The Ephemeral Nature of Thought

"Good and bad, happy and sad, all thoughts vanish into emptiness, like the imprint of a bird in the sky."

-- The Sadhana of Mahamudra

Words of wisdom are a lot like pissing in the wind. You may get a little blow back, you may nourish a few flowers, but ultimately they don't amount to doodley squat.

That's OK. As long as were not seduced into believing that the words themselves can embody truth. They can't. They can at best point the way towards it. But even though the map is not the territory, it sure as hell helps sometimes to have one!

So, though all these wise thoughts will vanish eventually, that doesn't mean that we can't use them now to help guide our way through life. Many times the remembrance of a particular pithy phrase has saved my bacon when I've been distraught, mislead, or just plain stupid. I hope at least some of these quotations have the same effect upon you.

But on an even deeper level, when we begin to assimilate and live the wisdom we read about, our entire lives change. We may not become richer, more successful or more handsome, but we experience life differently, more completely. And so it's harder to truly become wiser without becoming happier.

Thanks for traveling with me for a short way. No matter where you are now in life, no matter where you may go, may wisdom and happiness permeate your soul!

The Virtue of Happiness

"Being happy is a virtue too."

-- Ludwig Bourne

Some days you wake up beaming, ecstatic, full of light. But for me, at least, those days are the exception not the rule. More often I wake up to a clean slate, at best, a dark, cold pit, at worst. And I'm a "morning person!" 

On those days when grace does not grant early morning euphoria, happiness is not a gift but a choice. We get to choose the emotional tenor of our day, and I'd like to suggest that happiness is not only the virtuous, but also the wise, choice. 

Why? Because the happiness virus is positively contagious! It influences both your own health and the moods and views of the people all around you. Even on the days when happiness is not gifted to you by good genes, great grace, or the powers that be, you can choose to give the gift of happiness to your self and others. And there are two direct roads to this joyous state.

The first route is to get outside of yourself. Shun your less than cheery emotional state and look all around you for signs of hope. The beauty of nature, the laughter of children, old comedy movies or CD's, good friends, good books -- the list goes on and on. It doesn't take Sherlock Holmes or Miss Marple to find out that there are dozens, scores, perhaps even hundreds, of things to be happy about. It's all a matter of focus.

The second royal road to happiness is to go within. Deep within. Go beyond your momentary struggles, doubts, and disappointments to that clearing in your psyche where the current of life flows. In Hindu philosophy the essence of life is described as "sat-chit-ananda." Truth, consciousness, bliss. Find the blissful stream and bathe in it, let it permeate your soul and bring the healthy glow of Spirit to your eyes, to your skin.

It's like the old In & Out Burger slogan -- "In and out, in and out, that's what it's all about!" You can choose to go within yourself to the substratum of  happiness that underlies all of life. Or you can choose to go outside yourself to experience the incredible manifestations of happiness that flourish all around you. 

The virtue of happiness is in choosing not to stay stuck in the funk of negative emotion. The wisdom of happiness is in seeing that all unhappiness merely masks a deeper, exuberant reality. It is you, oh virtuous one, dear wise one, who holds the power. May you wield it with love.

Truth Mountain

"Truth is an icy mountain that must be climbed anew everyday."

-- John Fowles

Sometimes I wonder why I bother. Why do I write these short e-pistles to myself on an almost a daily basis? Because I forget. I forget all about the simple truths that I expound upon here, and I awake in the morning worrying about finances, or bitching about the weather, or ruminating about some crazy ass shit that has nothing to do with me, instead of being present, loving and strong.

It would be great if we could learn something once and then live it forever. But that's not how it works, at least not with anyone I know. Instead, each day we're slipping and sliding all over Truth Mountain, like some sick Disney one-person show, Sisyphus on Ice. Just when I think I've finally reached the pinnacle of truth, I find myself making really, stupid, unenlightened decisions again, sliding right back down to base camp.

And so it goes. Each day a new climb. And so I write myself reminders over and over again -- be here now, all you need is love, this too shall pass -- fortune cookie wisdom whose triteness does not diminish its truth. Certain themes emerge, and my challenge is to speak those perennial truths in new ways, ways that nudge me or jar me or give me a mini-satori, a lightning bolt across the dark sky of my mind.

And then I go on about my day. Forgetting, remembering, forgetting again. Slipping and sliding all over Truth Mountain. Climbing through familiar terrain, and yet, each day is new. Might as well smile. What else is there to do?

The Philosophy of Minnie Pearl

"Jesus and Krishna and Buddha and Minnie Pearl knew
To do unto others as you'd have them do unto you."

- Rodney Crowell

All the greats say the same thing. There are only so many universal operating principles in this one horse universe, and they've all been enumerated time and time again by sages and teachers and musicians and poets from all cultures, traditions and walks of life. While Jesus, Krishna and Buddha may be the Ecumenical Holy Trinity when it comes to the religious sphere (no offense there Moses and Muhammad), countless others, including Minnie Pearl and Rodney Crowell have expressed the same basic spiritual approach to life.

In other words, teachers and prophets and gurus can be found everywhere! The Good Book or the Yellow Book, it doesn't matter -- wisdom is all around us! The exact teaching you need to hear next may come to you via an overheard conversation on the street, the sing-song poetry of a four year old child, a random song on the radio, or that little strip of paper inside the next fortune cookie you crack open. Don't confine yourself to the creme de la creme of the wisdom hierarchy; wisdom is ubiquitous.

And perhaps the most amazing and surprising place you'll find wisdom is right there inside of you! Your heart, your mind, your soul are chocked full of snippets, sayings, and scraps of pure, unadulterated wisdom. Hell, you knew the Golden Rule long before Rodney Crowell or Minnie Pearl sang about it. Indeed, you intuitively know every wise thing there is to know, already and always. It's just that sometimes we forget, ignore, or lose access to our vast internal storehouse of wisdom and then, literally, all hell breaks loose.

So, the challenge is two-fold. First, stay connected to wisdom. Access it right there inside you and pay attention to its myriad manifestations all around you. Second, live from that deep well of wisdom. Let your actions express the highest and deepest of what you know. Don't settle for less than wisdom-inspired action.

Jesus taught in the temples and in the fields. Krishna danced with the gopis and instructed Arjuna on the battlefield. Buddha sat beneath the bodhi tree and wandered the country far and wide. And Minnie Pearl, she graced the stage of the Grand Old Opry with her price-tagged hat and homespun wisdom.

What will you do?

The Wisdom of Happiness

Be happy. It is one way of being wise."

-- Colette

Happiness is a choice. A choice you make each day, each hour, each moment.

Being happy begins with saying "yes" to life. It is built on accepting what is and reveling in it. Every time you choose not to be happy, you are choosing to reject Reality. In a sense, you are saying to God, "If I were in your shoes Big Guy, things would be different around here."

Happiness is not some frivolous, bubble-headed emotion. It is part and parcel of who you are at the deepest level. It is the life force coursing through you, and out into the world through your actions, your words, your smile, your eyes.

The wisdom of happiness knows that there is no way that in this very moment things could be any different than what they are. It also knows that the next moment is wide open, and that things can change on a dime. The happy-wise amongst us, enjoy the ride, even though they know not when it will end.

Today, happiness awaits you. No, the Publisher's Clearinghouse Prize Patrol will probably not show up on your porch with that gobzillion dollar check, and it is highly unlikely that the star or starlet of your dreams will drop by your office for an afternoon delight, but happiness awaits nonetheless. It awaits between your ears. It awaits in your heart. It's not pushy. It's not waving its hand squealing "Choose me, choose me!" It quietly abides, waiting for you to tire of the melodrama of lesser emotions.

Today is National Happiness Day! OK, I just made that up. But it should be. And so should tomorrow, and the next day, and on and on, round and round, one big firggin' merry-go-round of happiness. Your ticket to ride is your power of choice. What better time to use it than now?