Secrets of Spiritual Happiness

Coining the Term Spiritual Happiness

 

    

 

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Every now and then, words have to be redefined and clarified, having become muddied and obscured by too many uses as patches for words that don't exist in our culture.   The word happiness is like the word love -- what does love really mean?   What does success mean?   Can you tell if someone has love by the number of people in their life?   Can you tell if someone is successful by how much money they have?  

Just as Hawaiians have many words for rain, but most mainlanders are willing to call just about anything from the gentlest sun shower to massively powerful thunderstorms "rain," in the same way, I'd like to introduce and unfold a new, more specific happiness term for you -- spiritual happiness .  

With spiritual happiness, you are not waiting to be rich before you can be happy, or to find the right person to be happy, or to have more friends to be happy.   You don't need to look differently to be spiritually happy; nor do you have to heal all your flaws to be spiritually happy.

With spiritual happiness, you can look at the world with realistic eyes -- seeing, experiencing, and responding to all the muddled mess that life can sometimes seem to be.   Yet, in the depths of your being, you'll know a peacefulness and contentment that never fades, even while the world may be crashing down around you.  

With spiritual happiness:

•  You are working in harmony with the universe and your own highest good

•  You can surf the ups and downs of life with the blessing of knowing that you're growing.

•  You enjoy a good sense of humor that makes even bitter medicines go down more easily.

Spiritual happiness is unconditional happiness. Spiritual happiness comes with a sense of eternal hope, and a trust in universal perfection. With spiritual happiness, you can be ecstatic even when you're miserable, because you know that whatever troubles have come your way are meant to uplift your soul in the long run. With spiritual happiness, you can feel complete even when you lose something valuable; you can be fearless even while shaking in your boots.  

If I were to boil the whole idea of spiritual happiness down to one word, I would have to say that the essence of spiritual happiness is faith .   Not blind faith, or ignorant faith, or a one-time declaration of some faithful-sounding phrase, but true faith - a powerful yet tender trust that is drenched in qualities such as wisdom, humility, love, courage and service.   This faith comes with a greater awareness of spiritual principles, and seeks to be in harmony with the Tao, the flow, the Shakti, the perfect divine pattern, and the Will of God - all words used to describe the supreme energy and consciousness that is beyond word and thought.

Faith is not only a refuge during troubling times, but can also help empower us to create an outer life that is in greater harmony with our nature.   This faith can come with vast knowledge or with simple wisdom - or perhaps with both together.   True faith knows that everything is always fine, right here, right now, and forever.   Everything is fine when it feels fine, and everything is also fine when it doesn't feel so fine.   Faith knows that life is a gift, always.

Faith is a combination of: "May the force be with you," and "May you be with the force!" Faith keeps away bad guys like self-sabotage, fear, anger, and depression.   Faith is the grand elixir of spiritual happiness.

 

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