The Buddha
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Join Date: Nov 2013
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The Buddha
So, I was talking to a friend of mine yesterday, discussing my situation, my sadness and yearning for some happiness to come along. She quoted the Buddah "Happiness is the absence of despair".....
Is that it, should I just go through life being satisfied with the absence of despair? I would really appreciate the absence of despair right about now, as I have been through the ringer lately.... But is that it? Is that all we have to look forward to?
I know that constant happiness is absurd and unsustainable. Anyway, just wondering....
Is that it, should I just go through life being satisfied with the absence of despair? I would really appreciate the absence of despair right about now, as I have been through the ringer lately.... But is that it? Is that all we have to look forward to?
I know that constant happiness is absurd and unsustainable. Anyway, just wondering....
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Join Date: May 2014
Location: liverpool, england
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yes its a good way to describe it : )
although i thik of being content is the key word rather than happy content with my lot is how i see it
i dont want anything other than one thing in my life but thats never going to happen, so i have to accept it and still be content with what i do have rather than what i dont have
although i thik of being content is the key word rather than happy content with my lot is how i see it
i dont want anything other than one thing in my life but thats never going to happen, so i have to accept it and still be content with what i do have rather than what i dont have
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Join Date: Apr 2013
Location: Mmmmmm
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Since I started meditating, I've had some revision in my understanding of love and happiness. Here is a free access program you can try with the focus on happiness. I am really enjoying this series. Perhaps it will help you focus on you.
https://chopracentermeditation.com/
https://chopracentermeditation.com/
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Join Date: Feb 2013
Location: W Washington
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maybe exchange despair for worry, fret, angst, stomach in knots, sense of impending doom. all those things tie us up, keep us bound, and fretting about yesterday and tomorrow. being FREE of those things allows us to live in TODAY. as it is and as it unfolds. nothing it out to get us, it is all just there to be admired and enjoyed.
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I think that's putting it very simplistically. I would also point you to Thich Nhat Hanh, if you're interested in Buddhism. I think happiness if more about being awake and aware... Zen Buddhism gets into that, but other traditions do as well. Anthony deMello, a Jesuit priest, who is actually an Indian by birth, has some great insights on how the more you need someone the less you love them and vice versa.
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