questions answered on happiness and having a good life
These are questions i have answered. Perhaps when i was answering these questions, i was feeling more healthy and centered than i am now. Or perhaps not. I can’t actually remember. Anyways when i read these questions and their accompanying answers i think, “wow, this is some pretty good perspective.”
♡
Why do I get a good life? Is it better to enjoy what has been given to me or push it away?
Enjoy. The world needs you to be happy. See it as the ripening of your own karma. Enjoy yourself, but relax in this enjoyment, knowing that there is no need to attach. Be diligent and know that you are practising with good intentions, that you are considering others, and making choices that benefit others. Do it all with that true clear intention that other people in your life should be happy, that pure vision, that pure heart. In saying that, know that all of the ornaments of the world can vanish in but an instant. When you leave this earth, you can’t take any of this with you, so enjoy your good fortune, try not to attach and use the merits of your past karma to truly benefit others.
How do I love and appreciate myself?
I don’t think you have to. The concept of self-love is a very western one. I think I prefer self-recognition, noticing yourself the way you notice a painting - all the details and colours, the cosmic masterpiece that is your mind. You can’t really encapsulate you and there’s no need to strive for some sort of fixed self-image because you are different every single day and every second right? So I wouldn’t worry about that so much.
How do I find it in myself to be kind to others when I am very sad?
I would say to not limit yourself to your experience. Everyone is suffering the same amount as you are, or even more, depending on the day. We are all part of the same collective consciousness and the same experience. So there is really no difference between you and me or anyone. We just can’t recognise it because we’re so in our own perspectives. But I think you can access the wish for other people’s happiness simply within your natural resting mind, in your most genuine essence. You don’t need to fake this, and you should follow your own impulses and desire, but I think you’ll find a lot of benefit from seeing other people’s joy. Joy is infectious, and something that we can share. It’s in our human nature. Think about how it feels when you see a happy baby, it crosses the boundaries of you or me. It’s like nourishing a tree and then the fruit and the fruit falls and you eat it everything you give comes back.
How to become content with the present moment?
Well it doesn’t matter if you are or you aren't, because this is all that there is and ever will be. You are nowhere besides here now. This is your life and if you really sink into it, feel the chair under your butt, your feet on the ground, the avocado in your hand, your eyes on this screen, the breath moving through your nostrils… you can be overcome with experience. There’s so much stimulation and mystery in this life. The vibrancy of being alive in this fragile human form is almost overwhelming. It can be scary how precarious and perfect every single waking moment is. But you just need to breathe and stay with yourself, stay with your body. Don’t abandon it out of fear of the future or fear of the past, it’s always fear that leads you away from all that is here now. Everything you need, every gift in the world exist in this present moment, it’s all right here and I can’t think of something more sad than depriving yourself of that.
When will I be happy and okay with myself?
When you stop being critical and judgemental and you allow yourself to be exactly what you are. When you let yourself come home.
When is it my turn?
That’s completely up to you. You make yourself into whatever you want to be, and if you want it, it’s for you. Let go of your attachments and fear and sit with the silence of your heart, and listen without any expectation. Don’t try to plan, just listen and follow that instinct. Follow it like your ancestors did. I think you will find that all of this is set up for you to meet God in the most perfect way. I hope that answers your question. It was a big one.
Thank you for everything. As always, you can~
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~sigh~ ~♡~