Just A Thought ~ SELFISH HAPPINESS

"It is because life is filled with suffering that happiness, to one who eyes are opened by frank, courageous thought, is an illusion. For even if all the circumstances for the moment unite in a state of 'happiness,' what of one's neighbor lying ill, of one's friend's affairs, of the vast unconquered forces of illusion in one's own mind? Happiness can only exist while the rest of life is, for the moment, forgotten, and as such, is the poorest of the many goals which men have set themselves on the road of life.

Happiness in this sense, itself an infrequent product of the pursuit of pleasure, is utterly different from peace of mind, an inner serenity, an illumined joy begotten of the heart's quietude. This comes from work, a determined treading of the Middle Way to the heart's enlightenment, from obedience to the Buddha's final exhortation: 'Work out your own salvation with diligence.' "

~ From "THUS HAVE I HEARD", by Christmas Humphries ~