If happiness is one of the close attributes to the fire of creation,
How do we move in its direction?
Imagine a bellows fanning the fire so that it burns even more brightly.
The bellows only works when it alternates between being contracted and then being expanded.
If it gets stuck or resistant at either end,
It loses its effectiveness and the fire dims.
We live in a civilization where external circumstances have shaped our relationship to happiness.
Although we have found happiness related to these external circumstances,
It is often without acknowledging that the source of our happiness is actually internal.
When the external factors are not to our liking,
We often become stuck in a contracted unhappy state,
Forgetting that this is just one end of the spectrum.
We might also become mesmerized and blinded when too many factors actually give us what we want.
And the one day when we get that flat tire,
We become unhinged.
It takes the bellows pulling air in and then pushing it out over and over to be effective.
Everything has its place in time.
Every moment of the day and night is made up of individual components.
Each of these components has its time in the sun.
When it's time to be happy,
Be happy.
When it's time to be sad,
Be sad.
Everything comes and goes in its own time.
And if you stay out of the way,
It becomes enjoyable to be still and watch the show.
Part of meditation practice is finding your individual way to be still,
To stay out of the way.
You may practice to allow your awareness to watch whatever emotions are surfacing to be known,
But not unduly disruptive.
Your breath,
Like the bellows,
Is continually going in and out,
Contracting and expanding.
At times when you find yourself at one end of the one end or the other of your emotional roller coaster,
Turn to your breath.
Notice with precision if you have just breathe in,
Then breathe out.
If you notice that you have just breathed out,
Then breathe in.
Use the contracting and expansion of your breath to fan your internal fire of creation and bask in the glow of happiness.
