Good day, fellow Alchemists:
Happiness is something we all try to attain, yet so many of us fail to grasp its true meaning. Most of our lives are defined by us chasing desires and getting lost in trying to become something rather than just being. In the previous transmission, we discussed the pitfalls of identification and how it creates suffering through our egos. This time we will be outlining ways to live a life that enables our inner bliss to manifest.
First off, we have to understand what joy is and what it is not.
When eating delicious meals, going on a rollercoaster, or spending some alone time with a significant other, you might feel as though you are experiencing happiness. But these examples are of excitement and stimulation, not actual joy. Excitement is normally what we are seeking in one form or another when searching for happiness.
Whether it's a new promotion at work, a relationship, delicious foods, or entertainment, most of us search for happiness within the realm of stimulation and strong emotions. But these things rarely lead anyone to lasting happiness. True happiness is the complete elimination of suffering. It is brought on by not seeking, by being totally content with everything as it is.
A good determiner of feeling happy rather than excited is if you feel like nothing could possibly go wrong or disturb you at that moment. As if the whole world has crystalized around you in a perfect array of never-ending occurrences.
This may sound a little too amazing to be possible, but think back, you have surely felt this at many points in your life. Perhaps as a child, or after completing a mountain of work, that true state of bliss revealed itself to you, even only for a moment.
This feeling of true joy is our natural state and it is vastly superior to any form of excitement or stimulation. Other forms of happiness are intertwined with the ego. They elevate your state of mind to new levels of joy, only to bring you crashing back down to earth when it is over. Those highs are fleeting, while true joy is everlasting. If you know how to conjure it.
It begins with doing nothing. Sitting still in the quiet and letting your mind do what it will. Deprive yourself of stimulation and you will quickly see from your fidgeting and discomfort, how dependent you are on external factors to maintain your happiness.
Once we accept that less is more when it comes to finding happiness, the answer to how to find it becomes obvious.
Do less.
With love and sincerity,
The Alchemy by LA Counsel
