What Is Happiness Anyway? | Bonus Meditation with Jay Michaelson

Mindful Yearning

Jay Michaelson explores the concept of mindful yearning, encouraging listeners to focus on their desires and transform them into inner happiness. He suggests that yearning is a fundamental human experience, urging individuals to imagine what it would feel like to have their desires fulfilled. This exercise helps in identifying feelings such as contentment, love, and acceptance, which contribute to a sense of happiness that is not fleeting but rather a state of ease within the mind 1.

This kind of happiness isn't a feeling that comes and goes. It's the ease of the mind at home with itself.

--- Jay Michaelson

Michaelson emphasizes that this happiness is about the mind being at peace with itself, regardless of external circumstances.

   

Feelings Coexistence

Michaelson also delves into the coexistence of feelings, illustrating how happiness and sadness can simultaneously reside in the mind. He explains that while one might feel profound sadness for the suffering in the world, it is still possible to experience a natural ease and happiness in the present moment 1. This duality is part of the human experience, where happiness is not merely an emotion but a state of being.

You might also notice that any feeling can coexist with this kind of happiness, this natural ease, the mind resting.

--- Jay Michaelson

Michaelson encourages exploring this coexistence to better understand the depth of our emotional landscape.