The Secret to Happiness

Everyone is searching for happiness. This longing arises spontaneously from the depths of our Being and pushes us to search for the secret to happiness. We usually search in the wrong places, trying to fill the void with possessions, with people, with activites. Whether we are aware of it or not, we often cling to illusions such as “I will be happy when I get married…”

We believe that a partner can fill the void, but we place the reponsibility of both our happiness and our suffering upon them by saying “You make me happy” or “You are the cause of my misery”.

Similarly, those with a partner may think “I would be happier on my own”, or “If only we had a child, we would be happy”.

There are so many things that we wish for, believing that by having them we will find happiness: a beautiful home, a new car, a different job, or moving to the city or to the country.

The way our mind, our emotions, our instincts operate persuade us to have these illusions. Society and the systems we live in teach us to think in this way. For example, we learn that if we study hard, we will be rewarded with happiness, but can we not also be happy whilst we study?,

After much sacrifice, if we get the job we desire, we will then be encouraged to continue working hard to acquire what we need to make us happy.

In this way life passes, and death arrives, but still our goal has never been reached. We run as if on a hamster wheel, going nowhere without realising it, or perhaps we don’t try at all, because it all seems so pointless.

Sometimes people hopefully search for the secret to happiness through alternative food practices, returning to nature, unusual health formulas, alternative lifestyles, rituals, mantras, astrology, perfumes, dances etc.

But the truth is that complete happiness is not found through any person, event or object. Happiness comes from a combination of things, but it originates within ourselves.

In Search of True Happiness

If we really long for true happiness as something more than just a fleeting pleasure, we first need to realise that it doesn’t come from anything external, but from seeing what is negative within us and eliminating it. When we are overcome by aspects of jealousy, selfishness, hatred and greed, by negative emotions such as anxiety and fear, we can’t access the light inside us. When we remove this darkness, we can increase our internal light.

It is also important that we learn to live a balanced life, which enables us to have a suitable internal state for the external events we are experiencing.

“The capacity to live is based precisely on the way one succeeds in combining conscious states with the circumstances of Life. It may be the case that a circumstance that should be happy is not, because we do not know how to combine our conscious state with the event itself. When we examine the world in which we live, we can verify the powerful, clear and definitive fact that there are people who would like to be happy but are not”. Samael Aun Weor; The Golden Verb

We know that many people who have everything considered vital for happiness, are unhappy. There are also people who may be sick or have very little in the way of material possessions, who radiate happiness. So it doesn’t take much wisdom to realise that material things alone don’t bring us happiness.

“So, money in itself cannot bring us happiness; everything depends on the way one knows how to combine the states of consciousness with the events, the circumstances of practical life.

If someone, placed in wonderful conditions, is not able to manage those circumstances, does not know how to intelligently combine the states of consciousness with the environment in which he operates and lives, he will unquestionably be unhappy. However, someone who, despite being in difficult circumstances, knows how to combine the facts of his practical life with his states of consciousness, achieves well-being, prosperity, happiness, etc. Thus, it is urgent to understand the need to learn to live wisely. ” Samael Aun Weor; The Golden Verb

The need for Internal Change

There is a phrase commonly attributed to Albert Einstein, the great German physicist, which says, “Don’t expect different results if you keep doing the same thing.”

The source of this saying is not proven, but in any case, it illustrates a great truth. If we look closely at our lives, we will realise that our way of acting is repetitive. This is because, within us, the elements that act are always the same although they act in different circumstances. Therefore, we always get the same results.

For example: It may be that when faced with challenges a person has a tendency to abandon his goals and as a result, never achieves them.

But if that person eliminates from within himself the element that causes him to give up, there will be a change in his actions and the results will be different. That negative element could be fear, insecurity, laziness, etc. And when it is eliminated it produces a radical change within that person.

“If we want a definitive change in the circumstances of life, we need first of all to carry out a change within ourselves; If we do not modify anything internally, our external life will continue with its difficulties. Above all it is necessary to become masters of ourselves. As long as we do not know how to govern ourselves, we cannot govern the difficult circumstances of existence either.” Samael Aun Weor

The Way Forward

As we have seen here, happiness does not come when we click our fingers. But it is natural that happiness is our greatest desire and it is possible to find it. We need to want it and understand that happiness comes from within, and use our will to bring about change.

Happiness should be something natural, something we feel when we see a sunset, when we hear birdsong, when contemplating a beautiful flower, and in every moment of life. However, in the age in which we live, people have lost the connection with their real Being, the divine principle that exists in each of us and from which happiness and peace emanate. Instead we find ourselves submerged in dark and harmful elements such as hate, fear, selfishness, pessimism and so many others.

As we clear these away and integrate ourselves with the divine principle that exists within us, we will be able to conquer the lost Paradise, becoming happy whatever the circumstances of our life and radiating happiness to those around us.

To start seeing your inner world, we invite you to join our free online self-knowledge courses.