SpiritWeb

Happiness and Mundane Fulfillment

Deep within the heart of each human being is the longing for happiness. Now what is happiness? If you ask different people, you will receive different answers. The spiritually immature, after thinking about it for some time, will say, perhaps, that if they had this or that fulfillment or a worry eliminated they would be happy. In other words, happiness means for them that certain wishes are gratified. Yet, even if these wishes came true these people would not be happy. They would still feel a deep-seated unrest, would have an undefinable bad conscience. Why? Because happiness does not depend on outer circumstances or other people, no matter how convinced the spiritually immature person is of this fallacy. Spiritually mature people know this. They know that they themselves are solely responsible for their happiness or unhappiness. They know that they are capable of creating a happy life, first within themselves but then also, inevitably, in their outer life. The spiritually immature think that happiness has to be created first on the outer level because outer circumstances, which are not necessarily brought about by them, have to fit their wishes and when this is achieved happiness will follow. The spiritually mature know that it is exactly the other way around.

Many people do not want to acknowledge this truth. It is easier to blame fate, the injustice of destiny and higher powers, or circumstances brought about by other people, than it is to blame oneself. It is easier to feel like a victim. That way one does not have to search, sometimes very deeply and with a maximum of honesty, within oneself. And yet the great truth is: happiness lies in our own hands.

It is in your power to find happiness. You may ask, “What must I do?” But let us see first what happiness means in the spiritually mature sense. It means, simply: God. Finding God is the only way happiness can be found. And it can be found right here and right now. “How?” you may then ask. My friends, so often people imagine God is way outside, far away in the universe, impossible to reach. This is far from the truth. The whole universe is within each person; therefore, God is within each person. Each living creature has a part of God within. The only way to reach this divine part within is on the small and narrow path of self-development. The goal is perfection. The basis of this is to know yourself!

To know yourself is indeed difficult. For knowing oneself means to face many an unflattering trait. It means a long, continuous, in fact, never-ending search: “What am I? What do my reactions—not only my deeds and thoughts—really mean? Are my actions supported by my feelings or do I have motives behind these actions that do not correspond to what I like to believe about myself or what I like other people to believe? Have I been honest with myself so far? What are my mistakes?”

Although some of you may know your weaknesses, most people ignore a good part of them, and this presents a great hurdle, even for those who have reached a certain height on this upward path. You cannot overcome what you do not know. Each fault is nothing more or less than a chain that binds you. By the shedding of each imperfection you break a chain and thus become freer and nearer happiness. Happiness is meant for each individual, but is impossible to attain without eliminating the causes of your unhappiness, which are your faults—as well as any trend that breaks a spiritual law. Even if you have a karma from a previous, life it can be dissolved provided you work spiritually to find yourself—and thus find God.

People could be completely happy, without sickness, worries, or even death as you experience it. Yes, my friends, even death! If people were really perfect—and this is merely a theory, for if this kind of perfection is reached, reincarnation becomes superfluous—your return to the spirit world would not happen by decay, old age, and sickness or accident. It would be a sort of dematerialization. But even if you have not yet come far enough to consider this, each one of you can approach this goal much faster than you may think possible. And for the time being, you can find out how advanced you are on this path by viewing your life and your problems. How happy are you? What is lacking in your life? To the extent that unhappiness or discontent exist in your life you have not fulfilled your potential.

- Excerpt taken from Pathwork Guide Lecture #11 Self-Knowledge—The Great Plan—The Spirit World