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gopimenon November 9th, 2009

Hi There,

In an earlier post I wrote about ‘How to Forgive Strangers & Acquaintances’.  Today I will discuss ‘How to Forgive Family & Close Friends’

It is easier to forgive strangers and acquaintances, because we may not see them again or only see them again very rarely!  Hence there are less chances of being reminded about the hurt or anger.

However with family members and close friends, it is quite different.   We cannot avoid seeing them or interacting with them on a daily basis.   Hence the incident that caused the hurt or anger will keep coming back into our minds, every time we see them.

Also our expectations of family and friends are higher – we expect them to understand us and feel for us, much more so than we would expect from any others.  So we end up feeling greater hurt and disappointment.

The key here is ‘expectation’ – it is because we expect a certain behavior or a specific reaction from our family, that when we don’t get that behavior or reaction, we feel betrayed and are truly hurt!

So the solution to this problem is ‘acceptance’ and ‘love’ – unconditional acceptance and love!  The word ‘unconditional’ is very important when it comes to family.  If we love and accept the family member unconditionally, then we find it easier to forgive him or her.

The first 2 steps in forgiving a family member is similar to that for forgiving a stranger, namely:

1. To remember that when we decide to forgive someone, we are actually thinking of ourselves (our own well being) – not that of the other person!  In a way it can be considered a ‘selfish’ act – one that benefits us more.
2. To remember that by nursing thoughts of anger and hurt within our own minds, we are poisoning our own selves – physically (by the excess hormones we generate), mentally (by our thinking) and emotionally (by our negative feelings).

The extra step we need to take when forgiving a member of the family or close friend is learning to ‘accept them unconditionally’!   If we are judgmental about our spouse or other family member, then we are bound to react to them, based on our assumption of their motives.  We will not be able to respond fairly to their actions – because we will always be inferring ulterior motives to their actions.

The other thing is that when we hold some form of judgment about another person, we will be sending out different vibrations than if we were totally unconditional. 

For example, if I think my wife is ‘non-supportive’ then whatever she says, does or does not do (however innocently) will be viewed by me from the viewpoint of her being non-supportive.  And it is easy to find fault when we focus on the perceived faults. 

Thus there is no way I can forgive her – unless and until I practice non-judgment and unconditional acceptance of her!  I have to see her as a good loving person, with some faults or quirks, just as each one of us are with our own quirks and foibles and faults!

When I can come to this place of self-acceptance and acceptance of my spouse as ‘perfect at her own level of evolution’, then it will become much easier for me to forgive her when she does things that I do not expect and upsets me.

What I have found in real life is that when we begin to practice unconditional love and acceptance, we will experience less and less situations that upset or hurt us!

When we begin to feel unconditional love for others, they can sense it and they will automatically respond to those positive vibrations, and will begin to act in ways to reciprocate your love and acceptance! Thus they will often say or do things that please you and not upset you!

In another post I shall share some practical methods I use to help me forgive others and practice happy living on a daily basis! See you soon.

• anger , happiness , happy living , self acceptance
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gopimenon November 1st, 2009

Hi There,

Last week I wrote the first part of ‘How To Forgive Someone’.   Today I intended to write Part 2 of that post ‘How to Forgive Family & Close Friends’  but I have to postpone this to the next week because of a problem a reader brought up to my attention.

The Problem: “Your blog tells us that in order to be Happy, we should control our Mind!  But exactly how do I do that?  I find it so difficult to let go of my anger and vengeful feelings as well as fear feelings!  I would be grateful if you could tell me whether you use any special tools to help control your mind.”

My Answer:

Thank you dear reader for your question!

I get the same question from my wife!  “How exactly can I change the thoughts that I allow to dwell in my mind?  I can’t help but react to people who annoy me, or upset me or hurt me with negative emotions of anger, hurt and revenge!  So how can I forgive?”

The only way we can change our normal thought patterns is by being aware and by repetition!  Repetition is how we became the way we are.  As children when we react in one way that has helped us to solve a problem once, we tend to repeat the same action!

For example if we found as a child that throwing tantrums or shouting or crying helped us get what we wanted, and we keep repeating it – the subconscious mind accepts it as a successful reaction and makes it a habit!  So that  even though we are adults now, we still tend to get angry, raise our voices, frown, cry or whatever else worked for us once and has become ingrained in our mind as a HABIT!  I’m sure we can see examples of this everyday, whether at home or in the workplace!

Just like learning to drive a car has become a habit, our reactions to certain stimuli have also become habitual.   Of course it is difficult to change an ingrained habit!   It is not that our Intention is weak, but the Habit is too strong!  By repetition over years of reacting in a certain way, we have created ‘highways in our mind’ along which our thoughts keep traveling when we come across a certain stimulus!   Thus we need help when we want to create new better pathways in our mind.

This is where Technology can help!  You see that the problem with trying to change habitual thinking is that we are going about it the hard way – via the Conscious Mind (when our thoughts are in the Beta wave range).  We can find some small success with the Conscious Mind, by using constant repetition over a long period of time – perhaps months or even years! Continue Reading »

• anger , fear , happiness , happy living
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gopimenon October 22nd, 2009

It’s been some time since I posted another Happy Living Tip.   So for today I am giving another important tip on happy living.  This has to do with ‘forgiveness’, specifically on the practical aspects of forgiving.  So here is Happy Living Tip #6.

__________________________________________________________________________

Happy Living Tip # 6: How to Forgive Someone!

We always hear people tell us that it is good to forgive, ‘to forgive is divine’ etc. but seldom are there any specific details on ‘how to forgive’.   That is what this tip is all about.  We will explore the practical aspects of forgiving others.

To do this I have separated the people to be forgiven into 2 categories; namely ‘Strangers & Acquaintances’ and ‘Family and Close Friends’.  These are described below.

___________________________________________________________________

Forgiving Strangers & Acquaintances:

The first thing to realize about forgiveness is that you are NOT doing it for the other person, but for yourself!   Because the feelings of anger, shame & hurt when you think about the perceived injury to your ego or self-esteem, is all within your own mind!  

And you continue to feel insulted or shamed and get angry when you continue to dwell on the ‘injury’ in your own mind.   Externally there may be nothing to show for the hurt you feel – the person who caused it may be gone for good or you may not meet him/her again.

If you have been following this blog for some time, you already know that your mind is completely under your own control – you can choose what thoughts you allow to stay or change those thoughts as you like! 

So how does it benefit you to keep thinking of the perceived injury again and again?  You are only hurting yourself repeatedly by your continuing resentment.  By continuing to think of tit-for-tat or revenge to get back at the person involved, you are only poisoning your own physical system!

The excess adrenaline rush is in your body, the hormonal imbalance is in your body, the side effects of these are also going to show up in your own body and mind!  You are not affecting the other person in any way at all.Once you realize this,  it is easy to forgive the other person.   Because by the act of forgiving, the one you help is yourself and not the other!

Also the forgiving act you do is in your own mind!  You do not have to go up to the other person and say ‘I forgive you’ or anything like that.   Just say inside your own mind: ‘bless you, have a good life’ or something like that,  and close the book on the incident!

Here is a test to know if you have really forgiven: If you hear the other person’s name mentioned and your mind does not immediately go back to that incident; if it does not affect you one way or another – then you have truly forgiven!   

If you can think about that person without feeling upset or hurt or envy, then you have truly forgiven!  On the other hand if you carry with you any vestiges of the perceived injury, then the very mention of the person’s name will bring about renewed feelings of upset and anger.

NOTE: For a first hand example of how I managed to learn to forgive and forget,  read my post “How I Overcame Road Rage!”

In my next post I will discuss the more difficult problem of ‘Forgiving Family & Friends’!

As always Expect Happiness!

Gopinathan

• anger , happiness , happy living , law of mind , unhappiness
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gopimenon July 31st, 2009

Hi There,

Some readers of my blog have said that for a blog on `happy living’ my posts are too serious and heavy!  So today I intend to ‘lighten up’ and talk to you about a couple of ‘Scientific Research’ Experiments that seem comical to me!

1. Is ‘swinging your arms when you walk’ an efficient action? Or is it just a throwback to our evolutionary ancestry – when we used to go about on all fours? Doesn’t swinging the arms involve muscle movement and mean more energy usage?

I think I could have answered that question without any scientific study (just by using simple instinct and common sense), as ‘Yes it is more efficient because it is natural!

However Biomedical Researchers have conducted a scientific study on the above ‘all important’ question at the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor.

Method:

A mechanical model was constructed to study the dynamics of arm-swinging.   Then 10 volunteers were asked to walk with a normal swing, a reverse swing, arms folded, and held stationary at their sides. The energy usage for each style of walking was calculated from the amount of O2 consumption and CO2 production while the volunteers breathed in and out.

Study Results:

• Arm swinging while walking has low energy costs because it requires little rotational twist from the shoulder muscles compared with holding the arms still, which used up 12% more energy!
• The pendulum like swinging of the arms helped to dampen the bobbing up and down motion of walking which caused a loss of energy in the lower leg muscles! If the arms were held still, this bobbing movement (called vertical ground reaction) caused an increase in energy expenditure of 63%!
• Using a ‘reverse swing’ or an opposite to normal swing (that is right arm in sync with the right leg) caused the energy expenditure to go up 25%.

Conclusion:

Arm swinging when walking is more efficient than holding the arms still or arm swinging in reverse!

The second experiment I am going to describe should take the Guinness Record for being the most ‘frivolous and funny’ experiment ever undertaken in the name of science!  I read about it years ago so I can’t remember the University involved, but its very frivolity makes the experiment hard to forget!

2. Does the size of the female breasts increase in the mornings as opposed to at night?

I would be tempted to ask “Who cares?”  Anyway some scientific researchers thought it was important enough to conduct a rigorous study!

Method:

They devised an ingenious plan to measure the volume of the breasts.  A basin filled to the brim with water was placed in a larger glass container at about waist height. The female volunteer had to bend forward carefully and immerse her breasts in the basin of water.  The amount of water displaced overflows into the larger container. This water was then measured to give the volume of the breasts.

So the volunteers had to do this at night before going to sleep and in the morning immediately on waking up, while the researchers measured the volume of displaced water each time.  After several days the average volume in the morning as opposed to that at night could be accurately figured out!

Results:

I have no idea because the question was never important enough for me to remember the answer!

Conclusion:

I know that some sectors of the population (such as Playboy magazine and Voyeurs Anonymous etc.) may totally disagree with my conclusion!   However,  to me it constitutes a colossal waste of funds and time and intelligence to conduct inane experiments like these!

Seriously though, sometimes I feel that I too am guilty of treading the same ‘scientific research’ path in this blog on Daily Happy Living!   Because most of the ideas I share in this blog is ‘common sense’ and does not need rigorous study.

Unfortunately however, common sense has become so uncommon nowadays because we have given up our right to think for ourselves!   Thus this blog may still serve a purpose and not be considered as frivolous as the above scientific experiments.

So I give myself permission to continue boring (or inspiring) you my readers for some time to come! Do keep a lookout for my next post.

Expect Happiness!

• anger , happiness , happy living , pursuit of happiness , scientific research
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gopimenon June 18th, 2009

In this post I would like to answer another question by a reader:  “Why does God allow bad things to happen?”

Another great question!  I believe this is one that many people keep asking, because they do not understand the principle of creating and operating a system.

True Story: A few weeks ago a freak accident happened on one of the expressways of Malaysia.  A bus crashed through the guard rails at the side of the road and the rails speared through the bus.  This resulted in the horrific deaths of several passengers.

Image via Wikipedia

As usual there were a lot of mail in the newspapers saying that the guardrails should be better designed and changed and so on.   Most people forgot that the the true cause of the accident  was the driver and not the guardrails!   As some wit once said:  “The cause of any accident is always the nut behind the steering wheel!”   The guardrails are not designed to keep your vehicle on the road safely if you hit it at 90 km/h or so!  And they need not be!   But as usual the public will blame the highway builders.

Of course there are some cases where the highways are not designed properly: such as poor banking at road curves unable to accommodate the recommended speeds,  road surface deteriorating very fast in the rainy season, high possibility of landslides etc.   But in the vast majority of cases, the expressways in Malaysia are of a really high standard!

Why am I bringing up this incident?  Because it reflects the way people think in general.  They always tend to find someone or something outside of themselves to blame.   They do not accept responsibility for their own actions!  In the case above, if the driver had been alert (not sleepy or on drugs or whatever else caused the lapse of concentration) and was driving safely, then this accident would not have occurred.   To blame the road designers or the guardrails for being the main cause of the problem is ridiculous!

Of course when a public road used by thousands is involved, there will be cases when you may end up in an accident even if you are not to blame.   Some other car suddenly jumps the divider and falls into your path – you cannot avoid the crash and it is not your fault!   But it is still the other driver’s fault – not the fault of the road designer or builder! Similarly the world too is designed to be of a high standard (perhaps the highest standard) by the Creator.   But we have to be responsible for our own actions.

• To take just one example:  In the USA especially, every day we hear of shooting related deaths of children and other innocent people, but they are still very reluctant to pass a Gun Control Law!   It seems ridiculous to me that small kids (pre-teenagers) are involved in  fatal shootings.   If they had no easy access to guns, these tragedies would not have occurred.   But the majority of the adults  insist on their right to bear arms and are negligent in keeping the guns out of reach of the children.   So when the innocent children die, do we blame God or the people whose actions caused the tragedies?

Even when we talk of global events, such as climate change, is God really to blame?  We cause the problems and over a long period  of time it escalates into a global catastrophe!   Just as when we drive on the roads, we have to follow certain common sense rules to avoid accidents, so too in life we have to follow certain common sense rules to maintain the integrity of the planet.

Just as the designer of the road cannot (and should not) have to be responsible for every individual driver’s actions, so too God cannot be held responsible for the actions of each human!  Each one of us has been provided with the tools (our body and our senses) and the ability (our brains and mind) to live a wonderful life in a truly well-designed universe.   It is our responsibility to make sure we do live a wonderful life.

Another thing to remember is how Universal Laws work.   A universal law or principle has to be true all the time and has to be neutral – not a respecter of persons!   This will be discussed in the next post Part 2 of  “Why does God allow bad things to happen?”.

• anger , gratitude , happy living , law of mind , pursuit of happiness , self acceptance , unhappiness
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gopimenon May 30th, 2009

Hi There,

Today’s post is going to be very short!   I am just going to tell you about an incident at a Toll Booth in our country (Malaysia) as told to me by a reader of this blog:

Last week I was stuck behind a row of cars in the Touch N’ Go lane of a Toll Booth on the Federal Highway from Klang to Kuala Lumpur.   The reason was that the driver of the car at the booth had not checked the balance available on his Touch N’ Go card before he got to the booth.  When he touched his card to the plate, the gate would NOT open because there was insufficient amount in the card to cover the toll fare.  So he would have to reverse and go through a Cash Payment lane.

However, since there were already several cars lined up behind him, he could not reverse out.   This got the other drivers’ temper frayed and they started honking on their horns.   I too was getting irritated and was tempted to hoot while waiting for an attendant to show up and open the gate manually!

Suddenly another driver from a different lane walked up to to this booth and swiped his own card at the touch plate!  The gate opened and he waved the driver on, thus putting an end to his embarrassment as well as the frustration of the other drivers.  Then he walked back to his car and drove off.

I felt ashamed of myself for not having thought to do that (instead of getting all stressed out like the other drivers in this line).  The toll fare was only RM1 (approx. $0.30) and I could have just as easily eased the situation instead of waiting for a good Samaritan to show up!  I am also ashamed to admit that the good Samaritan was a foreigner – not a Malaysian!

The above incident is a very good example of how our choices we make in our mind leads to happiness or otherwise.  Many of the drivers chose to get angry at the negligence of the first driver and worked themselves up by hooting loudly, but did nothing to ease the situation!   But one person chose to easily resolve the problem at a small cost of just RM1 to himself.

This is another reminder to us that:

• Our state of mind is within our own control – and not dependent on external circumstances!   Thus being happy and at peace OR being angry and stressed out is a conscious choice we make during every instant of our lives.

As we become aware of the state of our mind at each instant and take steps to change that state to one of happiness, then we can slowly but surely make Happiness a Habit – even during traffic snarls on the crowded roads of Kuala Lumpur!

Here’s to Happy Living!  See you soon on this blog.

• anger , happiness , happy living
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gopimenon May 18th, 2009

Hi There,

Are you wondering why a post on `belief’ should appear on this Happy Living blog?  Well in a previous post  `The World According to Gopi’,  I have said that our beliefs create our reality.  To quote from that post:

Our beliefs are built up over the years by the teachings of our parents, elders & teachers;  by age-old superstitions; by peers & friends; by books and the public media.   After a time each one of us forms our own set of beliefs that CONTROL the way we live our life.

Thus it should come as no surprise that Belief has a lot of Power to keep us living happy or miserable!  So the power of belief is very relevant to this blog on Happy Living.

Stories About the Power of Belief:

In this post and the next I will relate 3 stories about the power of belief.   I would like to start with an ancient story in the Hindu classic Mahabarata, that tells of a very inspiring incident that illustrates the point that “The Power of a Belief is in the Belief itself, and not on the Object of the Belief!”

• The Story of Ekalavya: Ekalavya was a poor woodcutter’s son living in the forest, who had a great dream.  He wanted to become expert in the art of using a bow & arrows – he wanted to be as great an archer as  Arjuna, (one of the Pandava Princes).   So he went to see Drona Acharya (Arjuna’s martial arts teacher) and asked to be his disciple.   Drona absolutely refused and arrogantly sent him off, saying that he would only teach  martial arts to Princes and not to a woodcutter!
• But this did not cause Ekalavya to despair!  Instead he went back to his home in the forest and set about making a clay figure of Drona.   Every day he would get the blessings of his guru (the clay figure) believing that it was truly Drona in spirit.   Then he would set about practising his archery until he became really good at it.
• Months later, a team of hunters from the Pandava palace happened to go into this forest.  The hunting dogs went on ahead, barking and making a ruckus.   Soon however, these dogs became quiet suddenly and came whimpering back to the hunters – they noticed that the dogs had their mouths sewn up.   They were shocked and went to see who had the guts to do that to the palace dogs.   They found Ekalavya sitting in meditation.  He had shut the dogs up because they had disturbed his meditation!   This made the hunters from the palace angry and they attacked him – but he repelled them all easily with his wizardy at archery!
• The hunters ran back to the palace and reported to Drona that there was someone in the forest who was an equal to Arjuna in archery.  Drona rushed to the forest to check it out.   Immediately on seeing his `spiritual guru’, Ekalavya prostrated himself before Drona.   Drona studied the situation and because he did not want any woodcutter to be better than his pet student Arjuna, he did the following unthinkable thing.
• He asked Ekalavyan: “Do you really consider me your guru?”   Ekalavyan replied: “Of course, you are my guru.  It is only after getting blessings from you every day that I started my archery practices.”    Then Drona said:  “If what you say is true that I am indeed your guru, don’t you owe me a `guru dakshina’ (a gift from the student for the guru)?”   Ekalavyan replied: “Of course.  What is it you want from me?”   To which Drona replied: “Would you give me your right thumb?”   Immediately Ekalavya cut off his right thumb and gave it to Drona as a gift!
• Drona had hoped that by losing his right thumb, Ekalavya would never be able to take up archery again.   But Ekalavya never gave up and soon he was as great an archer using his left hand as he had been before!

This was one of the most inspiring stories I had heard when I was young:  That one can achieve his dream if he truly believed in in his own ability and persevered in his attempts to achieve it!   However it also made me angry, that a so-called guru (wise master) could be so self-serving and cruel!

That is also when I realized that the `Power of a Belief is NOT in the Object of the Belief, but in the Belief Itself!’ The object of Ekalavya’s belief (i.e. Drona) may not be worthy of his belief, but the power in Ekalavya’s belief helped him to achieve his dream!

• In the next post Power of Belief Part 2, I will discuss two other stories that illustrate the above point further.   Then we will arrive at suitable conclusions about the power of belief.  See you then.

• anger , happy living
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gopimenon April 16th, 2009

Hi Friends,

I’m so glad that some of you found Tip #I useful and have decided to practice it!   So here’s another tip that will help establish happy relationships between you and your spouse, your friends, your colleagues and all other people.

HAPPY LIVING TIP #2 : The Mirror Exercise!

All you do is look at yourself  in the mirror with love, twice every day for about 5 minutes at a time!

I can hear you readers going: “I look at myself in the mirror everyday – so what is the difference?”   The difference is that I am not talking about looking at the external you as you do when brushing your teeth, or washing your face or shaving or putting on make up!   You are to practice looking at yourself with love!

Initial Challenges:

Initially when I first started the mirror exercise, my mind could only focus on things that I did not like.  My imperfections – nose too big, crooked teeth, balding, etc. etc.   So how could I love myself?  (Most probably these are the same feelings you too may have, at first.)

But after persisting for several days, one day I suddenly realized:  “Hey, with all my imperfections, I am still special, I am lovable, I am one-of-a-kind, I deserve to love and be loved  – I am much more than my looks!”

Imagine if someone invented a doll that could raise its eyebrows, or smile, or cry or frown – wouldn’t we consider that doll to be special?  But we are much more than that:  We can not only do all the above but also THINK (imagine, dream, plan), FEEL emotions (happiness, anger, sorrow, generosity, compassion, altruism etc …) !

When we realize just how special, how unique we are, in spite of our imperfections, then we attain the state of unconditional love!  This state of loving yourself unconditionally, is called Self Acceptance.

SELF ACCEPTANCE:

The first step in achieving happy human relationships is Self Acceptance.    If we cannot love ourselves, how can others love us?  Also if we cannot love ourselves, how can we love others?

I like what some wit once said: “The problem with going for a holiday is that I have to take myself!” How true?  If we cannot find peace within ourselves, it makes no difference which country or holiday resort we go to!  We still won’t find peace and happiness.

So the first thing is Accept Yourself,with all your good and bad points – your talents and your faults, your strengths and your weaknesses, your quirks and your foibles! Then you will be able to accept others just as they are, which is the second step in maintaining happy human relationships.  Continue Reading »

• anger , happy living , self acceptance
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gopimenon March 30th, 2009

Well Friends, sorry that I have been unable to blog in the last few days because of the arrival of a VIP into our family! So the promised blog post entitled ‘The World According to Gopi” will have to be held over to the next.

Now who is the VIP who has caused such a stir in the family and ousted my proposed blog?   It is our very first grandchild! Last week my dear wife of 35 years and I went to Seremban to welcome the arrival of my eldest son’s first baby Hiranya! Although the childbirth entailed ceasarian surgery, both mother and child are fine.

It was a really happy `Birth’ day!   What a reason for celebration – a new life has been brought into this world!  And may she continue to enjoy many, many, many more birthdays.   I do so want to explain just how important and wonderful a new life, any new life, is.   However I am at a loss for words!

As Shakespeare would say: “For I have neither wit, nor words, nor the power of speech to stir people….”

Fortunately, just last month I received a truly wonderful Birthday Greeting from  the Tut Adventurers Club which is so unique that I would like to dedicate it to our new VIP Hiranya.

Baby Hiranya

Happy Birth Day to You, Dear Hiranya!

A few days ago, heaven and earth erupted into a major celebration with the news of your impending adventure into this very time and space. You see, someone like Hiranya Menon doesn’t come along all that often. In fact, there’s never been a single one like you, nor is there ever ANY possibility that another will come again. You’re an Angel among us.  Someone, whose eyes see what no others will EVER see, whose ears hear what no others will EVER hear, and whose perspective and feelings will NEVER, ever be duplicated.  Without YOU, the Universe, and ALL THAT IS, would be sadly less than it is….

The above birthday greeting extols the singular value that I too place on LIFE, and continually advocate in this blog – but it does so with far better words and poetic prose!

About TUT: You can visit www.tut.com and subscribe to their free newsletter`Notes from the Universe’.   This site is operated by Mike Dooley one of the teachers featured on `The Secret’.   I have been subscribed to his newsletter for more than a year and I still look forward to his `Notes from the Universe’ in my email Inbox!

MY ODE TO LIFE

I believe that Life is a Miracle, perhaps the greatest miracle of all!   The creation of the physical world (the galaxies, with an infinite variety of suns, stars and planets), pales in comparison with the creation of a Human Being.  For all their wonderful aspects, the planets and the suns are inanimate – they cannot recreate themselves or create anything new.

The Human Being however is a living, breathing, thinking, feeling being, who is also a Co-Creator on her/his own terms.  He/she has been given the power to create things that are not found naturally in Nature, such as music and art and books and buildings and cars and planes and computers and internet etc. etc….Hence, this creation of a human life has got to be the highest aspect of Creation (in this dimension at least)!

However on a personal level, I believe that Life is the Greatest Gift that we have been given.   Without life there is nothing!  No feelings, no experiences, no happiness, no sorrows, no purpose, no achievements – absolutely nothing! — Gopi Menon

With that ode to life, I come to the end of this post.   We will return to `The World According to Gopi’ in the next post – I promise!

• anger , happiness , happy living , pursuit of happiness , unhappiness
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gopimenon March 24th, 2009

We are All Programmed for Happiness, i.e. God Wants Us to Be Happy!

Can that be true?  Of course, YES!   I have yet to hear of anyone who prays for `unhappiness’!   Has anyone of you ever prayed : “God I am too happy;  please give me some unhappiness!”   I don’t think so.   Why?  It is because Nature has programmed us humans to be happy!

Being Happy is our Birthright! In fact being happy ranks even higher than `self-preservation’ on the list of priorities of humans.   That is why so many commit suicide – because they feel without happiness, there is no point living.

Now if Happiness is so vital and we have been programmed to be happy, why do humans find it so hard to be happy and seem to be miserable most of the time?  BECAUSE we humans have the wrong beliefs about the nature of world and the nature of the mind!

If we only understood the nature of the world and the laws of the mind, then we would be able to create the happy life we were programmed to live.   We can `choose to create our own reality’ rather than just accept or endure a miserable, unfulfilled life.

• Let me begin with a small anecdote:  Thomas Alva Edison (the great inventor of the electric bulb, gramophone, cinema projector etc) was once asked by a lady: “What is Electricity?” Edison replied: ” Madam, Electricity IS, just USE it!”

Continue Reading »

• anger , happiness , happy living , pursuit of happiness , unhappiness
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