Unhappiness
"Unhappiness is the state of Self-Rejection"
Introduction
Defining Unhappiness
In Chapter 5. What is Suffering, the seed cause of suffering was explored.
In this article, we will explore the nature of suffering again, but from a different perspective.
Unhappiness In Depth
Do you know what unhappiness is?
The experience of unhappiness is a common experience that everyone will have. One moment you’re happy and the next you’re not. Because the experience is so common, one would have developed a fair understanding of what unhappiness is from their own life experiences. Some may have an idea of what the cause of their unhappiness is. Some may even have their own solutions to battle this negative state of mind. Some may even believe that they know enough about unhappiness and that there is nothing more to know.
However, to really know what unhappiness is to develop the Knowing to the extent where one can use that knowledge to transform their unhappiness so that it doesn’t have to be experienced again.
So, as long as one is still experiencing some form of unhappiness, it means that there is still much more to know.
Realize that Knowing will always be infinite in depth. You can always know something deeper and deeper. The Power of Knowing is the more you know about something, the more you will have power over the subject matter. For instance, the more you know about the cause of your high electrical bills, the more you will know how to reduce them. For instance, the more you know about what makes a dog bark so loudly all the time, the more you will have the means to quieten the dog. And likewise, the more you know the cause of your unhappiness, the more you will have the power to transform it into greater happiness.
So, there will always be more to learn about the suffering states of mind.
When we do not know the nature of our unhappiness enough, it will have power over us. When this happens, we can fall into the belief that we have no power over it. And as a consequence, we can end up simply accepting unhappiness as something that “should” happen in our lives, and as a consequence, the suffering simply continues.
Thus, if one wishes to address their unhappiness, one must develop the Knowing of their unhappiness more and more.
Journey Of Knowing Unhappiness.
The journey of Knowing what unhappiness really is will take one to explore the answers to the following questions:
“What is the cause of my unhappiness?”
“What are the solutions to my unhappiness?”
And one will likely begin this journey by looking for answers outside of themselves because the world outside is where one’s attention is placed most of the time. In the outward journey, one will start to develop the Knowing of what activities, people, things bring happiness and unhappiness.
However, to deepen the knowing of what unhappiness is even further will require one to look inwards. This is because the origin of unhappiness will always be found inside. That is why Meditation is the best practice to deepen the Knowing as finally, one is practising turning their outward gaze inwards.
Without the practice of meditation, one can become easily stuck with only an outer perspective of what unhappiness is. When this is the case, one will only have the means to address their unhappiness using outer solutions, such as controlling, obtaining, or avoiding certain situations in life. But such solutions will only provide temporary alleviation.
The practice of meditation will help one to develop an inner perspective of what unhappiness really is so that one can realize that unhappiness is a reaction that originates from within, and that reaction stems from one’s beliefs, allowing one to realize the seed that has sprouted all one’s miseries.
By developing the inner perspective, it is then that one can use their energy more wisely—that instead of devoting all one’s efforts to transforming one’s outer experiences through outer means, one will realize that it's better to direct their energy instead to transform their beliefs inside.
Learning to address the problem at the source rather than at the surface is how one can make great progress in transforming and releasing the negative states of the mind.
Path Of Creator
Unhappiness In Relation To The Path Of Creator
The Power Of Meditation
Meditation is the most effective and simple way to develop the Knowing of one’s unhappiness.
As one sits very still for a long time, maintaining their attention fully inwards, one will naturally begin to experience the rise and fall of their emotions and thoughts. At first, it may seem pointless to simply observe such a chaotic world for such an endless amount of time. But the more one simply observes, the more wisdom will surface from within.
For instance, one may start to realize that if it’s possible to experience unhappiness without any outer experience or outside interferences, then that means the cause of one’s unhappiness must be inside. Developing this wisdom can help to transform one’s mind from blaming others for one’s miseries all the time.
And with time, one may begin to realize that in meditation, the more one can simply observe the experience with Stillness, the more one will experience happiness. From such an experience, one may gradually realize that the cause of one’s unhappiness comes from one’s perception of an experience.
And with time, one will eventually realize that the deeper cause of one’s unhappiness comes from one’s beliefs because the quality of one’s perception will always be determined by the quality of one’s beliefs.
From this realization, one may start to pursue the answers to the question,
“What kind of beliefs do I have that is generating my unhappiness?”
Like this, the inward journey can take one to realize many things about oneself. And this realization will be a gradual process of revealing the mysteries of one’s Mind.
But for now, realize that there is a difference between reading this information and realizing it from your own experience. The former perhaps will inspire one at best, but it’s by learning to acquire Self-Knowing from one's own experience that can truly transform the mind.
So, start your journey of meditation today! You can easily learn meditation in the Course Page.
The Cause Of Suffering.
So, the seed cause of one’s suffering can be found in one’s beliefs.
But what kind of beliefs?
These would be the kind of beliefs that promote the state of Self-Rejection.
See Chapter 5. What is Suffering In more detail.
Why Self-Rejection?
If we observe all the unhappy experiences in life, whether it’s the moments of fear, anger, confusion, jealousy, guilt, and so forth, the one thing in common that we will find in all of these experiences is that there is something that we are rejecting.
For instance, recall an experience when someone has made you angry. In that moment of anger, there would be something that you are rejecting.
Perhaps you are rejecting a part of that person.
Perhaps you are rejecting a part of the situation.
Perhaps you are rejecting a part of yourself.
Only you can know what you are rejecting in life. And the higher you develop your awareness, the more you will be aware of what’s happening in the world inside, helping you to identify more accurately rather than guessing at what you are rejecting.
So, the state of unhappiness, whatever form it takes, is simply the state of Self-Rejection, which means that the negative states of fear, worry, anger, diseases, and so forth can simply be understood as the state of Self-Rejection.
Simply, any state of mind that makes you unhappy is the state of Self-Rejection.
And as one realizes that unhappiness is a state of Self-Rejection, one will also realize that the key to transforming one's unhappiness is through Self-Acceptance.
See Catalyst – Self-Acceptance in more detail).
Simplifying Unhappiness
A lot of our problems: limitations, disease, weaknesses, depression, anxiety, and so forth can be easily solved if one simply develops Self-Knowing through meditation. Because it is then one can gradually realize from their own internal experiences how to address their unhappiness in the most direct way which is to develop Self-Acceptance.
Unfortunately, the majority of people these days are too busy with their lives to practice meditation thus little Self-Knowing is developed. And those who wish to know more about themselves will often choose to read books and listen to “experts” instead of looking inwards for answers. And even those who meditate can end up following the teachings of gurus rather than simply observing within and waiting for the Truth to arise.
Thus, without meditation, one can become stuck in the intellectual part of the mind, which can make things seem more complicated than they have to be.
For instance, one can start learning from textbooks that the unhappiness experienced when waiting for someone too long is called impatience and the unhappiness experienced when arguing with someone is called anger and the unhappiness experienced when one is alone is called loneliness, and so forth.
One can also start to learn from religions or spiritual scriptures that unhappiness in this life is caused by something that happened in the previous life, the result of bad karma.
Like this, unhappiness will start to be disguised under many names, which can give an illusion that they are all separate from one another sharing no common cause and solution.
But when one simply develops Self-Knowing within, one will realize that all the negative states of the mind: fears, anger, impatience, jealousy, doubt, worries, and so forth are all connected in that they are all states of Self-Rejection and that being one cause will only require one solution: Self-Acceptance.
To conclude,
The experience of Unhappiness is Self-Rejection.
Develop and nurture this Knowing within by looking inwards everyday with meditation. It is then the deeper mind will realize more and more of the importance of Self-Acceptance, the key to transforming all suffering states of the mind.
Know and Transform The Self!
Reading articles helps with understanding, but to transform the mind, one realizes the truth from experience.
For such an enlightening journey, the Self-Transformation Course has everything you will ever need!
