Total Happiness - 4 of 5 - Self and Others

You remember that in the world of conditional happiness.

We talked about having this or that object if condition.

There is something analogous to that in the world of a unconditional happiness. There is something object if.

Not simply sensory.

In the world of unconditional happiness.

What's objective is our objective behavior?

If we

Our optimal in our objective behavior.

Then whatever the outcome we will be happy.

Even if we fail.

If we did our best if we gave our A game.

If we were to our best possibility.

Acting in good character and ethics.

Even if things don't workout.

We still have the right to be.

And in fact, we won't be happy unless that dimension is also their extraordinary happiness or happiness independent of conditions were merely OK to transcend the mind and body.

Well.

There's some pathological ways that People transcend the mind and body.

But when People Tran send the mind and body in those pathological ways.

The pathology leaks over into their behavior and that's how you know.

But when People transcendent mind and body in a healthy way.

The health must eventually.

Seep into the behavior.

And if it doesn't then they weren't taking feedback or there's some other problem. I take 2 dimensions in behavior.

One might be called character talked about a little bit about that at the beginning of the Top character Cilla in the Pali language Sheila in the Sanskrit language.

We can think of it in terms of positive behavior change everybody needs positive behavior change in their life.

Well, it turns out that concentration power sensory clarity and equanimity are very related to changing our behavior.

Because object is behavior is driven by.

Body mind experience as you start to get a handle on your thoughts.

And particularly your emotional body sensations.

But also physical body sensations that might drive eating behaviors. And so forth touch field image talk are there? What drive our behaviors so if we want to change external behaviors avoid doing certain things.

That we should be avoiding start doing certain things that we are procrastinating on those are sort of the 2 sides to behavior change well getting a handle on body mind states that are controlling those behaviors will certainly be relevant to controlling the behaviors themselves changing the behaviors themselves so character.

Could also be called?

Positive behavior change.

What I have found however is that although concentration clarity and equanimity are very powerful tools to potentiates behavior change they may not be sufficient by myself. I won't go into details but most of you have heard.

My own personal stories of struggles with behavior changes over the years an the fact that.

I I just that not so many years ago spent 18 months with the psychiatrist.

I'm working on a certain behavior issue. I needed something for the outside, some external behaviourally oriented force on me now I'll still say a large?

Part of whatever success I've had with that behavior change has come from the practice. But I needed that external support I needed it from a mental health professional.

The improvements in behavior.

Improvements in character over the years.

Is A is an important dimension in unconditional or extraordinary happiness another?

Behavior demension besides the character piece.

Is performance we have?

Sports performance we have job performance. You know, there's academic performance. There are things where we want to be able to do the very best to be the very best that we could possibly be professionally intellectually academically. What have you the best that one can possibly do in terms of task performance that to me leads to extraordinary happiness because as I say.

If you know you did your best even if it doesn't workout you'll still be happy.

I put under behavior character improvement and performance improvement.

Those are something that are object if although they are related to sensory experience.

To sum it up.

In the realm of extraordinary happiness.

You're happy if your object of behaviors are.

The best they can be.

And you're happy.

You avoid suffering and find fulfillment avoid confusion as a problem.

And find the answer.

Those taken together represent.

Extraordinary happiness or happiness independent of conditions mindfulness skills impact all facets of ordinary happiness and all facets of extraordinary happens.

But there's another dimension to happiness.

We're not alone in this world what I just described is.

Happiness for a person.

So if I had.

A lot of ordinary happiness and a lot of extraordinary happiness.

I wouldn't yet be totally happy.

I wouldn't be happy unless I did something to contribute to the happiness of others.

For many reasons at the ordinary plane because I'm an ordinary human.

And with regards to extraordinary happiness one of the facets of extraordinary happiness as you remember is to have the wisdom that knows your source. And if you know your source. You know who you are means you know where you come from?

Where you come from is where everyone comes from an automatic consequences of that is, you cannot help but seeing everyone as sort of yourself automatically the issue of the happiness of others becomes relevant to you. If we want to speak of contributing to the happiness of others it makes sense.

To consider that that service that contributing can be done.

Both towards the ordinary happiness of others and towards the extraordinary happiness of others.

So when you contribute to the ordinary happiness of others that's what People ordinarily mean by service.

You support group causes.

You give to charity you philanthropy eyes volunteering Hospice part or all of your job can be seen your work could be seen as service.

And some People are fortunate that they have jobs with a large service component. If there a mental health professional or a health professional or in any of the helping professions.

There's a large surface component right in what you're being paid to do.

People find that very fulfilling certainly what you give to your family.

Creation and raising of children, setting them up to half conditions have pleasure in their body, have knowledge in their mind.

The main one for most People will be the family.

The raising of the family is is the service to others.

That contributes to the ordinary happiness of the world.