Tag: happiness

The Universal Language

Spiritualism often touts a soul or spirit that animates otherwise lifeless creatures (our “jiva”). Eckhart Tolle calls it “consciousness”, which he determines is part of a collective consciousness that forms the universal intelligence. And we know it’s there because it can observe the other things in there. This “observer” can hear our egoic self talk and witness ourselves becoming emotional, and even brings its own voice to the party to take master control over our selves. Neat! But so what?

Good question! We’ve been doing just fine until now, right? Our paths are pretty clear. Grow up, go to school, meet someone special, fall in love, go to university, get a job, get married, have kids, retire and die. And within those life events we can horse around, play some sports, watch TV, go to some parties, travel around to exotic places. It’s pretty busy actually and this feels very filling.

So why is the population so chronically unhappy, overworked, stressed out, impoverished, underserved, unhealthy, underwhelmed and generally dissatisfied? Is the explosion in antidepressant meds because the ‘path’ is working? Do we just need our hometown sports teams to win more championships? Or maybe salvation lies in more Kardashian shows and viral memes?

Modern society consists of a dizzy array of distractions that do an excellent job of clogging up our sensory pathways during all waking hours. We are so barraged that if we don’t deliberately remove these stimuli we have little to no ability for independent thought or reflection. It’s gotten so pervasive that when there is a power outage that cripples Internet access, people become genuinely distressed on how to spend their time.

The always-connected phenomenon, I believe, has completely impaired our few remaining moments for thinking, introspection, feeling, daydreaming, planning, spontaneous creativity, discovery, observation and otherwise being in and with ourselves. And mindfulness is far more difficult while we are juggling texts, emails, work, kids, news, friends, events, family. How can we possibly listen to our observer with all this constantly going on?

Many things exist more enduringly than the structures and distractions created in society, and this is what is quite remarkable about the universe as we know it. We have and obey a series of scientific laws that are immutable. These laws make things entirely predictable such that we can build bridges, shoot rockets to the moon and pocket the 8-ball in billiards all without mysterious mishaps.

Mindfulness, even in its most sophisticated form, tends not to be mindful of the laws to which we are governed or even the forces that act upon us directly! Have you ever felt gravity act upon you in meditation? Are you mindful of your potential energy when up high in your condo or office tower? Do you feel the friction of your clothes as you walk around when you don’t have static cling? Have you pondered your kinetic energy when zipping down the highway in your car?

External forces are acting on us 24/7 and we are rarely aware of them and their duty to carry out the awesome will of the universe. Similarly, I believe we have internal forces that act out and we have a much harder time ignoring them because we are the space in which they dutifully impose their will.

Not to be confused with hormonal or neurotransmitter cravings stemming from withdrawal, desire, boredom or psychological stress, internal forces arise and impel us to action in an organic manner. These forces emerge without thought, feelings or other internal apparatus or learned responses. Absolutely we do think and feel about these forces reactively, which we ultimately permit or not based on this deliberation, but the force itself originates proactively from the soul and it is striving to achieve its duty like all other forces in the universe.

Do you put on music when you drive to electrify the experience and make it more a raucous karaoke experience than a drive? During your workout when you put on music does it energize and propel you? Have ever felt so mutually attracted to a person it’s like a powerful magnet is drawing you two together. When you hear a particular voice does it feel palpably that you’re feeling energetic friction? We have actually written up 150 ‘signs of life’. These signs of life are the result of living from soulful forces, which impel us constantly to action in ways that we do not conjure ourselves.

Psychologists have working theories for all forms of human behaviour, from biological to cognitive to motivational. Yet they are utterly confused at certain human behaviours, one of which pertain to good samaritanism. It is biologically, evolutionarily, sociologically and motivationally incomprehensible that we risk our lives to save a total stranger from drowning, but apparently this is something we do consistently. Don’t agree? Imagine your dreams for the rest of your life if you didn’t attempt to save that person.

We can fight gravity with elevators. We can deflect light with mirrors. We can slow boulders in motion. You know the amount of energy this requires, especially when our internal space is the battleground. The language of the universe is codified in law, and while science has not empirically defined all internal forces, it is foolish to think that these powerful and present forces are not as real as their well defined external cousins that push and pull us in every other way.

Being attuned and responsive to the language of the soul offers immeasurable contentment and authenticity, as well as the knowledge that the universal intelligence is being achieved in you, so listen to your internal forces and allow them to perform their duty.

The Pursuit of Happiness

In the United States Declaration of Independence, some inalienable rights are established to be: life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

What is so very interesting about Thomas Jefferson’s phrasing is that he didn’t write, “happiness”, he wrote, “the pursuit of happiness”. It is a right to chase happiness, and whether you find happiness is up to you because some people are happier to be reclusive and some are happier to live in nudist colonies.

So we (Americans and otherwise) set out to be find things to make us happy. We like coffee a lot. Sex isn’t bad. A sunrise through a mountain vista can be nice. Oh, and eggs benny at my favourite brunch place with my pals! Oh, and when I get off the plane after being away for weeks and my family is there at the airport to get me and smiling so big.

As we’ve explored in other posts, we are fairly clueless about what makes us happy. We can’t even really define what happiness is. Fleeting sensual stimuli that come from eating, touching or seeing often just distract us from all the other unpleasant crap we do with our lives. Are we happy on vacation or just sufficiently removed from the humdrum? Are we happy at family reunions or just lucky we have people to connect with easily? Are we happy with money in the bank or just relieved from financial pressure? Is happiness what exists when the loneliness, stress or boredom cease?

I don’t think happiness is a concept worth exploring because it is one of the many words in the language that has been beaten excessively by the ambiguity stick and is also far too subjective a concept. So rather than talk about happiness, let’s talk about a life well lived.

We have looked at the purpose of life and determined that our job is to simply be our most selfiest selves. And part of our self edification is to engage our souls in activities that allow us to blur the boundaries between us and our environments (the flow concept) because this facilitates a form of activity that doesn’t just flood our brains with endorphins, it engages us in unparalleled ways. Moreover, this does not take the form of pursuit. Rather, we obey. We are impelled by internal, palpable forces beyond our control to move toward these activities because the core of our being is attracted to it like a magnet that draws us in. So the secret all along is not that happiness needs to be pursued, but rather that a life of soulful contentment needs to be followed.

A more profound and important dimension of happiness is that notion that we need to feel good to be happy. We need to smile through tough times, avoid negativity, bring brightness and humour to all situations. The primary issue with this approach is that it’s judgemental. Light is better than dark. Vibrant flowers are better than plants. Laughter is better than tears. Judgement misperceives and miscategorizes in an attempt to protect us from feeling fear, doubt, loss or suffering. Nothing is better than its complement. And like the yin and yang concept, nothing can exist without its complement. We can perceive it as such, but we do ourselves a disservice when we judge light as better than dark we same way we perceive youth as better than age. Neither is better, but some sides of a symbiotic pairing do make life easier or more comfortable, like youth makes strenuous activity easier and flowers smell more fragrant than plants.

Meaningful learning and growth do not come from comfort and ease. Learning that getting served mai tais in the sun is nice is not exactly a eureka moment.. In fact, we know that the strongest swords are forged in the hottest fire, and whatever doesn’t kill you makes you stronger. When we start learning a new language or taking our first steps, it’s really daunting and difficult. We fail and fall and experience pain and discomfort. When we have our first romantic relationships we also fail and fall and experience loss. When we acquire professional skills we fail and fall and experience hardship and embarrassment. And by the time we’ve gotten through it we have greater competence and ability in brand new ways impossible to gain unless we are willing to struggle, fail and fall.

A life well lived is a big life. It’s a life that explores your greatest potential and experiences the most variable experiences, which also happen to be the most memorable. Life fundamentally includes pain and loss and failure. And the prize is growth and learning and richness. So do not pursue happiness. Follow your internal forces into challenges, and in doing so, live your biggest life possible.