âJust sit there right now.
Don’t do a thing. Just rest.
For your separation from God
is the hardest work in this world.â
~Hafiz
The world is a wonderful, beautiful, amazing place filled with a fantastic array of objects and situations. I love the world!
But I also know this essential truth: we will never find peace and happiness by being attached to the objects of the world.
If you are waiting for happiness to arrive at some future time, or you think youâll find it once something in the world changes, then youâre setting yourself up to continue searchingâand sufferingâforever.
This way of living actually delays your happiness. It makes you believe that the peace and ease you long for are not available to you nowâwhich is just not true.
It keeps you trying to change the objects of the worldârelationships, other people, work situations, even your own thoughts and feelingsâso that maybe, hopefully, finally, youâll be peaceful and happy.
Looking for happiness in the objects of the world is doomed from the get-go. Why? Because itâs the nature of these objects to change.
- You hit a rough patch in your relationship, and youâre on the lookout for a new partner who will finally be the one.
- Youâre settled in your work, and your company gets restructured.
- You plan your travels, and your flight gets cancelled.
- You get lost in troublesome thoughts and feelings, hoping they will finally disappear so you can relax.
See how it works? If youâre attached to the world being a certain way, youâre bound to be disappointed.
And thinking more about yourself and your problems will never lead to the peace youâre looking for. Because the world isnât reliable and your thoughts just add more stories.
It’s worth considering: is what you’re doing actually getting you what you want?
While youâre busy focused on moving around the puzzle pieces of your life, youâre missing out on the open secretâthe silence of being, the stillness thatâs always here at the heart of all the noise. Itâs the open endless field of aliveness that the objects of the world arise in.
You donât need to move one millimeter from where you are right now to discover it. Land your attentionâand your whole heartâhere, in the spacious openness of being aware, and let the objects of the world be.
Itâs like being a fish in the ocean wondering where the water isâoverlooking the fact that itâs right here and everywhere.
If youâre serious about happiness, then don’t looking for it in the world. Because all youâre doing is perpetuating your struggles.
Instead, turn inward toward your inner experience. Discover the opinions, needs, and fears that keep you divided from yourself and the happiness you seek. As best as you can, give up your attachment to them.
Theyâre not helping you anyway because theyâre distracting you from finding what youâre actually longing for.
Coming home to yourself, you’re poised to realize the true source of happiness, what remains when you lose interest in all objects. You in your glory: pure and openâŠprofoundly relaxedâŠunconditionally available to everythingâŠfree of any viewpointsâŠemptyâŠsilentâŠlovingâŠ
Then, attached to nothing and steeped in love, the world becomes your playground.