Sometimes we believe that there are two kinds of happiness. There is the happiness of the world, the one you get from people, things, events or achievements. We know that this happiness is ephemeral, and soon disappears. Then there is another kind of happiness that is constant, that does not change and does not need any reason or cause, since this happiness is our own nature, our own self. This happiness is the emptiness in which the appearance of this world, which we take so much for real, is sustained. We seek for this happiness with all our might, yet we believe that it is beyond our reach.
But there are not two kinds of happiness — there is only one. The happiness we occasionally feel in our daily life, in our world, in our movie, in our character, and that apparently comes and goes, is the same happiness that comes from Being itself, from emptiness. That is the one and only happiness.
What makes happiness seem to go away and come back depending on our achievements, or on the satisfaction of our desires, is again our friend the mind doing its job, which is to prevent us from seeing what we are. When we want something, when we desire something, when we put things in motion in order to get something, the mind creates many thoughts.
The more thoughts it creates, the worse we feel. It is directly proportional, the more thoughts, the more pain and the more suffering; the less thoughts, the more peace and happiness.
When we want something, when we desire something, the mind creates many thoughts. It pretty much takes a tour of all the things that could possibly go wrong, doesn’t it? The mind is constantly reminding us of all the reasons why we might not get what we want. In the end none of that happens, meanwhile it keeps us distraught, generating more and more thoughts, which we take as real.
When you get what you want, the mind relaxes for a moment, finds some rest, and in that relaxation some space opens up, through which Grace, the Self, the Void sneaks through, and we feel the happiness that we are. At that point, the mind (wrongly) infers that what gave us this happiness was getting what we wanted, and that we have the mind to thank for that. But it is not like this. This happiness we feel is just the fact that the mind has not yet generated the next desire, so a space opened up, a gap between one thought and the next, and so you get to enjoy the happiness that you are.
But this does not last. Sooner or later, after a few minutes, a few hours, or the next day, the mind is going to trick you into wanting something else, so you will have some new desire, and once again will start producing thoughts that will fill the space that had opened, so that you no longer can perceive the happiness that you are. But happiness is one and comes from the same place. It is simply the activity of the mind, be it a little or a lot, that allows us to see or not what we really are.
If you stay calm, in silence; if you observe, without reacting, how the mind creates mirages to distract you, then naturally some spaces, some gaps will open in between the thoughts, and you will be able to feel happiness and peace. And these gaps will get deeper and deeper. You will realize, without any doubt, that nothing can give you that which you already have, and that you do not need to look for anything outside of yourself to be happy. And knowing that your happiness does not depend on anything that happens in the world will allow you to fully enjoy it and be at peace.
Satsang with Luis de Santiago
La Coruña, June 20th 2015