Happiness Is in the Doing

Close your eyes and make up your mind you’re going to stay with the breath. You’re going to watch it all the way in, all the way out. Let it be comfortable. See what rhythm of breathing feels good for you right now: long or short; heavy, light; fast, slow; deep, shallow. Try to see what feels best right now. And watch over your mind to make sure it stays here. You’re committing yourself to doing something good, and you’re watching yourself, observing yourself, reflecting on yourself to make sure that it stays good.

The Buddha talks about three forms of goodness. The word in Pali, puñña, is ordinarily translated as “merit.” It has some unfortunate connotations, so it’s better to say we’re “doing goodness.” He says, “Don’t be afraid of the acts of goodness; they’re another word for happiness.” In other words, in the doing of generosity, in the doing of observing the precepts, in the doing of spreading thoughts of goodwill, there’s happiness right there. You don’t have to wait for some other time.

When you’re able to be generous, there’s a sense of wealth. You have more than enough; you have enough to share. When you observe the precepts, especially when it’s difficult, there’s a sense of being honorable, that you’re not going to harm anybody for little things, for little benefits. You’re going to go for the big benefit of the good qualities of your mind. There’s a sense of honor that goes with that. And when you spread thoughts of goodwill, you lift yourselves above the fray. People may be fighting, but you don’t have to take sides. You can see the goodness in both sides. You can have goodwill for both sides, hoping that they settle their differences peacefully.

But you’re not going to be partial, because when you get partial, your mind gets narrow. You like some people. Well, somebody does something bad to the people you like, then you’re not going to like the second group of people. Or somebody does nice things to the people you like, you’re going to like them. It’s all very arbitrary, all very partial. But when you have goodwill for everybody, you lift the level of your mind. The Buddha calls it a brahmavihāra. It’s not a manusavihāra, a human dwelling; it’s a dwelling of a brahma. So you lift the level of your mind, and there’s a great sense of happiness.

So on this day when everybody is saying “Be happy; be happy; be merry,” we take the Buddha’s advice. Happiness isn’t something we receive from other people. Happiness is something we do. And in the doing, there’s a strong sense that you deserve the happiness you get.

There are people born who have merit from previous lifetimes, goodness they’ve done previous lifetimes, but this time around they haven’t done much good. They still may be receiving the results of past actions, but they have a sense that they don’t deserve it. There’s a sense that there’s something empty there. The emptiness is in the fact that they’re not doing the goodness, they’re not doing the happiness.

You have to realize happiness is something you do. And you do it by doing things that are harmless, doing things that are helpful—being generous, being virtuous, and spreading thoughts of goodwill to all beings. In that way, happiness is something you can find all the time because these are activities you can do all the time. Even when you don’t have enough material things to share, you still have your time. You have your energy. You have your forgiveness. These are things you can give at any time. So look for happiness in the doing, because that’s where the truest happiness can be found.