Thursday 26 June 2008

No-mind.....the space of happiness

The mind that is continually describing and explaining cannot be happy. Happiness is that state of no-mind. By no-mind I mean that there is a lack of thoughts. It is the constant barrage of thoughts that prevent experiencing the state of happiness. At times the state of happiness breaks through but the mind will immediately attribute it to some external event. So when we're unhappy we attribute it to an external event or circumstance and when we're happy we do the same. This is the trap that human being is born into. It is a trap because while we attribute a state of being which is inherent and intrinsic to something external we can never claim ownership over the state of happiness.

Thoughts mask the state of happiness. The state is always there, it lies at the bedrock of our being but thoughts act like a cover over it. Begin to reduce the number of thoughts and there is a corresponding rise in the experience of happiness. So no-mind is more than just no thoughts it is the direct experience of the state of happiness without attributing it some external event or circumstance. To have this direct experience of happiness is to be free because in this state one realizes that the state of happiness is not dependent on anything external. How often do I hear my friends say 'If I had the perfect relationship, a bigger car/house etc then I would be happy. But this is greatest lie. The mind more specifically the ego mind has no interest in striving for the state of happiness because then it and its thoughts lose their power so it is thoughts that determine whether or not we experience a state of happiness or unhappiness.

It is never an event or circumstance that give us whether we are happy or unhappy but our thoughts about it. To be happy the number of thoughts has to drastically reduce. How does one reduce the thoughts or more appropriately stop the constant commenting from the voice inside the head that is always, judging, setting one thing against the other? The first thing to do is to notice it. This is the first step in the awareness that the thoughts that are there are not who I am they are just the thoughts that I have. This is really the only thing there is to do. Once awareness comes into consciousness there is the beginning of control.....

1 comment:

Tony said...

Yup, that works. But, Margaret, that resistance thing you wrote about keeps getting in the way. And it also seems that the more I ignore it, the louder it screams. Gosh what a mess. Thanks. From Tony