One of the most interesting aspects of life is that facts that couldn’t be more plain or obvious are consistently ignored. Still more interesting, while they may appear undesirable at first, these facts are actually the key to being happy. Take this picture for example. What is it’s most obvious element? Clearly, the scooter is the most prominent part of the photo. If we want to be creative, we might say it’s a photo of man walking his dog, but in reality, this part of the photo is only playing a secondary role.
The practice of insight meditation works by directing the mind to observe what is obvious when we simply look at it. There is no need for any creative interpretation about what we are seeing because, when we bring the mind to the present moment correctly, the dominant condition is, by definition, the subject of our practice. If we practice insight meditation regularly, we will start to become acquainted with the dominant condition when the mind is truly present: unconditional happiness. Happiness is the dominant condition because, in reality, suffering is only playing a secondary role.