“

Spiritual realization does not deaden  

the human heart, but brings it to  

its full potential, which is

  

compassionate aliveness

”

6

Enlightenment Journal | Winter 2011-2012

assign our happiness to anything 

that appears in nature, we can 

know that it will not remain 

the same and thus, neither will 

our happiness. Joy and sorrow 

are two sides of the same coin. 

This is because when we find 

something that brings us joy, we 

cling to it believing it to be the 

cause of our happiness. When it 

inevitably changes, we are then 

subject to sorrow. Having an aver-

sion to sorrow is its own kind of 

clinging and we often call forth 

that which we hold in mind and 

consciousness. We can realize that 

even those conditions that are 

sorrowful are changeable. Instead 

of trying to resist them, our atten-

tion can be placed on thoughts 

more conducive to healing. 

The highest happiness is avail-

able to us through the avenue 

of contentment, or our ability to 

abide in the soul’s unchanging 

peaceful nature. Our essential 

nature is unaffected by changing 

conditions and when we abide 

in that, we find that we are not 

tossed about by the waves of 

seeming fortune or misfortune. 

We realize that at the core of our being 

we are content, peaceful, serene, and 

indeed, we are unflappable. This 

realization allows us to experience 

our inherent happiness—the highest 

happiness—that nothing can change. 

Spiritual realization does not remove 

us from life, so that we simply see 

it from afar as an unmoving, unaf-

fected observer. Rather, when we are 

free from clinging to either joy or 

sorrow, we can enter into life in a more 

vital way that is not possible when 

attachment and aversion are present. 

Spiritual realization does not deaden 

the human heart but brings it to its 

full potential, which is compassionate 

aliveness. The happiness born of 

contentment is the happiness of spiri-

tual freedom. And once we know that 

freedom, we see clearly how exquisite 

life is. We see how it is possible for 

people to live in the highest way. We 

naturally want everyone to experience 

this freedom and happiness. This is 

part of its unconditional nature. We 

see that it is not for us alone. 

Abiding in the soul’s innate content-

ment and experiencing the supreme 

happiness that it reveals also encour-

ages our receptivity to favorable