The Sure Cure for Unhappiness
Talk summary: In this short talk, Guy Finley talks about how our level of happiness is ultimately determined by our level of self-understanding.
Talk notes: Each one of us is the living expression of the sum of our understanding, and it is the sum of our understanding that determines our level of happiness. Most of our experiences in life would be different if we were more present and aware of ourselves in the moment. By becoming aware of our habitual reactions to life's movements, we can begin to notice where it is that we compromise ourselves. Most of the time we know better than to give ourselves away to what harms us, but we usually do not choose better because something else steps in and makes our choices for us.
There is only one thing that makes the heart of a human being whole, and it is something that is distasteful to our present way of thinking. Real wholeness is found only in giving, not in taking or protecting. Most of our lives are secretly spent pursuing what we think will make us whole human beings. The persistent sense of feeling incomplete is the effect of those unconscious choices that have been made by a part of us that tempts us into pursuing what it thinks we need in order to be happy.
Whenever we give only to get something in return, we get nothing. In fact, we receive the continuation and reinforcement of this lower nature that does nothing but make empty promises of a future happiness to come. Truth invites us, right now, to enter into an ever-expanding relationship with the divine, which is actually one and the same thing as learning about our true nature. It is in this relationship that we find true happiness and wholeness.
