Dear friends,
Today,
In this meditation,
We will be focusing for 20 minutes on the search for happiness.
Let's begin by taking just one minute,
60 seconds,
To come into this present moment.
How often do we find that our bodies are in one place and our minds in another?
We are here,
But we are thinking of bills to be paid,
Jobs to be done.
This minute is our opportunity to bring body and mind together in what can be a rare moment of unity in a distracted world.
It will help if you bring your attention to the breath.
Gently breathing in and gently breathing out.
Breathing in and being aware that you're breathing in.
Breathing out and being aware that you're breathing out.
You're breathing in and you're breathing out.
Bringing you to a place of calm.
This awareness of the ever-present gift of your breath.
If ever you feel stressed,
If ever you feel you have something troublesome to do,
An awkward phone call to make,
Remember the breath.
You have it with you always and by returning to the breath,
You can return to that place of calm within.
So let's now have our opening bell and just one minute,
60 seconds of silence to allow body and mind to come together in this place.
Last week,
We had the pleasure of having in our house someone whom I can say without a doubt is the happiest person I have ever met.
And it prompted me to think of happiness as a subject for this meditation.
The person I'm speaking about is not rich.
Not that I enquired.
She lives a distance from her family.
Her friends are scattered over quite a wide area.
So she has every opportunity to be self-absorbed.
But she has not fallen into that misfortune.
I've not carried out a survey on happiness.
But I think it's fair to say that if you gathered a group of people together to discuss the subject and if you suggested to them this question,
Hands up all present who wish to be happy,
You would be very unlikely to find anyone who would prefer the opposite.
And if you told them that you had designed a car that would drive them to a place of guaranteed happiness,
You can be sure that everyone present would be anxious to book a test drive.
The cars would sell like hotcakes.
So why is it that some people we know are quite happy,
Some very happy and others are less so?
Why do you think this is so?
Let's take another minute to try to figure this one out.
Welcome back again.
Dennis Waitley tells us happiness cannot be travelled to,
Owned,
Earned,
Worn or consumed.
Happiness is the spiritual experience of living every minute with love,
Grace and gratitude.
Happiness,
He says,
Is the spiritual experience of living every minute with love,
Grace and gratitude.
The person I mentioned at the outset lives a life which is full of concern for others.
Having retired from work,
She helps children to read.
She keeps in touch with sick and elderly people who need support and encouragement.
She simply exudes happiness.
For her,
The glass is half full,
Always half full,
Rather than half empty.
She speaks words of encouragement and she talks of what can be done rather than what obstacles lie in the way.
But she is not a do-gooder in the objectionable sense.
She only mentions these good deeds when you ask her how she spends her days.
She never preaches that others should do the same.
A reminder here that our deeds rather than our words are what inspire people.
Edmund Bork tells us example is the school of mankind and they will learn at no other.
So now we have another 60 seconds for reflection.
In that time,
I ask you to think of the people you know.
Young,
Old,
Rich,
Poor,
Even people from your earlier life.
Have you come across or do you know now someone who is truly happy?
Let's spend one minute seeking out such a person among our friends and acquaintances and asking ourselves what is it that makes that person happy?
If in that minute for reflection we were unable to think of a really happy person whom we know or have known,
Then we need to ask why is that the case?
How is it that a condition that is so desirable,
So sought after by so many can be so hard to come by?
After all,
It is part of our human nature to want to be happy.
The answer in brief is that happiness comes from within ourselves.
Possessions cannot provide happiness.
Many people with more possessions than they can use,
More possessions than they can ever use,
Are still not happy.
And happiness does not come from having lots of acquaintances.
I am sure you have found out,
As I have,
That you can be very lonely in a crowd.
Many rich people will tell you that money alone does not buy happiness.
If it did,
The rich would be happy and the poor miserable.
Yet,
We notice that many rich people lack real happiness in their wealth.
And yet,
Many poor people enjoy happiness despite their lack of the material goods that we associate with happiness.
It seems so very odd.
But so it is.
Dale Carnegie tells us happiness doesn't depend on any external conditions.
It is governed by our mental attitude.
So,
Our happiness is not a matter of our external circumstances.
Our happiness arises from how we deal with the circumstances that life presents to us day by day.
It is all a matter of mental attitude,
Our mental attitude.
And for that to work,
We need to develop mindfulness.
Let's pause for another minute,
This time simply to allow,
Once more,
Minds and bodies to come together again in this place.
Welcome back again.
An attitude of gratitude is fundamental to our happiness.
Apart even from the many daily benefits of our lives,
We need to develop a sense of gratitude for the unearned gift of life itself.
Our ongoing life is a gift that is offered to us at the dawn of each new day.
This benefit is so ever-present,
So reliable,
That we can go for years on end without realizing that we are its beneficiaries.
G.
K.
Chesterton looked back at the end of a day and said this,
Here ends another day,
During which I have had eyes,
Ears,
Hands and the great world around me.
Tomorrow begins another day.
Why am I allowed to?
Let's spend one minute now thinking of the gift that is today,
Our today.
The fact that we woke up again this morning and that we have this new day in which to do as we will.
Think of the gift of today and the opportunity that each new day offers us.
Welcome back.
If we can cultivate an attitude of gratitude,
It will lead us to have more concern for other people.
A concern and a real appreciation for the many people,
Near and far,
Known and unknown,
And whose work supports us every day.
It will lead us to concern for the very many people in our communities and in our world who do not share our good fortune.
And it will encourage us to do whatever is in our power to do to improve their lot.
Meditation is not just a matter of sitting in our chair or taking up position on our cushion.
It has to lead us on to making this world a better place.
Our appreciation of those around us will automatically prompt us to treat people fairly and with respect and compassion as we go about our daily life.
Every encounter with another person is a reminder to us to really pay attention to the people around us,
To look on them with kindness and to treat them as we would wish to be treated ourselves.
It's really just the application of the Golden Rule.
Elie Wiesel reminds us,
For me,
Every hour is grace and I feel gratitude in my heart each time I can meet someone and look at his or her smile.
But in our busy world we can lose sight of the fact that the people who wait on us and serve us are real people,
Not just functionaries who let us onto buses,
Hand us a hamburger or pizza and beer,
But people with hopes,
Fears and dreams of their own.
People just like us,
All of them taking part in the search for happiness in which we all participate.
So let us resolve to greet one another with a genuine smile and the gift of our presence as we interact with each other.
By living a life of love and grace and gratitude,
We will find the inner happiness that is the reward of just doing the best you can,
But doing it day by day,
One step at a time.
Let's pause for another minute simply to allow once more minds and bodies to come together again in this place.
So may you have health,
Reasonably good health and may you have a true appreciation of it.
May you have peace,
Peace within and peace without and may you have gratitude for it and may you have happiness,
Above all happiness,
Happiness today and every day.
Namaste.
