Four Ideas For Seekers

 Four important subjects are discussed in the Samiddhi Sutra: the idea of happiness, the existence of real joy, the practice of reliance, and the trap of complexes. Our notions about happiness entrap us. We forget that they are just ideas. Our idea of happiness can prevent us from actually being happy. The second idea is that of the existence of real joy. When a goddess asked the young monk Samiddhi why he chose to abandon happiness in the present moment for a vague promise of happiness in the future, Samiddhi answered: “The opposite is true. It is the idea of happiness in the future that I have abandoned, so I can dwell deeply in the present moment”. The third topic the Sutra discusses is the practice of reliance, or support. Relying on Dharma is not just an idea. When you live in accordance with the Dharma, you realise joy, tranquillity, stability, and freedom. It is “taking refuge in the island of peace in each of us. We must know how to return to that island when we need to. The fourth subject concerns the trap of complexes — thinking you are better, worse than, or equal to others. The complexes arise because we think we are a separate self. Happiness built on the notion of a separate self is weak and unreliable. Through the practice of meditation, we come to see that we “interare” with all other beings, and our fears, anxieties, anger, and sorrow disappear. If you practise true happiness, you become freer and more stable every day. Gradually you will be in a paradise.

Source: Economic Times, 11/09/2018