The movie, ” I Am Legend, ” has got to be the most depressing movie I’ve seen recently. I was just crying my heart out after watching it. It’s the kind of movie the depresses and really makes you cry.

It’s a sci-fi horror film about the last man on earth battling monsters. But that’s just the superficial plot. Essentially, it’s about a man battling his inner demons–grief, loneliness, sorrow, sadness and suffering.

When I watch a movie, I try to relate it with my life and with my practice. I don’t just watch a movie. I think about its implications and try to relate it to my life. Although there are some movies that you just watch and discard later on. But there are just some movies that you have to ponder on and think about long after the credits have rolled up.

I can really relate to the character. He is a man battling his inner demons as am I. And he’s an unhappy man who has lost so much. A man who embodies suffering. He has accepted his unhappiness that he has actually lost hope that he will ever find others like him. He has actually given up hope and at one point tried to commit suicide to end his misery. But just when we lose hope, light finds a way into darkness.

I almost gave up on my life a few months ago. I just couldn’t accept my karma. I couldn’t accept what happened to me. I almost killed myself. I really did give up hope that I’d find happiness. But then, a miracle happened. I found hope in the form of Buddhism.

In the movie, Robert Neville is rescued by a stranger. Just when he lost all hope, hope found him. The stranger saved his life and made him realize his purpose.

Humans are so quick to embrace suffering but are so slow to accept happiness. When Robert Neville met his rescuer, he couldn’t accept that he had finally found a survivor like him. And when his rescuer told him about having faith, he was quick to dismiss it.

Humans embrace suffering so willingly. And when happiness comes to us or when hope finds us, we don’t accept is so readily. Humans also forget that we have a purpose on this earth. That everything happens for a reason. There are no accidents. There is no such thing as fate. Everything has a purpose. Even suffering has a purpose.

But the thing is, we don’t have to suffer more than we should. There is redemption. There is hope. There is an end to suffering. And we are so quick to dismiss that as well.

I am sad and unhappy right now. But I know that in the end, wisdom will come to me. And I will know what to do. I will find a way to end my suffering.

I know I am just depressed because my ex-boyfriend has come back. And I thought I was happy with Richard. And then, my ex-boyfriend comes along wanting us to start again.

I have to have faith that I didn’t just meet Richard by accident. That he has a purpose to fulfill in my life. And I have to have faith that I will choose the right path to take.

Faith is really just about believing that life has brought us this far so we can choose whether to be happy or to be unhappy. And may I choose happiness. May happiness prevail.

When my EX called me and declared to me that he wants to try again, it threw me off course. I thought I was on the right track with Richard. I’m slowly trying to set aside my doubts about him. I was going to take a chance on our special friendship. I never expected that on Christmas Day, I’d be talking to my EX.

My EX told me the most wonderful thing. He told me that he was waiting for me all these years. He was waiting for me to grow up. I met him ten years ago when I was much too young. And we had the kind of relationship that we deserved– unhappy and painful. But since then we’ve become different people. And I realize that I still love him.

All these years he was just waiting for the right time. And all these years, he had continued to love me.

This really turned my world upside-down. And now, I’m thinking about letting go of Richard .

Richard represents new love. But I don’t know Richard. And I’m risking so much if I choose him. I don’t know if what we’ll have is going to turn out well. And I don’t know if he can give me what I want.

My EX wants marriage and companionship. And I realize that I’m ready for that. And all I ever wanted to hear from him is to hear him say that he wants me back and that he wants to give us another chance.

I want to escape with my EX. I want us to go to a place far away where we can leave everything behind. We’ll leave behind my family. We’ll leave the country. And we’ll find a nice place where we can grow old together.

I love him so much. But it is also very painful for me to say goodbye to Richard. I have loved Richard. In the short time that I’ve known him. I have come to love him. But Richard probably knows nothing of love. He is much too young. And he may not give me what I really want which is companionship and true love.

My EX is just waiting for me to go back to him. And Richard is just this new guy that I’ve met. Although I can’t ignore that when I’m with Richard, I am a more loving and more caring person. When I’m with my EX, I’m just me.

Richard is a good mirror to the person who I can become. But  I don’t know if what we have will last long. And I have a lasting relationship with my EX. Me and my EX may not be friends and we may not get along but we love each other. And we’ve endured.

It’s so funny how things turn out. I never would have in a million years expected that I’d choose to go back to my EX. I thought I have moved on. But I haven’t. I still love him.

I recently revealed to my friend that I love my EX very much. And to that she asked, ” And what about Richard? What is he to you?”

Ever since my friend asked me that question, I’ve been thinking about the answer. Is Richard a friend. Is Richard more than a friend. Is Richard the man I really love? Now, I don’t know anymore. I used to be sure that my heart chose him. But now, I’m not too sure.

I don’t know yet why he came into my life. I have no idea why he makes me feel the way I feel. But I can’t deny the fact that I still love my EX.

Should I move forward? Or should I go back? I’m vacillating between the two choices. Choose the one you love or choose the one who loves you. That is a tough choice indeed.

I spent a wonderful pre-Christmas dinner with my friend, Star. We’ve been friends since we were eleven years old. We went to the same school together. And we both shared the love for adventure. We became close in high school when we became classmates until we graduated.Star is still single at thirty. And she belongs to a family of doctors. All of her siblings are doctors. And she just recently became a doctor this year.

I went to her house to talk to her. And we ended up eating pizza and stuffed potatoes. The stuffed potatoes were delicious by the way. And I just have to write about it.

While I was sharing my life story, I munched on the most glorious stuffed potatoes ever. The potatoes were filled with meat and mozarella. It was topped with sour cream. It was oily but it was well worth the bite. I consumed about three halved potatoes. It was yummy.

My friend Star told me about what happened to her for the past few months. We’ve grown apart since we parted ways a year ago. She had to take a medical review. And I had to work. The separation was painful. We were very close and would spend hours chatting. But I thank the circumstances for keeping us apart. Because it meant that we both learned many things.

I finally told Star about my past. We’ve been friends for almost twenty years but I never told her about my past. But since I’ve been recently liberated from my past, I told her about it in the most nonchalant way.

” I was sexually abused when I was four years old. But I really do owe a lot to Buddhism for without it I wouldn’t have understood my life and my karma, ” I said.

She was taken aback though by my boldness. But I can’t change my past and I can’t change my history. I can only change the NOW.

” Do you still remember things at that age?” she asked.

” Of course you do. Especially since it was a very traumatic experience that changed my life,” I answered.

I proceeded to tell her everything using as little words as possible. Because I wasn’t trying to dwell on my past but rather on what I learned from my past.

” I’m so happy that I became a Buddhist. I now understand my life. I understand the concept of karma. And I don’t take it personally. I was just the unlucky recipient of a bad karma. And I accept that wholeheartedly.”

I discussed Buddhism to her. I discussed certain concepts. But what was most wonderful was when we started talking, I started to realize how much I’ve learned.

” You know what? Who would have thought that we’d still be friends at thirty?”

” Yes, we’ve been friends for almost all our lives,” Star added.

” And we’re so lucky you know.”

” Why?”

” Because we made mistakes and yet the mistakes that we made has gotten us where we are. You became a doctor. And I became a Buddhist.”

We talked about our batch mates in high school. Most of them are already married with kids. And we observed that almost all of them are already tired and spent.

” We are lucky. Our batch mates never had a choice. Most of them started a family early without a choice. They were burdened with responsibilities at such a young age. And here we are. We have the gift of choice, ” I pointed out.

” I can truly say that the things that we considered mistakes, are not mistakes at all. It was all necessary, ” she observed. ” Things are finally starting to make sense.”

” I know. Isn’t that wonderful? Our batch mates have already started a family. And they’re all tired and spent. And we are just starting to embark on that journey. And we know what we’re getting into. So we can truly say that we have the gift of choice.”

I shared to her my views on the impermanence of life.

” Life is truly short. We were just kids then. And look at us now. We’re thirty. And it truly is wonderful because we know our time on this earth is limited. And we are lucky because we can appreciate whatever comes our way since we know that the clock is ticking.”

I don’t remember how many Buddhist concepts I tried to introduce her to. I tried to cram in as many words of wisdom as I could in our three-hour conversation.

At the end of our enlightening talk I shared to her our Buddhist prayer. And I let her borrow my new favorite book, ” The Four Agreements.” I told her how similar it is to the Buddhist Eightfold Path.

I know I tend to put labels on concepts. I say, ” Buddhist this and Buddhist that.” But the thing is, labels or not, the truth is the truth. And there is such a thing called universal truths. I don’t believe that Buddha’s views are superior to others.It’s just that I really do admire the original Buddha and all the other Buddhas that came after him.

There is much to be learned from their words of wisdom. And what is so wonderful is that ordinary people like me, also possess that inherent wisdom. All I need to do is to look inside myself.

I really love Osho’s words. Here’s what he wrote on LOVE as relating as opposed to being a relationship.

The Honeymoon that Never Ends
by Osho

LOVE IS NOT A RELATIONSHIP. Love relates, but it is not a relationship. A relationship is something finished. A relationship is a noun; the full stop has come, the honeymoon is over. Now there is no joy, no enthusiasm, now all is finished. You can carry it on, just to keep your promises. You can carry it on because it is comfortable, convenient, cozy. You can carry it on because there is nothing else to do. You can carry it on because if you disrupt it, it is going to create much trouble for you… Relationship means something complete, finished, closed.

Love is never a relationship; love is relating. It is always a river, flowing, unending. Love knows no full stop; the honeymoon begins but never ends. It is not like a novel that starts at a certain point and ends at a certain point. It is an ongoing phenomenon. Lovers end, love continues– it is a continuum. It is a verb, not a noun.

And why do we reduce the beauty of relating to relationship? Why are we in such a hurry? Because to relate is insecure, and relationship is a security. Relationship has a certainty; relating is just a meeting of two strangers, maybe just an overnight stay and in the morning we say goodbye. Who knows what is going to happen tomorrow? And we are so afraid that we want to make it certain, we want to make it predictable. We would like tomorrow to be according to our ideas; we don’t allow it freedom to have its own say. So we immediately reduce every verb to a noun.

You are in love with a woman or a man and immediately you start thinking of getting married. Make it a legal contract. Why? How does the law come into love? The law comes into love because love is not there. It is only a fantasy, and you know the fantasy will disappear. Before it disappears settle down, before it disappears do something so it becomes impossible to separate.

In a better world, with more meditative people, with a little more enlightenment spread over the earth, people will love, love immensely, but their love will remain a relating not a relationship. And I am not saying that their love will be only momentary. There is every possibility their love may go deeper than your love, may have a higher quality of intimacy, may have something more of poetry and more of godliness in it. And there is every possibility their love may last longer than your so-called relationship ever lasts. But it will not be guaranteed by the law, by the court, by the policeman. The guarantee will be inner. It will be a commitment from the heart, it will be a silent communion.

If you enjoy being with somebody, you would like to enjoy it more and more. If you enjoy the intimacy, you would like to explore the intimacy more and more. And there are a few flowers of love which bloom only after long intimacies. There are seasonal flowers too; within six weeks they are there, in the sun, but within six weeks again they are gone forever. There are flowers that take years to come, and there are flowers that take many years to come. The longer it takes, the deeper it goes. But it has to be a commitment from one heart to another heart. It has not even to be verbalized, because to verbalize it is to profane it. It has to be a silent commitment; eye to eye, heart to heart, being to being. It has to be understood, not said.

Forget relationships and learn how to relate.

Once you are in a relationship you start taking each other for granted– that’s what destroys all love affairs. The woman thinks she knows the man, the man thinks he knows the woman. Nobody knows either! It is impossible to know the other, the other remains a mystery. And to take the other for granted is insulting, disrespectful.

To think that you know your wife is very, very ungrateful. How can you know the woman? How can you know the man? They are processes, they are not things. The woman that you knew yesterday is not there today. So much water has gone down the Ganges; she is somebody else, totally different. Relate again, start again, don’t take it for granted.

And the man that you slept with last night, look at his face again in the morning. He is no more the same person, so much has changed. So much, incalculably much has changed. That is the difference between a thing and a person. The furniture in the room is the same, but the man and the woman, they are no more the same. Explore again, start again. That’s what I mean by relating.

Relating means you are always starting, you are continuously trying to become acquainted. Again and again, you are introducing yourself to each other. You are trying to see the many facets of the other’s personality. You are trying to penetrate deeper and deeper into his realm of inner feelings, into the deep recesses of his being. You are trying to unravel a mystery which cannot be unraveled. That is the joy of love: the exploration of consciousness.

And if you relate, and don’t reduce it to a relationship, then the other will become a mirror to you. Exploring him, unawares you will be exploring yourself too. Getting deeper into the other, knowing his feelings, his thoughts, his deeper stirrings, you will be knowing your own deeper stirrings too. Lovers become mirrors to each other, and then love becomes a meditation. Relationship is ugly, relating is beautiful.

Hence I say relate. By saying relate, I mean remain continuously on a honeymoon. Go on searching and seeking each other, finding new ways of loving each other, finding new ways of being with each other. And each person is such an infinite mystery, inexhaustible, unfathomable, that it is not possible that you can ever say, “I have known her,” or, “I have known him.” At the most you can say, “I have tried my best, but the mystery remains a mystery.”

In fact the more you know, the more mysterious the other becomes. Then love is a constant adventure.

http://www.creationsmagazine.com/articles/C100/Osho.html

I’m seven years old again. I feel young again. I feel so alive. I feel free. I would never have thought that it would be possible for me to feel this way. I used to be depressed and unhappy with my life. I used to feel numb. There was a point in my life where I wanted to end my life. In a way, my life did end. And what I have now is a second life, a new beginning.

I was four years old when I was sexually abused in the most horrible way. I could not understand why it had to happen to me. I was not aware about the Law Of Karma. And I did not know about the nature of suffering.

My uncle, who I had loved and trusted, had taken advantage of my innocence. There were two victims in the story. I had another relative who was older than me. He is what you would call now mentally challenged. My uncle who was a drug addict at that time, taught me and my relative how to have sex. It was the worst thing that you could ever do to young children. I was robbed of my innocence. We both were robbed of our innocence.

But the pain would continue to spread. And along with it the shame. One day, when me and my relative were having sex, my mother discovered us in the act. It was the most horrible day of my life. And it was only recently that I had realized the impact of that day. My mother was forever scarred. And I was forever scarred. It was a day I would never ever forget.

The news of what happened spread. I can only imagine how my mother felt. The guilt and the shame she felt. I wonder how a mother would take the pain of knowing that she had let such a thing happen to her child. She must have been blamed by my grandparents for being neglectful.

What happened that day was kept a secret. The family felt so ashamed of what happened. For years, I grew up being ashamed of what I did. It did not help that I grew up in a Catholic school where it was ingrained that humans are inherently sinful. I had committed an act that was sinful and so I was sinful and I did not deserve to be happy.

I punished myself incessantly. I grew up ashamed, guilty and unhappy. It was because of my unhappiness that I attracted another unhappy person into my life. We had a relationship that was a very unhappy one. For how can two unhappy people create a happy relationship? I learned later through becoming a Buddhist that the self and the environment are one and the same. When you are unhappy or sad, then your environment would naturally reflect that.

Early this year, I had a nervous breakdown. I had experienced what you would call a karmic cycle where another relative almost took advantage of me. I could not understand why it was happening again. My world came crumbling down. I felt that I had to see a psychiatrist because otherwise, I would lose my mind.

The pain became so unbearable. And the guilt and the shame was so heavy that my mind began to crumble. I almost lost my sanity because I could not accept the unbearable suffering I had to endure. But I realize now how strong the power of choice is. When I was at the brink of insanity, I made a choice. I chose to keep my sanity. I chose to end my suffering. I chose life. And once I made that choice the universe showed me the way.

A few weeks later, I was introduced to Buddhism by my cousin. I was introduced to Nam Myo Ho Renge Kyo. And because I was desperate and unhappy, I took a chance. I took a leap of faith and that path has lead me to where I am today.

I realized the painful truth about my suffering. That what happened to me was perhaps a result of my past karma in another life or perhaps what an ancestor did in the past. I was the unlucky recipient of that karma.

The Law of Cause and Effect is only fair. We plant seeds of pain in the past and we reap pain in the present. But when you plant seeds of love in the past, you reap the benefits of happiness in the present. But since the law is the law, you must not take it personally. Instead, you have to embrace your karma and try to change what you can change in the now.

My Buddhist friend and leader said that to know your future, you must look in the present. To know your past, you must look at your present. The secret lies in the NOW. Plant good seeds in the NOW and then you reap benefits of happiness.

Since I started chanting, I began to realize that there was a way out of my suffering. The more I chanted, the more wisdom I acquired. The more I chanted, the happier I became. For all that was needed for me was to find what was buried deep inside me– the happiness and the wisdom within.

I am not preaching. I am only telling the truth. I am only sharing my own experience. It is so sad that humans are perpetually trapped in an endless cycle of pain and suffering because they are ignorant of the truth.

We have a choice. We have a choice on whether to dwell in the past or whether to let go and move on. We have the choice  on whether to suffer or whether to be happy. God’s greatest gift to humanity is free will. We have the power to choose the kind of lives we want to lead.

In a way, I had died. And I’m now only starting to build my new life. Existence is a gift. Every moment is a gift. Life is impermanent. We all know that we are going to die. The sad thing is, most of us are already dead even when we are still living. It’s time that we choose happiness. After all, we only pass by this earth only once. It would be wonderful if on our final moment we could say to ourselves that we were victorious because we chose happiness.

I came across Don Miguel Ruiz’s book by chance. I had just purchased a novel about Buddha’s life but I just had to browse again at the bookshelf. I saw his book, ” Mastery of Love.” I perused the first couple of pages and I was touched by the simplicity of his language and his message. I decided to take a chance and buy his book. When I got home, I read his book and finished it almost immediately.

I loved his message about the ancient Toltec wisdom. It’s no longer coincidence that what he shared is similar to Buddhism. The truth is universal. And label it as you may, but the truth is the truth.

The good thing about the book is that it only adds to what I already have studied about Buddhism. It is true. Love is the universal truth. And to love others you first have to love yourself.

Ruiz writes about the world of the dream, the mitote and the parasite. In Buddhism we call the mitote, the maya or the ego or the illusion. And the parasite is the negativity or our fundamental darkness. The names are different but they contain the same message. There is such a thing called the false self and the true self. And in order to be happy, you have to be aware or conscious of your thoughts.

I bought Ruiz’s other book, ” The Four Agreements ” yesterday. I wasn’t planning on buying the book but since there was only one copy left, I had to take a chance. And I didn’t regret buying the book.

Ruiz mentioned that we should make four agreements with ourselves. The four agreements being:

1. Be impeccable with your word

2. Don’t take things personally.

3. Don’t make assumptions.

4. Do your best.

The four agreements is similar to Buddha’s Eightfold Path of right view, right intention, right speech, right action, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness and right concentration.

Ruiz mentioned that we have made an agreement with ourselves to allow ourselves to suffer. He said that human beings needlessly punish themselves repeatedly for something that they’ve done. And we repeatedly allow ourselves to suffer because we feel we deserve to be punished.

Ruiz said that it is conditioning of the mind that has caused us to suffer needlessly. Our mind is crowded by the expectations of others and by our emotional hurts. This is the barrier that prevents us from seeing our true selves.

Our true selves is happy like a child. Our true selves is innately good and loving. But because of the strictures of society and our family, we have lost our childlike innocence and nature.

But Ruiz said that there is a chance for us to regain our lost innocence. He said that instead of allowing ourselves to be trapped by our self-limiting beliefs, he said that we must make new agreements with our self. That’s why he enumerated the Four Agreements. And he said that by following these four agreements, we would learn to lead happier lives. For it is what we are here for. We are here to be happy.

Buddha speaks of the same thing. Buddha spoke of a state of Nirvana or a state of complete bliss. Jesus spoke of Heaven. And the Toltecs spoke of the New Dream.

Paradise is not a place or a destination. It is a state of mind. It is to be in that joyful state. It is a state of gratitude.

Humans suffer needlessly. We torture ourselves needlessly because we hold on to the past. We rarely live in the NOW. We forget that existence is a gift. Existence is impermanent. Our life on this planet is limited.

Life is a dream. Our existence is an illusion. But would we rather not spend our dream in a blissful state? Would we rather not choose to live a happy dream?

When I started my journey to self-discovery and to seeking out the ultimate TRUTH, I attracted several books into my life. These books have allowed me to verify that what I had experienced and realized were real and not just creations of my mind.

Every book I read contained the same message: We are all dreamers of this dream we call reality.

My path to self-discovery wasn’t easy. I literally had to start from scratch. I realized that I grew up knowing nothing at all. I had to un-learn what I was taught. And I had to learn or re-learn the ultimate truth.

These books have helped me understand what I was going through. And each book was like a piece of the puzzle. The more I read, the more I understood. And the more I saw a pattern. Basically, the mystics, Toltecs, Buddhists, Hindus, etc. were talking about the same thing. They just used different mediums in expressing the truth. They used different labels and different languages to explain what was basically the same thing.

Here’s a list of the books that allowed me to gain insight into the ultimate reality of our reality.

The Secret by Rhonda Bynes

The Power of Now by Eckhart Tolle

Osho’s Book of Knowing

Osho’s Book on Compassion

Enlightenment Made Simple

The Gospel of Buddha

Letting Go Of the Person You Used To Be

Atom

The Essence Of Vedanta

The Wisdom of Negative Thinking

A Toltec Mastery of Love

Tranquility in A Whirlpool by Shreyas Morakhia

The Gnostic Gospel

The Tiger Within

100 Verses of Advice ( Tibetan Buddhism )

Fundamental Buddhism

I had an argument with my sister the other day. I never expected that she’d hit me below the belt but she did. I never thought she was capable of hitting below the belt. I told her about her anger and her rage issues. And she hit me back by telling me something that I did, that I wasn’t even aware of. She brought up the past. It was unfair because I never expected it.

The ego when it is hurt will try to protect itself at all cost. Her ego which I have hurt, tried to defend itself. The ego is always on the defensive. It will protect itself at all cost. And when I had hit a nerve, although my intention was to address her rage issues so she would be more aware, she hit back at me by putting me down. And since my ego wasn’t on the defensive, she hit me where I was vulnerable. She hit a weak spot. And I was knocked out.

My sister tried to hit me where I was weakest. Because she knows that my ego was unprepared, she hit back. For the entire day Monday, I just lay in bed paralyzed by sadness and depression. What she did made me question my faith, if it mattered at all, when all that my sister ever sees is what I used to be.

My sister can’t deny that I have changed ever since I turned to Buddhism. But then, people are always averse to change.  Change can sometimes be difficult for other people to accept.

In order for her to cope, she tries to keep a record of my wrongs. She is living in the past. And she can’t see me for the person that I’ve become. All she sees is the person that I was.

So as I lay in bed thinking about what she said, I began to question everything. I began to question my path. And I began to ask questions like, ” Am I on the right path?”; ” Is this form of Buddhism really for me?”; ” Should I give up something that  makes me happy so that it would please my family?”

The form of Buddhism that I have followed is not that well known. And people claim that it is not true Buddhism but through my own experience, I have verified that it is true Buddhism. That it does allow an ordinary person like me to achieve enlightenment.

But my sister calls it a bastardization of Buddhism. And she based this assumption not because she is a follower of Buddhism, but because she read about Buddhism. And she doesn’t even understand what she is saying.

I know that there are other vehicles other than the vehicle I am using to gain enlightenment. But this is the vehicle that I attracted into my life. And although the path is hard, I have followed this path because it has allowed me to be a wise person. I used to be an ordinary person who was unaware and ignorant. Now, I have awakened to the truth. And this vehicle has allowed me to become happy.

I have to ponder on the questions that have arisen. I know that at the end of all of this sadness is wisdom. And so I will continue to go on this path. And maybe there would be answers as to whether I followed the right path for me.

How can you achieve happiness? Here’s what I’ve learned so far.

To be happy, you must not listen to your ego. You must do things that your ego disagrees to. Do things out of love and not do things out of pride.

The ego knows nothing about true happiness. All the ego knows is momentary happiness. Because that is what it was created for. The ego is created as a temporary construct. And since it is only temporary, it only seeks temporary pleasures.

To achieve true happiness, do not listen to your ego. Do things that are against your ego. Be the one who controls the ego instead of being controlled by it.

To be happy, you must follow the heart. Only the heart knows what is real and what is not real. Only the heart knows love. And love is the only thing that is real.

To be happy, you must accept. You must accept that there is suffering. You must accept that in life, you don’t have control over everything. We must accept that our past deeds would have a way of catching up with us. There is no escaping karma. We will always feel the effects of deeds done in the past. That is why, from this moment on, we must strive to do good. As a way of overturning our bad karma and a way of creating good causes.

To be happy, you must be brave. Only the brave people are happy people. People who are not open to life will be unhappy and unfulfilled. They will live desolate and unhappy lives.

To be happy, you must be compassionate. To be compassionate means to understand that we are all connected. That our happiness and unhappiness would depend on other people as well. For how can you be truly happy if you see so many people around you suffering and in pain?

To be happy, you must seek to understand yourself. Our goal in life is to seek self-awareness and self-understanding. Only when you have understood yourself and the reason for being, will you be able to understand others. Once you have understood yourself, you will naturally feel more compassionate towards other people. To understand others, you must first understand yourself.