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Happy
Of a person: favoured by good fortune;
fortunate, successful. Of an action, speech, etc: pleasantly appropriate to the occasion or circumstances; felicitous. Of a
person: dexterous in hitting on the action, words, etc., appropriate to the circumstances. Feeling deep pleasure in, or
contentment with, one’s circumstances. Pleased, glad (at, that, to do); satisfied (with). Of an organization etc.: marked by a
pleasant spirit of harmony and mutual goodwill. Oxford Dictionary
Within the current limitations of the Human Condition, happiness is a
temporary state at best, totally dependent on fortuitous circumstances and, as such, is notoriously fickle. Some people create an
imaginary world of bliss and happiness which is based on transcending or denying the misery, violence and suffering both in
themselves and others. When one eliminates the opposites of good and evil, right and wrong, as well as the animal instincts of
fear and aggression, there remains an actual innocence, purity and contentment that far exceeds anything promised by the spiritual
and religious zealots. The direct, pure, sensate experience of the actual world, the perfection of paradise only on earth, here,
now is pretty hard to beat.
A personal description of becoming happy and harmless on the path to
Actual Freedom –
‘I became vitally interested in ‘How am I experiencing this
moment of being alive?’ And if that meant I was feeling angry, sad, melancholy, lacklustre, depressed, then I would track
back to find out what it was that bought on that feeling. What was said, what happened, when did it happen? I wanted to understand
feelings, their source, how they worked, what caused them to kick in, etc. Only by understanding them, could I begin to get free
of their insidious grip. I also knew that until I was rid of the source of feelings entirely – ‘me’ – I would have to live
with them. So best to understand them and best to aim for the felicitous ones – and feeling happy and feeling harmless are
surely the best one can aim for of the feelings.
For me the clue was in my aim to be happy and harmless. Even in my spiritual days
I wouldn’t have described myself as unhappy. Probably that I was reasonably happy, particularly when things were going well. But
what I had to admit, almost force myself to admit, was that I was not harmless. Well-meaning, yes, but when push came to shove, or
when things weren’t going my way – certainly not harmless.
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