In this rare return to the blogosphere, I want to share a profound and fascinating article by Mathieu Ricard I came across today on happiness and the mind. In the last week I have had a lot of time for reflection, although at times this has felt more like hopeless pondering. In this time, I have become somewhat obsessed with the idea of happiness. My happy state of mind, which once seemed so effortless and assured, has become confused – I sincerely believe that by over-thinking about happiness, I have been led to pursue a less fulfilling more superficial version of it and this of course has brought frustration instead. Fortunately, my search has not been in vain. In this article, I rediscovered the critical wisdom that I overlooked.
These are some of the main ideas from the article:
Happiness is not just a few agreeable sensations – although it often manifests itself as a feeling of physical pleasure and joy, true happiness is a way of being and of experiencing the world. Our minds translate outer conditions into happiness or suffering. It takes practice of mindfulness to gain inner peace, inner strength, altruistic love and other qualities. In a mindfully happy state, disturbing thoughts can arise and pass without leaving a trace.
There is no question in life of not experiencing emotions; it’s a question of not being enslaved by them. We can turn our awareness on our emotions and we see that they are composed of thoughts. Take anger for example: instead of ‘being’ the anger, we understand that we are not the anger but an observer of it, just like the clouds are not the sky.
Just as we can learn to deal with afflictive thoughts, we can learn to cultivate and enhance wholesome ones. To be filled with love and kindness brings about an optimal way of being.
Inner conflicts are often linked with excessive rumination on the past and anticipation of the future – you are not truly paying attention to the present moment but are engrossed in your thoughts, going round in a vicious circle, feeding your fears and your self-centredness. Instead we must turn our attention to an awareness of the present.
When people experience moments of grace in daily life – magical moments such as are experienced in nature – they have left their burden of inner conflicts behind and they feel in harmony with others, themselves and the world. All these qualities can be cultivated through developing wisdom and inner freedom. This will lead you to not just a few moments of grace but to a lasting state of well being that we may call genuine happiness.
AWESOME INSPIRATION 
Oh well done on finding this superb article. It says it all I will read it many times today Lots of love Mum xxxxx