About happiness
“If you want to be happy, be happy” - this simple aphorism by Kuzma Prutkov began my realization of the truly invaluable ability of a person to be happy thanks to the very nature of his own Self, Atman. This cannot be taken away from us, it can only be forgotten, expecting satisfaction from elsewhere but not within. It is precisely this model of behavior that the consumer society imposes on us from childhood - "buy, possess, and enjoy!" However, everyone knows that something is always missing for complete happiness, something that is better, more beautiful than you have.
We are used to comparing, competing, showing off to deserve the recognition. Oddly enough, this all takes you very far from Happiness. All the best is already within us. And if we are lucky to understand this, to realize right now, at this moment in life, then happiness is simply inevitable. Happiness of that we are, we live, we realize. Here. Now. In this diverse world of colors, shapes and processes.
When I suddenly realized, felt that I could be happy on my own, even in completely catastrophic conditions, and most importantly, I began to experience this deep state almost constantly, a new way of perceiving reality opened up to me, which well illustrates the quote from the poem by William Blake:
"To see a World in a Grain of Sand
And a Heaven in a Wild Flower
Hold Infinity in the palm of your hand
And Eternity in an hour"
It means living here and now.