Rediscovering Life: Awaken to Reality

Has it ever occurred to you that what you call your happiness is really your chain? For example, are you calling somebody your happiness? As in, “You are my joy.” It could be your marriage, your business, your degree, whatever. In whom do you find your happiness? Whatever the answer is, that’s your prison. Oh, this is hard language. But reflect on

Something has upset you. Did you hear that expression? Something has upset you. That’s the way the English language is. That’s the way all languages are. “Something upset me.” Nothing upset you. The accurate way to speak would be, “I upset myself on the occasion of something.” But who speaks like that? You say, “You upset me.” No. “Your behavior ca

So, the first thing: Admit that your life is in a mess. And, second—this is a bit tougher, okay? You ready? Here it is: You don’t want to get out of it. You do not want to get out of the mess. Talk to any psychologist who’s worth his name and he’ll confirm that. The last thing a client wants is a cure. He doesn’t want to get cured, he wants relief.

“Don’t teach a pig to sing. It wastes your time and irritates the pig.”

You can keep the rest—what’s the use of it? Tell me, what’s the use of moving around in an airplane with a heart that is full of misery and emptiness? Tell me. I’d rather live on the ground in a jungle and be blissfully happy and dancing all day. Wouldn’t you? Maybe you wouldn’t. I don’t know.

The world is full of sorrow. The root of sorrow is attachment. The uprooting of sorrow means the uprooting, the dropping of attachments.

The great Chinese sage Tranxu puts it marvelously: “When the archer shoots for nothing, he has all his skill. When he shoots for a brass buckle, he is already nervous. When he shoots for a prize of gold, he goes blind. He’s out of his mind. He sees two targets. His skill has not changed. But the prize divides him. He cares. He thinks more of winnin

Now, to me, this is a truth so simple a seven-year-old child could understand it. But I’ve met people who are doctors and all sorts of other things, and they never understood it. Never understood it. They just took it for granted that problems exist in the world. Problems exist—by “problem,” I mean something that upsets you, okay? I’ll repeat that.

When misery caused by attachment is dropped, happiness is attained.