It starts with the way that we act

[phenethylamine]

It starts with the way that we act. It is being happy.Look atthe history of life on this planet, there came a time when we stood erect and started communicating with each other more complexly than ever before. At this time there was a moment of happiness. We formed tribes and ideas and beliefs, but we became corrupted with the idea of control. Tribal wars broke out, empires formed. Absolute power corrupts.Here we are, working for the government, fucking with other people and being owned by money and the shit we do with it. Most everyone is not truly happy, getting pissed off about something that truly doesn't matter at least once a day. I believe it is healthy for us to look at our interactions first with those around us, our friends. Are my friends really friends, or are they people I call my friends. If we would become 'best friends' with every friend we have, eventually we will all be happy. By best friends I mean would you give your best friend everything you own plus all your money and the car your drive? would s/he give all theirs to you? if both answers are yes, than we are able to see through all the bullshit in our lives, that none of it means anything except for our interactions with and time spent with our friends. If all our friends are working for each other instead of ourselves, and all our friends friends are doing the same, and so on, than we wouldn't need a government or any of that shit because we all would be the government. I know that individually we cannot save the world, but together we can. It starts with each one of us to realize, and slowly we can become what we are all working towards, which is it. to be happy.

[uqlfy]

Good points. When I get angry I ask myself "Will this matter a
week from now? A month? A year?". Often this puts things back in
perspective for me.

Absolute power doesnt corrupt though. It tempts one into corruption. In
order for it to corrupt one you must first let it. Often it starts
small like looking the other way for a friend. Then his friend needs a
favor. So on and so forth it goes.

The concept of giving everything to your friends is idealism IMO. What
if by doing so you prevent them from overcoming their own Karma? It is
good to help yes,just not always. It is wisdom that lets us know when
not to.

Ahh utopia what a lovely dream. I think if the world ever were truly
perfect Id die of boredom. It is the effort to be kind to overcome the
evils of this world that is what makes life worth living. Without the
darkness there cant be light. Without pain there is no pleasure.




Edited by: uqlfy

[Solidly-here]

Don't Worry, Be Happy.


The World was set up by God (or by chance if your an atheist) with pressure to get so involved in my (relatively little) problems, that I am unhappy. Unhappy I don't have more toys to play with, unhappy that I am not better understood, unhappy that things aren't perfect.


Just about everyone has times when they rise above this carnal pull, and is happy. Happy with my life, happy that I won, happy to be with a friend.


The purpose of Spiritual Life (or certainly one of its purposes), is for me to be happy about the life I am living. There are 100s of ways to do this. Each person only needs to find one way (and some people have a long list of ways, and choose among them, at different parts of the day). Some people find a hobby and it changes their life. I know people whose lives are blessed because they have a dog (a "person" who loves them, even in their imperfection).


But even if I am happy most of the time, there are many times when that isn't so. Spiritual practice can be used to prop up my life during those times. Remember the times when I have felt good, think of a Golden memory, remember that my loved one loves me, ...


Spiritual practice has helped me accept my life, as it is, with all of its imperfections (though this is a work-in-progress, and will continue to be, for the rest of my life).

[Diphenhydramine]

I think this is heading towards a definition of what happiness
is. I think happiness turns us into givers or takers. The
givers are what uglfy is talking about. They make other people
happy (responsibly) and thus make themselves happy.



And then there are takers. I used to be a taker in my own form
(anarchist tendencies). What I wanted, I stole. What I
disliked, I broke. Simple as that. Some people might
identify that as being merely materialistic, but that is way to
simple. I would steal not only because I desired, but because I
realized that what I desired was petty, and not worth paying for. Aka
fuck that, I'll just take it. But I stopped (particularly when
the cops got onto me).



phenethylamine your idea seems sound, but think about it on a deeper
level. If one were to follow your advice, we would literally be
sheltering ourselves with only people that we truly respected and
loved. Life doesn't work that way. We are friends with
people we don't respect, or don't love. Sometimes we respect
people we hate. But we should always reach out to as many people
as possible, not just the "inner few." I think it's better to
have many friends on different levels for different reasons.
Friends that make us laugh, or a friend that you can sit down with and
have a heart-to-heart. We have so many needs as human beings, so
why restrict ourselves to only a few relationships? Be friendly
with everyone, and see where that takes you in life. That's my
philosophy at least.