“a happiness not born of desire”
I have learned, in whatever state I am, therewith to be content.
Philippians 4:11
We know that a “survival strategy is natural and even necessary for our healthy development and a healthy ego is also necessary [but] developmentally we reach a point when our intuition tells us it’s time to let the survival strategy go, simplify our life and accept the guidance of the ‘still small voice.’”[i]
Buddha came to “realize that what he had been looking for had never been lost, neither to him nor to anyone else. Therefore, there was nothing to attain and no longer any struggle to attain it.”[ii]
Insight # 105 comes to us from Siddhārtha Gautama (5th to 4th century BCE), also known as the Buddha. He was a teacher, philosopher and spiritual leader who is considered the founder of Buddhism.
“Here, not picking and choosing is something a boy wanders into; it is the natural state of an undisturbed mind. Then the boy notices that thoughts and feelings are things in the world as much as flowers and parasols, and he doesn’t have to either agree with them or quarrel with them. He feels a happiness not born of desire.”[iii]
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Additional Reading:
- Acceptance, The ABC’s of Simple Reality, Vol 1
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[i] Henry, Roy Charles. “Spiritual Path.” The ABC’s Of Simple Reality, Vol 2. May 2018, p. 262.
[ii] Fields, Rick. “The Life Story of the Historical Buddha, Siddhārtha Gautama.” Tricycle. Spring 1997.
[iii] Schaef, Anne Wilson. When Society Becomes an Addict. New York: Harper, 1987, p. 38.
