What does it take to be happy? In order to be happy, we can take advantage of the law of cause and effect, that is, the law of karma. Using insight meditation, we can identify what causes lead towards happiness and what causes lead away from it.
Firstly, when we apply mindfulness, our goals are apparent. If we suffer from confusion, it will not be long after we start training in mindfulness before we realize that the only worthy goal is to become satisfied with the way things are because that is the cause for happiness.
Secondly, the actions we must take in order to achieve satisfaction, arise naturally upon the understanding that, fundamentally, we are seeking an escape from the unsatisfactory nature of life — craving for things to be different. Satisfaction can only exist when the mind is in the present moment experiencing the way things are now so we must continually train ourselves in that endeavor.
Finally, once we are confident that mindfulness training is necessary in order to achieve our goal of happiness, we need to prioritize that training. Priority refers to the order in which we do things. Therefore, putting our happiness first means that we should schedule and attend our meditation retreats before we engage in other pursuits.
April Meditation Retreat
Due to the funeral for our teacher, Ajahn Thanat, the retreat for the month of April has been postponed. It will now run from April 29 to May 14 for new students and April 29 to May 9 for students who have already completed a 15-day basic course. The cost for this retreat will be by donation with a deposit to reserve your place. There are still two spaces available for this retreat. Please contact us by return e-mail if you like to register for the course.