The word happiness is taking a beating these days. People feel the concept is unrealistic. Some wag their fingers at what they imagine is the selfish and pleasure-seeking nature of the sentiment, as though happiness must always happen at the expense of addressing real world problems.
I prefer the word fulfillment, which feels less about peak experience and more about meaning. In the contemplative way of thinking, the more clear and fulfilled we are, the greater our capacity to help others.
In this CEC Monday night exploration, we’ll investigate happiness from two directions. Direction one will be in sitting meditation, where we’ll explore what comes between us and a naturally clear and easeful state of mind using a new meditation called “The Love Tap.”
For part two, my 11-year-old godson Simon will (re)teach us how to draw like a happily absorbed and unselfconscious kid. As inspiration, here is some cheesy excellence I read on the internet from some art professor: “When my daughter was about seven years old, she asked me one day what I did at work. I told her I worked at the college – that my job was to teach people how to draw. She stared back at me, incredulous, and said, “You mean they forget?”