Consider:
Can I be happy without something outside? Do I want to carpet the whole world so I can walk barefoot? What about shoes?
Can I be happy or sad - or whatever - right now, when something is happening, than later - after I have figured out what emotion I should have?
Is life without expectations possible?
Does happiness from outside circumstances last?
Now these:
Something I like happens - I am happy.
Something I don't like happens - I am not happy.
From Idries Shah's Pleasantries of the Incredible Mulla Nasruddin:
There Is a Different Time-Scale
Nasrudin went to a Turkish bath. As he was poorly dressed, the attendants treated him in a casual manner, gave him only a scrap of soap and an old towel.
When he left, Nasrudin gave the two men a gold coin each. He had not complained, and they could not understand it. Could it be, they wondered, that if he had been better treated he would have given an even larger tip?
The following week the Mulla appeared again.
This time, of course, he was looked after like a king. After being massaged, perfumed and treated with the utmost deference, he left the bath, handing each attendant the smallest possible copper coin.
‘This’, said Nasrudin, ‘is for last time. The gold coins were for this time.’
And finally:
Babuji: The happiest man is he who is happy under all circumstances.
[Heartfelt thanks to Daaji - unwritten words make a much bigger set than written ones.]
