can happiness be found through anything? ( 5 july 2006)

Can happiness be found through anything?We seek happiness through things, through relationship, through thoughts, ideas. Sothings, relationship, and ideas become all-important and not happiness. When we seekhappiness through something, then the thing becomes of greater value than happinessitself. When stated in this manner, the problem sounds simple and it is simple. Weseek happiness in property, in family, in name; then property, family, idea becomeall-important, for then happiness is sought through a means, and then the meansdestroys the end. Can happiness be found through any means, through anything made bythe hand or by the mind? Things, relationship, and ideas are so transparentlyimpermanent, we are ever made unhappy by them. ...Things are impermanent, they wearout and are lost; relationship is constant friction and death awaits; ideas andbeliefs have no stability, no permanency. We seek happiness in them and yet do notrealize their impermanency. So sorrow becomes our constant companion and overcomi ng it our problem.To find out the true meaning of happiness, we must explore the river ofself-knowledge. Self-knowledge is not an end in itself. Is there a source to astream? Every drop of water from the beginning to the end makes the river. Toimagine that we will find happiness at the source is to be mistaken. It is to befound where you are on the river of self-knowledge.

Book of Life - July 5th_______________________