Is Happiness a Choice?

[AnthroHeart]

Simply put, is happiness a choice? I think it is.
No matter the circumstances, we can choose to be happy,
and not let things get to us.

Can we turn it around within milliseconds in how we observe it?

This is at least how I feel. Even when I have more work to do
I can simply be happy.

We're not supposed to look for happiness outside of ourselves.

[Stranger]

Find tenderness and concern for the needs of another even when you yourself are in distress, open your heart to them, and happiness will find you.

[Billy]

I'm not sure anymore. I question how much of a choice we really have.

[kycahi]

We know that the planet has some truly miserable people. According to the Law, that's catalyst for experience. For most of us, including myself, I do think that we can and should make that choice, and it can be significantly life-changing.

It can be contagious, too, so show it!

[Plenum]

This is at least how I feel. Even when I have more work to do
I can simply be happy.

the thing about happiness is that there's even more of it available. You think there's a ceiling, but there are moments when you will get a taste of something even more magnifique. That drives my own personal impulse to clear the impediments to experiencing that state more frequently/more duration.

[AnthroHeart]

I don't need the earth shattering feeling of unconditional love again, as if I could handle it. I just want to be happy most of the time.

[anagogy]

From my perspective, the level of happiness you feel is a result of what you place your awareness, which is your spiritual power, upon. There are thoughts consonant with unity, and there are thoughts that are not consonant with unity. Every thought resonates with your spiritual complex in a certain way, and those thoughts that don't will always register a feeling of disharmony, or negativity, with you.

This is why thoughts of judgment about others never feel good, because the spirit inside of you never sees any being in a negative light, so thoughts of judgment about others are one of the most common causes of unhappiness.

Thoughts also have momentum, and in that sense, the amount of choice one has about their level of happiness is variable. While it is never too late to start turning your thoughts around toward unity, a train going 100 mph in one direction does not instantly change direction. It has to slow down, and then begin motion in the other direction.

Releasing thought, as in meditation, is another way to slow down the momentum. Once momentum comes to a rest, you vibration will naturally begin to rise to the positive.

[Unbound]

Depends how much weight of consciousness you give to your choice.

[Billy]

From my perspective, the level of happiness you feel is a result of what you place your awareness, which is your spiritual power, upon. There are thoughts consonant with unity, and there are thoughts that are not consonant with unity. Every thought resonates with your spiritual complex in a certain way, and those thoughts that don't will always register a feeling of disharmony, or negativity, with you.

This is why thoughts of judgment about others never feel good, because the spirit inside of you never sees any being in a negative light, so thoughts of judgment about others are one of the most common causes of unhappiness.

Thoughts also have momentum, and in that sense, the amount of choice one has about their level of happiness is variable. While it is never too late to start turning your thoughts around toward unity, a train going 100 mph in one direction does not instantly change direction. It has to slow down, and then begin motion in the other direction.

Releasing thought, as in meditation, is another way to slow down the momentum. Once momentum comes to a rest, you vibration will naturally begin to rise to the positive.

Whats the difference between judgement and discernment? The one thing that bothers me about being positive and thinking positively is how it often results in suppression of unwanted thoughts. I am trying to find a balance between the two I guess. I'm wondering which thoughts are worth examining and which are worth discarding entirely.

[anagogy]

Whats the difference between judgement and discernment? The one thing that bothers me about being positive and thinking positively is how it often results in suppression of unwanted thoughts. I am trying to find a balance between the two I guess. I'm wondering which thoughts are worth examining and which are worth discarding entirely.

The difference between judgment and discernment is that judgment implies a good/evil dichotomy. Discernment says, "this is hard" and conversely, "this is soft". But the moral judgment is not there. There is no moral imperative. People often think that they are just observing how another person is, and whatever qualities they behold is "how they are". But your very observation of what you consider to be negative qualities actually helps pull the behavior out of them in your presence.

Ever heard the saying that if you treat someone like an animal, they will start acting like one? Well, it happens on the vibrational level too. If you could focus only on the attributes of a person that you found desirable that would be the only behavior they could offer to you. The undesirable behavior would be left out of your experience, by virtue of the law of attraction, strange as that may sound. The only things that enter your conscious reality are symbols concomitant with the vibrations you have active within you.

There is nothing wrong with making observations, and distinctions, but keep in mind that when you condemn a person in your mind, believing them to be a bad person, you telepathically see to it that they always show you their worst side. So by this you can begin to see the virtue of less observation, and more creation. What we think is just observing is often us just creating by default, which is the externalizing of whatever stock beliefs we have going on about what is being observed.

Objectivity is harder to achieve than anyone really understands.

So now I hear you asking, mentally, can we ever get a true picture of a thing, or person, if we are always creating a reality? Yes, you can, but not until it doesn't make a difference to you either way how a person or thing acts. If you can purely expect to see a thing's nature, with no expectation of what that nature entails, then you will come to understand it, for good or for worse, but honestly, you can just focus on what you want to experience and the symbol that matches it most purely will come out of the woodworks to fit the vibrational placeholder you have created.

Everything in reality is a symbol for different intangible qualities. You have a vast panoply of attributes which are the many faces of the one infinite creator. You find resonance with who you really are, and those attributes, and symbols, that accentuate who you really are, will assemble around you, as you are a symbol too.

[Quan]

Gemini Wolf perhaps you can phrase it also as Not feeling Happiness is a choice . Natural state is pure bliss of love, living in this 3rd density gives us option to search through what happiness really is.. ultimately leading to beyond happiness\not happiness to Love, the infinite one creator that we are all within.

Whats the difference between judgement and discernment? The one thing that bothers me about being positive and thinking positively is how it often results in suppression of unwanted thoughts. I am trying to find a balance between the two I guess. I'm wondering which thoughts are worth examining and which are worth discarding entirely.

The difference between judgment and discernment is that judgment implies a good/evil dichotomy. Discernment says, "this is hard" and conversely, "this is soft". But the moral judgment is not there. There is no moral imperative. People often think that they are just observing how another person is, and whatever qualities they behold is "how they are". But your very observation of what you consider to be negative qualities actually helps pull the behavior out of them in your presence.

Ever heard the saying that if you treat someone like an animal, they will start acting like one? Well, it happens on the vibrational level too. If you could focus only on the attributes of a person that you found desirable that would be the only behavior they could offer to you. The undesirable behavior would be left out of your experience, by virtue of the law of attraction, strange as that may sound. The only things that enter your conscious reality are symbols concomitant with the vibrations you have active within you.

There is nothing wrong with making observations, and distinctions, but keep in mind that when you condemn a person in your mind, believing them to be a bad person, you telepathically see to it that they always show you their worst side. So by this you can begin to see the virtue of less observation, and more creation. What we think is just observing is often us just creating by default, which is the externalizing of whatever stock beliefs we have going on about what is being observed.

Objectivity is harder to achieve than anyone really understands.

So now I hear you asking, mentally, can we ever get a true picture of a thing, or person, if we are always creating a reality? Yes, you can, but not until it doesn't make a difference to you either way how a person or thing acts. If you can purely expect to see a thing's nature, with no expectation of what that nature entails, then you will come to understand it, for good or for worse, but honestly, you can just focus on what you want to experience and the symbol that matches it most purely will come out of the woodworks to fit the vibrational placeholder you have created.

Everything in reality is a symbol for different intangible qualities. You have a vast panoply of attributes which are the many faces of the one infinite creator. You find resonance with who you really are, and those attributes, and symbols, that accentuate who you really are, will assemble around you, as you are a symbol too.

[Billy]

Whats the difference between judgement and discernment? The one thing that bothers me about being positive and thinking positively is how it often results in suppression of unwanted thoughts. I am trying to find a balance between the two I guess. I'm wondering which thoughts are worth examining and which are worth discarding entirely.

The difference between judgment and discernment is that judgment implies a good/evil dichotomy. Discernment says, "this is hard" and conversely, "this is soft". But the moral judgment is not there. There is no moral imperative. People often think that they are just observing how another person is, and whatever qualities they behold is "how they are". But your very observation of what you consider to be negative qualities actually helps pull the behavior out of them in your presence.

Ever heard the saying that if you treat someone like an animal, they will start acting like one? Well, it happens on the vibrational level too. If you could focus only on the attributes of a person that you found desirable that would be the only behavior they could offer to you. The undesirable behavior would be left out of your experience, by virtue of the law of attraction, strange as that may sound. The only things that enter your conscious reality are symbols concomitant with the vibrations you have active within you.

There is nothing wrong with making observations, and distinctions, but keep in mind that when you condemn a person in your mind, believing them to be a bad person, you telepathically see to it that they always show you their worst side. So by this you can begin to see the virtue of less observation, and more creation. What we think is just observing is often us just creating by default, which is the externalizing of whatever stock beliefs we have going on about what is being observed.

Objectivity is harder to achieve than anyone really understands.

So now I hear you asking, mentally, can we ever get a true picture of a thing, or person, if we are always creating a reality? Yes, you can, but not until it doesn't make a difference to you either way how a person or thing acts. If you can purely expect to see a thing's nature, with no expectation of what that nature entails, then you will come to understand it, for good or for worse, but honestly, you can just focus on what you want to experience and the symbol that matches it most purely will come out of the woodworks to fit the vibrational placeholder you have created.

Everything in reality is a symbol for different intangible qualities. You have a vast panoply of attributes which are the many faces of the one infinite creator. You find resonance with who you really are, and those attributes, and symbols, that accentuate who you really are, will assemble around you, as you are a symbol too.

Is it judgemental to consider someone selfish, shallow and unloving? Aren't some people genuinely like that? How do you discern someone's character without being judgemental? You probably already answered that but I am very confused. I am really trying to get my thoughts in order and to really start forming healthy and positive patterns of thought. For someone wanting to live in peace, harmony and love, whats the best way to think about others? Thank you anagogy

[Jade]

It's judgmental when you take the next step and consider someone bad or evil for being selfish, shallow, or unloving. It's just another way to be. It may not be YOUR preferred way of being, but it's serving the shallow person at that step in their development. They are perfect as they are, expressing the Creator in the moment. And maybe their selfishness/shallowness/unlovingness is allowing someone else to step up and serve positively, therefore bringing a larger total of more light into the world?

If you are using discernment and you find a trait that makes you angry or sad, there is the judgement. Or, "catalyst". And really, judgement in the moment isn't an awful thing, but balancing it quickly is important.

[AnthroHeart]

What's hard for me is when the person doesn't appreciate what you do for them. It makes me less eager to serve them. But that's conditional, and probably affects my spiritual maturity.

[Sabou]

It's judgmental when you take the next step and consider someone bad or evil for being selfish, shallow, or unloving. It's just another way to be. It may not be YOUR preferred way of being, but it's serving the shallow person at that step in their development. They are perfect as they are, expressing the Creator in the moment. And maybe their selfishness/shallowness/unlovingness is allowing someone else to step up and serve positively, therefore bringing a larger total of more light into the world?

If you are using discernment and you find a trait that makes you angry or sad, there is the judgement. Or, "catalyst". And really, judgement in the moment isn't an awful thing, but balancing it quickly is important.

and we all have our perfect time lines for when we are able to balance the catalysts present.

[Billy]

It's judgmental when you take the next step and consider someone bad or evil for being selfish, shallow, or unloving. It's just another way to be. It may not be YOUR preferred way of being, but it's serving the shallow person at that step in their development. They are perfect as they are, expressing the Creator in the moment. And maybe their selfishness/shallowness/unlovingness is allowing someone else to step up and serve positively, therefore bringing a larger total of more light into the world?

If you are using discernment and you find a trait that makes you angry or sad, there is the judgement. Or, "catalyst". And really, judgement in the moment isn't an awful thing, but balancing it quickly is important.

Thank you for this. So I suppose it is your feelings of anger and resentment towards such a person and not so much your observations. Don't think I'll ever like such a person but it is what it is. Surrender.

[Unbound]

What's hard for me is when the person doesn't appreciate what you do for them. It makes me less eager to serve them. But that's conditional, and probably affects my spiritual maturity.

Do you appreciate what you do for them?

[tamaryn]

The seeds of gratitude lie deeply within such difficult circumstance.

And one is inclined to reach further and further from these seeds as illusion cuts deeper and deeper into the mind/body.

There is always the moment to awaken. And rejoyce with the knowing of happiness. Comfort if only in the spirit.

[anagogy]

Is it judgemental to consider someone selfish, shallow and unloving? Aren't some people genuinely like that? How do you discern someone's character without being judgemental? You probably already answered that but I am very confused. I am really trying to get my thoughts in order and to really start forming healthy and positive patterns of thought. For someone wanting to live in peace, harmony and love, whats the best way to think about others? Thank you anagogy

All I can tell you, Folk-love, is that the more you notice or pay attention to those qualities you perceive to be negative, the more they will crop up in your experience. You activate the vibrations of those things by giving your attention to them. Consequentially, those are the experiences that will be attracted into your experience. Negative is only negative from relativity of the positive. What you perceive as negative qualities, STS view as positive traits.

Now, your portion of the creator is as it is. You are positively polarized. Naturally you would not favor predominantly STS traits. There is nothing wrong with that preference. It is your nature.

But when STS behaviors, from others, crop up in your life experience, you prolong their impact in your reality by giving them your undivided attention. If you turn the other cheek, and attempt to see the good in them (even if there isn't much), you will activate positive, desirable, qualities in your experience.

What does this mean for you?

It means, if those individuals are to have any permanent beingness in your reality, the only time the universe will rendezvous you with them is when they are having one of their (possibly rare) positive moods. If you tend to your vibrational offering first, by finding pure alignment with the essence of you, things that are not a vibrational match to that resonance that have vibrated themselves into your experience then have to, by virtue of the law of attraction, vibrate right on out of your experience.

Isn't that interesting?

So while there is no right or wrong in discerning what are, objectively, and obviously selfish expressions of behavior, you do yourself a grave disservice by paying any significant attention to them, and in fact, you actually *add* power to that negative action by your very attention to it. Whether the judgment is objectively true, or merely a distortion of subjective perception, it makes little difference, as either way you are culling more negative experiences out of the universe by the focus of your consciousness.

Every heard the saying, "Hate of war will not bring peace, only love of peace will bring peace"?

We would all do well to ponder the implications of this profound truth.

[Billy]

What do I do when I have thoughts like "such and such is selfish and shallow" or "such and such is angry, hateful and unloving"? Do I then try and find the positives in each and every individual that I have negative thoughts about? Or do I just ignore the thoughts all together or are they worth exploring? I don't want to fall into suppressing my thoughts and feelings but neither do I want focus on negativity. I guess this is ultimately a question about shadow work. Perhaps I've got more work to do in the field of positive focus and attitude.

[anagogy]

What do I do when I have thoughts like "such and such is selfish and shallow" or "such and such is angry, hateful and unloving"? Do I then try and find the positives in each and every individual that I have negative thoughts about? Or do I just ignore the thoughts all together or are they worth exploring? I don't want to fall into suppressing my thoughts and feelings but neither do I want focus on negativity. I guess this is ultimately a question about shadow work. Perhaps I've got more work to do in the field of positive focus and attitude.

There is nothing wrong with trying to "get to the bottom of it", but I can tell you from experience, there actually is no bottom to it, and it is a never ending can of worms. The fact of the matter is no one is all STO or all STS, so there is both positive and negative in everyone. Finding the good qualities in others and meditating upon them to the exclusion of the negative qualities isn't suppression in my opinion, but rather, a kind of emotional alchemy, where you are finding alignment with the interpretation of reality most consonant with the law of oneness. Focusing on the bad, just suppresses the good. And focusing on the good, just suppresses the bad. You thank the catalyst of negativity for its role of clarifying what you want out of life, and then use that to focus more purely on what is wanted. This transmutes the seemingly negative catalyst into ultimately positive catalyst.

As far as going through a list of people you harbor negative thoughts about and finding good thoughts about them, I would say it depends on the level of negativity you harbor. If it's really negative, I would leave it alone for a while. Find other things to think about. When you find yourself in a positive mood, then revisit them if you wish, and find positive aspects. If you try to do it from the negative state, chances are you will just concentrate on negative. Your vibrational climate will always determine what you "find" in the universe. So get feeling good, and then do your thought bridging. A good rule of thumb is: reach for the thoughts that give you the most visceral sense of emotional relief. Your emotions won't lead you astray, they always reveal what you are really focused upon.

Shadow work, in my opinion, has to do with acknowledging the darker desires present within the self. What we would consider STS impulses, that all of us have, from time to time. These must inevitably be explored, because no human is going to unwaveringly purely desire to serve only others. Orientation develops due to analysis of desire. I was just explaining the mechanism for how things pop up into your life experience. Sorting out your personal desires, which is an expression of unconscious will, is something we all have to sort out for ourselves, as desire/will (unconscious/conscious) is ultimately the director of attention/awareness. That is the touchstone of balancing work right there, the process of making the unconscious conscious.

In other words, the negative interpretation isn't worth exploring unless you are trying to understand service to self more, which everybody already tries to do, unconsciously, which prolongs such catalyst in their experience. But that's just human nature.

Your consciousness turns to where it is interested. So you just have to sort out what you are interested in, and then sort of bask in it.

[Jade]

What do I do when I have thoughts like "such and such is selfish and shallow" or "such and such is angry, hateful and unloving"? Do I then try and find the positives in each and every individual that I have negative thoughts about? Or do I just ignore the thoughts all together or are they worth exploring? I don't want to fall into suppressing my thoughts and feelings but neither do I want focus on negativity. I guess this is ultimately a question about shadow work. Perhaps I've got more work to do in the field of positive focus and attitude.

One thing to remember is that we are all mirrors, so when you see someone as angry, hateful, or unloving, you are really seeing those traits that are within yourself, just amplified on the other person so you pay attention. If you can forgive yourself for your hateful feelings it's much easier to forgive others for those feelings. But if you're mad at yourself at any time for your imperfections, it's a lot easier to have little patience for anyone else.

[AnthroHeart]

It's easy to forgive myself, harder to forgive others. But still I forgive them.

[Adonai One]

Everything is happiness. This enlightenment, this understanding, this level of satori is a choice, a will to see. To cling to levels, to cling to ideals of happiness are obstructions to the process. Suffering must be tuned towards universal compassion; Once done, suffering becomes the truest choice of experience within a heart tuned through compassion towards absolving it and liberating all; All else just being timelessness, peace, bliss beyond words, beyond objects, beyond beliefs yet within such.

#Zen

[Billy]

Everything is happiness. This enlightenment, this understanding, this level of satori is a choice, a will to see. To cling to levels, to cling to ideals of happiness are obstructions to the process. Suffering must be tuned towards universal compassion; Once done, suffering becomes the truest choice of experience within a heart tuned through compassion towards absolving it and liberating all; All else just being timelessness, peace, bliss beyond words, beyond objects, beyond beliefs yet within such.

#Zen

How did you reach such a level of understanding?

[Adonai One]

Meditation. Silence. Lack of convicted attachment: No have-tos, no shoulds, no rights, no wrongs, no ownership, no property, no strict definition of self. Once one lets go of all concepts, all beliefs, all doctrines, all words one is left only with compassion for all there is. This compassion turns into unadulterated service, one is left only to serve and liberate all.

Simply silence the mind through meditation. This is the only discipline necessary. All else comes naturally.

[Billy]

Meditation. Silence. Lack of convicted attachment: No have-tos, no shoulds, no rights, no wrongs, no ownership, no property, no strict definition of self. Once one lets go of all concepts, all beliefs, all doctrines, all words one is left only with compassion for all there is. This compassion turns into unadulterated service, one is left only to serve and liberate all.

Simply silence the mind through meditation. This is the only discipline necessary. All else comes naturally.

What about self inquiry? I've been so tempted to just dump all my thoughts and put my ENTIRE focus on maintaining nothing but silence but I'm not convinced that is the way. Are you saying that ALL I need to do is practise perpetual and constant silence and all the answers will come to me? Don't I need to think? So so confused.

---

Don't I need to use my mind to try and understand my feelings and my thoughts?

---

What about study? What about reading? What about all my prejudices and all my impurities and insincerity?

---

What about visualization, mantra, specific meditation techniques, affirmations and the whole array of spiritual practises?

---

What about therapy, diet, exercise, healthy living, articulating and asking questions, relationships, communication, community, work, positive focus and attitude?

---

I wish it was as simple as constant silence/presence/awareness and regular meditation but I'm far from convinced.

[anagogy]

That's because you also have to pray to Ganesha, Folk-love!




I'm kidding of course.

[Adonai One]

Meditation. Silence. Lack of convicted attachment: No have-tos, no shoulds, no rights, no wrongs, no ownership, no property, no strict definition of self. Once one lets go of all concepts, all beliefs, all doctrines, all words one is left only with compassion for all there is. This compassion turns into unadulterated service, one is left only to serve and liberate all.

Simply silence the mind through meditation. This is the only discipline necessary. All else comes naturally.

What about self inquiry? I've been so tempted to just dump all my thoughts and put my ENTIRE focus on maintaining nothing but silence but I'm not convinced that is the way. Are you saying that ALL I need to do is practise perpetual and constant silence and all the answers will come to me? Don't I need to think? So so confused.

---

Don't I need to use my mind to try and understand my feelings and my thoughts?

---

What about study? What about reading? What about all my prejudices and all my impurities and insincerity?

---

What about visualization, mantra, specific meditation techniques, affirmations and the whole array of spiritual practises?

---

What about therapy, diet, exercise, healthy living, articulating and asking questions, relationships, communication, community, work, positive focus and attitude?

---

I wish it was as simple as constant silence/presence/awareness and regular meditation but I'm far from convinced.

Contrivances, attachments, unnecessary.

[Billy]

I don't get it.