
If being blissful all the time beyond happiness is not a worthwhile goal to everyone, then what is…?