The Wonder of Happiness

In this podcast we explore how when happiness starts existing in our souls, then we will find wonders all around us. What does is really mean to be happy? Please note, this is lecture, not a guided meditation.

Transcript

Welcome to the Happiness Podcast.

I'm Dr.

Robert Puff.

Happiness.

What does it really mean to say that we're happy?

How do we know that the things we're doing are leading towards a happier,

More peaceful life?

I mean,

After all,

Couldn't we be deluding ourselves?

Drug addicts do it all the time.

Alcoholics,

Heroin addicts,

When their substances are in them,

They feel really happy.

Or use the example of someone who's achieved something great.

They can feel so elated and so excited for what they've achieved and yet a few days later,

They may commit suicide.

Over the years,

I've worked with a lot of people who've had great accomplishments and yet these accomplishments aren't helping them to be happier.

They may be glad that they did what they did,

But as far as just being happy,

It isn't there.

There are experiences of happiness,

But pure,

Lasting joy,

Peace,

And happiness.

This seems to elude a lot of people.

So how do we know that we're on the right path?

How do we know that what we're doing is working towards a better,

Happier life?

Is there things we can look for that can indicate that what we're doing is working and that we're not putting forth all this effort and it's going to lead to nothing or even to bad things?

How do we know?

Because I think we can get quite good at fooling ourselves.

At the time of this recording,

Kate Spade,

A famous fashion designer,

Was found dead by her own hands.

She committed suicide.

She was successful in a career.

She had accomplished many things and yet she chose to end her life.

In 1982,

There was a very famous movie called An Officer and a Gentleman.

Richard Gere was the main actor in that movie.

Well,

While Richard Gere was being trained to be a pilot for the Navy,

He had a friend named Sid who was a very happy-go-lucky guy.

And Sid had fallen in love with a local girl and he decided to drop out of the Academy and marry her.

Well,

When she found out that he was dropping out of the Academy,

She didn't want to marry him anymore.

So he went to a hotel room that night and killed himself.

No one could believe it because he was such a happy-go-lucky guy.

How would this happen?

Or someone like Robin Williams,

Again,

A comedian,

A happy guy,

Commits suicide.

So the question we're asking is,

How do we know we're not just fooling ourselves?

If we've lived long enough,

I'm sure we all know people who have apparently seem fine externally and then something happens and we realize they're not fine.

They're not doing well.

How does this happen?

How do we fool ourselves and others?

And more importantly,

How do we not do this?

How do we make sure that we actually are on the right path and doing things that are leading to happiness and peace?

Are there any indicators that can show us what we're doing is working?

I really believe there are and that's what we're going to talk about today in this podcast.

And it goes back to young children.

Young children have a lot of traits,

But one trait that's so beautiful about young children is their innate desire and passion for beauty.

They just see things so new because in their world,

They are new.

When my children were younger,

The first time they ever saw a puppy,

The first time they ever tasted ice cream,

The first time they saw a bubble being created,

These were such exquisite experiences for them.

And though we all may enjoy these things as we get older,

They lose their newness,

They lose their wonder,

And often we get bored by them and want to move on to something else.

Or we actually just stop seeing them.

We stop seeing the wonders of life because we harden our hearts to newness.

We stop seeing with the eyes of a young child that of curiosity,

That of wonder,

That of exploration.

So what I'm going to argue today is that the test for happiness,

To know we are truly on a good path is that that part of us begins to grow.

It begins to come back.

It begins to have a much larger place in our life.

And we start seeing beauty all around us with new eyes.

And we really begin to see things for the first time,

Even if we've seen them so many times before.

I know this may sound like a challenging task,

But that's what is a consequence of happiness,

Of working on improving our hearts to live in the present moment,

To not be attached to things,

Is that we begin to create or recreate a sense of wonder with the things around us.

And at the deepest level,

It's really not that we're recreating it.

What is happening is,

It's just a natural consequence of living well.

When we live well,

When we're truly living at our highest levels,

What will happen is that state of wonder will begin to manifest.

And we'll see it more and more.

And we'll really find it as something beautiful.

It's like a consequence,

A natural consequence of all the work we're doing.

We're not trying to create a sense of wonder.

Wonder just gets created from having our hearts be in a much better place by losing our fears,

By losing our desires,

By losing our attachments,

And by living in the present moment.

What comes from all that work is a sense of wonder.

We begin to see things in such a new way,

And we begin to see them over and over again,

Like a young child.

So I'm arguing today that a test for,

Am I on the right path?

Am I doing things to truly improve my life and not fooling myself,

Like often people do,

Is what we'll look for is that sense of wonder and seeing beauty for the first time,

Even when we've seen it a hundred times before.

And it can manifest in so many different ways.

For example,

In my own life,

I live in Southern California and not too far from my house is a place called Huntington Library and Gardens.

It's a beautiful place which has gardens,

A library,

And two beautiful museums.

If you've ever heard of the painting Blue Boy by Gainsborough,

This is where that painting is at.

Anyways,

I go there quite often.

I'm a member and I go there regularly and each time I go there,

It truly is like a new experience,

Even though I've been going there for probably decades now.

And it's just each time there's new flowers.

I really see the paintings and often a new way,

New aspects of it.

The colors are so vibrant,

The sounds,

The smells.

It's a real openness and I really do enjoy going there.

And each time I go there,

It's both peaceful and I see things new.

So we can cultivate this in our own lives anywhere if we're open.

And that's one of the signs we'll begin to see when we start loosening our attachments,

Our fears,

Our desires,

And live far more in the present moment.

With that sense of wonder,

What will happen is all of a sudden our hearts begin to become more open.

They begin to see so much more of that which we weren't seeing anymore.

Or because we'd seen it before,

We're now bored by it.

The boredom goes away.

And what we discover is there's newness everywhere.

We don't need to be stimulated by stimulants like alcohol or drugs or be constantly entertained by traveling the world and seeing new things.

We discover that we can see new things by keeping our hearts alive,

Keeping our hearts in that peaceful place.

That what happens is something beautiful because it isn't that we're creating a beauty in our lives by doing these steps.

It's that by doing these things,

Beauty is just a natural consequence of our changed hearts,

Of our open hearts,

Of our non-attached hearts living in the present moment.

We now begin to experience beauty all around us.

And because this beauty just naturally grows from what we've done and all the work that we've done and are doing,

When we do get the hits in life,

Like a divorce or someone dies or we lose our job,

Whatever it may be,

We have so many things we can pull from to keep our hearts well that we would never contemplate suicide because there's so many beautiful things in life to be with.

And so that's one of the tests of happiness is that we all of a sudden have so many different things that we are seeing now that we hadn't seen before.

Food becomes so much more enjoyable.

Learning becomes something that we just naturally love to do.

Connecting with people,

Seeing things,

Being in nature,

Exploring and going back to the same places again and again has a real newness to it because we're keeping our hearts in that good,

Healthy place.

So that's the consequence of all the work we're doing.

And that's also a test that we're on the right path.

So that when we are out and about we see beauty and wonder all around us.

And it's always been there,

But sadly because of our conditioning,

We've closed our hearts to it.

So what we're learning here on the happiness podcast is how to keep our hearts open so that we can throughout our lives,

No matter what's going on,

Always find something beautiful to be with.

And not that we're forcing ourselves to see the beauty,

We will just see it.

And so when one thing isn't working,

We just turn our head and say,

Oh,

There's that.

It's like going to a restaurant that they don't have our favorite dish.

We don't care because we're going to try something else.

We're just very open to whatever life gives.

So as we go through life,

As we're trying to discover what works for us,

I do believe a very good test that life is working is that whatever we're doing,

Whatever is going on,

We can see beauty everywhere.

And because we do that,

When life for others is creating anger,

Fear,

Anxiety,

We find peace because there's just always something beautiful to be with.

Thank you for joining me on the happiness podcast.

Besides creating this podcast,

There are a variety of other things that I do.

If you'd like to keep abreast of these activities,

And perhaps someday we may be able to meet in person,

Just go to www.

Happinesspodcast.

Org.

That's happinesspodcast.

Org.

You can subscribe to my newsletter.

And if you do,

You'll be emailed a free PDF copy of my meditation book called Reflections on Meditation.

And until next time,

Accept what is,

Love what is.

Reviews

Absolutely loved this. So so true. Great podcast. 🩷🙏🩷

Be warned - there’s an introduction of doom, which may be a trigger for some… Get past that and there’s a reminder of seeing the beauty and looking at the world with wonder. Thank you for sharing! 😊

Thoughtful reminder 💝 thank you 🙏🏼

Thank u
I see beauty where I did not see it before!

Very nice reminders for our heart to be open to the wonders of our world! Thank you, Dr. Puff!

This was incredible! It was explained so simply without long explanations. Will def listen to more podcasts and open my eyes and heart. Thank you

Always a pleasure