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Let me cut to the chase. Happiness is your nature. it is the disposition of the infinite. It is the personality of God. Suffering is what we feel when we forget our true nature.

Suffering is a clear indicator that you have missed the mark. It is the canary in the coal mine. It is the hangover on the morning after. it is the idiot light on your dashboard that says, "You're two quarts low, Jack!"

But, just like the cloud that obscures the sun but doesn't affect it, even so suffering clouds happiness, but never touches it and certainly cannot eliminate it.

As Buddha pointed out 2500 years ago, suffering has a cause. Happiness, on the other hand, does not. It is uncaused. It is the nature of being itself. The recognition of that is what gave rise to that iconic contented face that we all know as the Buddha.

So, it is futile to engage ourselves in the attempt to acquire happiness from any of the "things" that we believe possess this elusive quality. Every attempt to do so will only reinforce the already deeply entrenched idea that happiness is out there... somewhere.

As every saint and sage for all time has said over and over and over again. "It ain't out there." But, that begs the questions. "If it is my nature, why don't I feel it?" And, "If it ain't out there, where is it?" Very good questions, indeed. So let's look at what feelings in general, and the feeling that we call happiness in specific, actually are.

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