Happy in the Doing

Close your eyes; focus your attention on your breath. As it comes in, know it’s coming in; when it goes out, know it’s going out—each time it comes in, each time it goes out.

As you do this, you’re developing some good qualities in the mind: mindfulness, alertness, ardency—qualities that are good to have in mind and good to develop in the mind for all sorts of purposes. Here we’re developing them specifically for the purpose of a happiness that lasts.

Meditation is one of the three activities of merit that the Buddha said are another word for happiness: generosity, virtue, meditation.

Notice he says that the act itself is a kind of happiness. It’s not the case that you have to work hard and sweat and then hope for a reward later on. In the act itself, you know that you’re doing something good that’s leading to happiness for you and for others, something that’s harming nobody at all. The fact that you can choose to do that and that you have the wisdom to do that: That’s enough to make you happy right there. As for the happiness that comes as a result, that’s a bonus. The action itself is good.

We go through life thinking that we’d like to experience happiness, but you have to realize that the experience of happiness lies in the doing, taking responsibility, noting that you can make a change for the better in the world. Where there’s something lacking, you can be generous. Where there are temptations to behave in unskillful ways, you can say, “I’m going to stick to my principles.” There’s a strong sense of self-worth that comes with that, both with the generosity and with the virtue. That sense of self-worth then translates over into the meditation.

When you sit down to meditate, sometimes you find your mind wandering away doing anything but the topic of meditation. But still you realize that you were able to master generosity, you were able to master virtue, so you must have some goodness to you. On the basis of that confidence, you can stick with it, realizing that there may be difficulties as you practice meditation, but they’re things you can overcome.

So in the doing of the goodness, that’s where the happiness lies. Learn how to appreciate that. The more you appreciate it, the more you’ll be happy to do good things, and the greater sense of self-worth that you’ll develop.

Sometimes we’re told we’re not supposed to have a sense of self, but the Buddha encourages you as you practice to have a strong sense that you are responsible; you can make a change in the world; and you can make a change for the better. You’re competent to do this. You’ll benefit; everybody will benefit.

The fact that you’re looking for happiness in this way is a sign that you’re a person of integrity, a person of wisdom, a person who’s responsible—all of which are good things to be. At the end of the path, you’ll have to let go of your sense of self, but that’s when it’s done its work, and you can put it aside. As long as you need to do the work, have a strong sense that you are doing good for the world. And in the course of that, you’re doing good for yourself, too. In this way, the happiness is both in the action and in the results, in the doing and in the receiving. That way it’s complete.

People who simply want to receive happiness in this world and not create the causes end up pretty miserable. All they can see are pleasant sensations. But what have they done to merit them? But if you know that you’re doing the causes, then when the results come you can be satisfied that, yes, you’re deserving of them. That’s a happiness that goes deep down inside.