Happy When?

I posted a radical new statement on my home page. It says: I’m happy. That’s right. I’m happy. Not: there is no me. Not: there is no one here to be happy. Not: there is no one to experience happiness. I’m happy.

So, am I happy forever? Is this permanent?

No, it’s not permanent. I’m not permanently happy. I’m just happy now.

This is really much more profound than it looks. I’m just happy now. That sort of redefined happiness, for me anyway. I didn’t know I could just be happy now, and have that be enough. And it turns out that it’s the only way I can be happy. Can I be happy any other time than now? How could that not be enough?

And then for the small matter of actually being happy now. Well, is it any effort to be happy now? Right here, right now, there is no problem. Without a problem, you’re happy. So, it’s not difficult. There was a bit of redefinition of what I thought “happy” meant, although I have to admit I really didn’t have a definition – just a vague longing. But “happy now” is very concrete. It's not a concept. "Happy now" is experienced, and my current experience is the only thing I know.

There is a lot of stuff going on. It could have the potential to make me unhappy, if I thought about it. But right here, right now, there is no problem. Somehow, none of the “stuff” touches the right here, right now. I always thought it did – I thought it touched, disrupted, and threatened right here, right now – but I look and see that it does not. Right here right now is always this – free, empty, and no problem is present.

So if you want to be happy, make sure to think about this: Happy when?