Off the Grid

Out here we’re off the grid. We make our own electricity from the sunlight. And that has advantages and disadvantages. The disadvantage, of course, is that we have to be more responsible for the equipment that actually converts the sunlight into power and keeps the power so we can use it. The advantage, of course, is that when the grid goes down, we don’t go down with it.

There have been problems in the past, especially on hot, windy days, where transformers out on the grid have broken down and caused fires. So they’ve basically learned to turn off the power. Other times on really hot days everybody is using their air conditioner and the power goes down, and we’re not affected. We have an independent source inside.

This is a good image for looking for happiness inside, having your own independent source of happiness and well-being inside.

You have to look after it, of course. You focus on the breath—no one else can do this for you—and then you judge whether it’s comfortable or not. No one else can do that for you, either. You have to make up your mind what feels good right now, what feels right, right now.

Sometimes soft breathing is good, and other times the breath has to be heavier. Sometimes long, sometimes short—sometimes mixing long and short. You have to learn how to use your powers of judgment. Of course, that’s all to the good, because that’s what discernment is: using your powers of judgment as to what’s good, what’s not good, what should be abandoned, what should be developed.

This way you have your own internal source so that when things go down outside—the people we depended on in the past, the social structures we depended on in the past—we can still have our happiness inside.

So although there are a lot of teachings about interconnectedness and interdependence, there does have to be this independent source of well-being, this independent source of goodness inside for you to find true happiness. As for the connections we make with other people, we want to make them good connections through good karma. And we realize that there are some areas of life where we are dependent on others no matter what.

But, for our true happiness, that has to be independent. You have to have your own power source inside and learn how to look after it. Make sure that it’s always functioning, so that when things fall down outside, you still have your happiness solid and secure.