Most Essential Truths For Happiness
(As I see it, anyway)

After I was on my personal journey to self-discovery for awhile, and had by that time read many books and articles, I began thinking to myself at certain points that this or that idea is the ultimate key to all of it. My personal intent has always been to boil "it" all down to its most essential form--to make it as simple as possible. Eternal truths are eternal truths. They aren't mine. When it comes right down to it, it's not so much a matter of identifying some Truths as more essential than others as much as it is that they've been thrown into a pile with countless other ideas, and, it's difficult to sort through and find them. When discovered, like a lost treasure, they sometimes have a lot of debris clinging to them. So I am finding the ones that mean the most to me, cleaning away the debris and presenting them the way I would display them. Admittedly, other people might have different ideas in doing this and their display would not look the same as mine.

It seems to me that Truth is simple. Yet, over the millennia, there has been so much written and preached about Truth, so many different parables and stories, so many variations, so many attempts to distort it, that many find themselves confused in trying to ferret out the key points. To see what I mean, just take a browse around the self-help, psychology, philosophy and religion sections of the major bookstores or in metaphysical/new age bookstores. You will find an array of specific subjects that is almost overwhelming. While our inner guidance, if we are good at listening, will lead us to what is right for us, many seekers aren't that attuned. Many don't know where to begin. This is one of the things that makes the search for Truth seem so complicated. Which is the right path to follow? This is the question that spurs my desire to present what I regard as the most essential truths.

This cleaning away of the debris could also be analogous to a sculptress chipping away all of the non-essential to reveal the final form. The analogy is not perfect, for in the case of the sculptress, she is creating something unique. In my case, truth already exists within; I haven't created it, but rather am trying to get to its essence.

Nothing I say in a book or article on universal eternal truths is new. It's important to remember that we all have access to Infinite Wisdom. Truth lies within. Most of us, caught up in our daily lives, aren't in touch with that fact. We aren't practiced in accessing our inner wisdom. When you begin seeking truth, the universe responds, often in the form of an experience or a person, a book, an article, a tape that a friend gives you, a seminar, etc. The particular form in which answers are revealed are determined by you. In other words, the universe provides you answers in a form that you can accept. These forms are really echoes of the wisdom within you which you are now beginning to hear -- simply your internal wisdom manifesting in a form meaningful to you.

And so, any books that have had real meaning for me on my journey, have come to me as a result of the universe answering in a way that I could accept. It can also be stated that I drew them to me. I have also picked up many more books, articles, tapes, etc that I quickly discovered did not resonate with me, were not comfortable and did not seem to answer the questions I was seeking answers to. Those, I discarded. Many other seekers, meanwhile, probably found those same forms most meaningful to them. This same dynamic is true for you. The only thing I do, is express in a way that is easily understandable for those who find what I say effective, meaningful and comfortable to them. That presumably will not be everyone. What will be most effective in revealing clarity for others will be something from some other source and in some other form. If you find truth in these articles, it isn't me speaking; it's you (your inner self) hearing the one voice--for there is only one of us here.

With that said, let me now state what I consider to be a couple of the most essential and powerful things for most of us to become clear about. In other articles in this site, I discuss other Truths.

Let's get on with it! Be/aware delaying your happiness until you have completed the next book or the next seminar. Begin happiness now. That is the whole point of everything that the great masters have been trying to tell us. Be! We can't chase it as though it were something outside of us. We must just make a choice to be happy now. Staking our happiness on all of the things and conditions out there that we imagine will make us happy is a futile waste of energy. You can have great fun and adventure playing with all the things out there and that's as it's supposed to be. BUT THE THINGS AND CONDITIONS DON'T COME FROM OUT THERE; THEY COME FROM WITHIN. All of the stuff out there becomes accessible to you once you break your attachment to thinking that you NEED them as a condition of your happiness. The universe is trying to tell us that we don't need to attach to anything out there since they are not the source; they are the effect. THE SOURCE IS WITHIN.

So while you are on your journey to enlightenment, you may as well be happy now because you won't find it by delaying until some condition is attained. I will remind you again, enlightenment is an evolutionary process that continues beyond this particular life experience. So stop delaying happiness in this one. It's a waste of life. Let's get on with being joyful now, then we'll be in a position of ease which opens us up to hearing our inner voice. In that attunement, we will be more likely to know what action to take--the right, perfect action. Besides, what we will find as we discover truth is that we were supposed to be happy now.

I have said that the ideal seminar would be one that could be considered the last seminar the participants would think they needed. By that, I don't mean it in the sense that it would be the definitive seminar but rather in the sense that it would help them to be convinced that: (a) all that they ever need is within them, and, (b) that taking another seminar before they can attain happiness will not be the final answer; deciding to be happy first, is. Then they can take seminars for a more conscious reason--because they enjoy it and are drawn to it as a direction from inner guidance.

Be/aware the delay trap. We can study metaphysics until the cows come home but it's all for naught lest we apply it. We can study all the factors involved in learning to ride a bicycle--motion, inertia, balance, gravity, design, posture, etc. but we will never learn to actually ride one until we do it. And we will never learn to do it by putting it off until we read another book or attend another lecture. Decide to make your primary intent, happiness now. Begin practicing it now.

Over the years of my journey, I have come across a number of articles that discussed the metaphysical meanings of many of the stories of the Bible and other sacred texts. I have also seen metaphysical interpretations of the Ten Commandments. The literal interpretations of these writings have never resonated as truth to me, so I suppose it's no surprise that the metaphysical ones have.

One of the stories that had immediately become most meaningful to me, the first time I read of its metaphysical meaning was the one about Daniel and the lion's den. Daniel knew he was going to be cast into the den with the hungry lion. The lion represents what we fear. But Daniel prayed before hand, visualizing not what he feared but what he wanted. When he was put into the den, he turned his back to the lion. This represents turning our focus away from what we fear, turning the problem, in total trust, over to God. When the lion was released (according to the metaphysical account), it simply fell asleep rather than attacking Daniel. The idea is that the problem simply falls away, resolves itself, once we turn it over to the universe in total trust. Just as we don't know how to solve our problems ourselves (our ego selves) with our limited perspective of the world, Daniel knew he did not know how to defeat the lion, unarmed, face to face, through mere physical effort alone. He detached from the problem and turned it over to the spirit within. This story is to teach us about detachment from our problems. We aren't responsible for solving our own problems; we are however responsible for turning them over to Holy Spirit (a metaphysical term for the universe). This story for me is an incredibly powerful reminder of a most powerful truth.

So this idea of detachment is one of the essentials to me. We must break our attachments to our fears. If we don't, we continue to struggle with them. When we're in struggle, we cannot be happy. We must finally realize that when we resist what we fear, we simply create more of it. Attachment is usually associated with some pain, the purpose of which is to get our attention, so that we will recognize it. We have fear that we will be abandoned by someone and the thoughts of the potential abandonment are painful. We are terrified that we cannot survive without the person in whose hands we have placed our sense of security. The pain is to bring us to the awareness that we can trust in the universe rather than someone or something or some condition outside of us.

It is our attachment to these outside things that are the cause of our pain. The universe is always trying to lead us back to correction--the Truth that everything emanates from our Source (within). Our belief that we need these outside things for our survival is an error. It is a false belief. We fear breaking our attachment. We think we will face disaster without them, when in truth, we will surely experience what we fear unless we are willing to give up the attachment. I can assure you that you will not win going against Truth and the incontrovertible laws of the universe, but you will truly experience heaven when you turn to the Source of All That Is. The Source is within--not out there. It will provide for you everything and more that you need to do your work here in comfort and ease. When you drop resistance and attachment, ease is the result. Ease brings ease.

Now can you see why I say that these are essentials? They are also related. All of the Truths are related; that's one of things that makes them seem more complex and voluminous than they are. Don't delay. Stop resisting; drop your attachments to fear now. What else do you need to know?

Copyright ©, 2007, William Gunderson
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