CREATING A HAPPY WORLD by Patricia Anne Saunders
By Patricia Anne Saunders
When I was asked to do a piece about writing Creating A Happy World: Cultivating Happiness Through the Transcendental Meditation® Program, I was delighted as helping people find happiness is close to my heart.
I found my own path to happiness through Transcendental Meditation many years ago, and from my very first meditation session, I felt such an increase in peace and wellbeing, I knew I wanted the world to hear about it. Nevertheless, it took me all this time to put pen to paper, and to be honest, I am glad I waited because soon after, I embarked on a wonderful spiritual journey that led me to become a teacher of Transcendental Meditation. I was now able to instruct people, often troubled people, who wanted to learn for many reasons, but mostly because they were looking for inner peace, happiness, and meaning in life.
Happiness should be our birthright. It makes life worth living and without it, life seems empty. Happiness should also be something we take for granted, but for many people, this is an impossible goal. Human history has been plagued with wars, famine, natural disasters, and climate change. With all the suffering and misery that these upheavals bring, it is hard for many, living and working in incredibly stressful circumstances, to imagine a world where being happy is the norm.
Nowadays, we are at a crossroads in our search for happiness. On the one hand, we have material advantages undreamed of by our ancestors. We have heating and cooling systems, washer-dryers, fast means of travel, and even faster means of communication. On the other hand, we strive to understand how life can have meaning and whether the purpose of life is simply to survive in a materialistic environment. It is a confusing time, and in the middle of such confusion, something robust is needed to lift us out of what can be a downward spiral of stress, sadness, and isolation. Being able to offer something robust is the very reason I decided it was time to write Creating a Happy World.
I began the writing process by looking at the different ways we try to achieve happiness. It is amazing how much research has been done on all the diverse ways to be happy. Everything in fact, from acquiring wealth and power, to reducing stress, developing friendships, the use and misuse of drugs, and eudaimonic behaviors, which simply means living a worthwhile life. There is no doubt that these can bring some happiness, but because each of these is associated with finding happiness from the outside, any happy feelings tend to be transient.
Drawing on my own experience, I focused on a solution that can enrich life from the inside; namely, Transcendental Meditation, a simple, natural, effortless technique practiced for 20 minutes twice a day without the need for a change of lifestyle or belief system. Everyone must always be free to find their own way to inner happiness, but Creating a Happy World refers specifically to the Transcendental Meditation technique and its related programs for a very precise reason: It is the only meditation technique so far that published research has shown to positively improve both the quality of individual life and the quality of life for society. That is quite a claim, but published research indicates that it is a justifiable claim.
Transcendental Meditation can enrich our lives, but it can also offer answers to universal questions such as: Who am I? What is this mysterious thing called consciousness? Is the universe without ultimate meaning or purpose? Or is it a physical mess that we merely survive in? The truth is that whether we find answers to these questions and whether we are happy or not is bound up with our personal state of consciousness, which determines how we think and feel. Transcendental Meditation raises our consciousness so we can be better at being ourselves, better at discerning what is real from what is not real, better at not being influenced by outside pressures, opinions, and beliefs. Our compassion for, and empathy with, others develop. We start to see the best in others and our ability to love increases. Bliss increases. Happiness increases. Recognition of meaning and purpose in life increases. If we develop these attributes to whatever degree, then we have more to offer to our families and our world.
Creating a Happy World holds that the expansion of very real and deep happiness is the purpose of life, a view shared by the Dalai Lama and the Buddhist monk Thich Nhat Hanh. It examines the basis of feelings of happiness, which is to be at peace, even in a world of turmoil and asks how many people can be happy, living amid chaos and conflict, sometimes violent conflict. Peace is the basis of happiness, and happiness is the basis of a fulfilling life. Why would we settle for less?
The Transcendental Meditation program can help us rise to a better state of peace, happiness, and fulfillment if we are open to experiencing it. My hope is that by reading Creating a Happy World and learning how Transcendental Meditation can increase individual and societal peace and happiness, we will come to realize that life has meaning and purpose, and that deep, long-lasting happiness is achievable in a contented world where harmony is the norm.
—
Patricia Saunders studied music before training as a teacher of the Transcendental Meditation technique. She is now a Ph.D. researcher in the department of Maharishi Vedic Science at Maharishi University of Management, researching into consciousness and Vedic sound from the perspective of the Vedic tradition of knowledge.
Since stress, worry, and sadness appear to be on the rise, Creating a Happy World examines two paths to combat these and create a happy world – the path of the individual, which can be transformed through achieving higher states of consciousness with the Transcendental Meditation program; and the path of society, which can be transformed through the impact of Transcendental Meditation on collective consciousness. By the time readers have finished reading, I hope they will feel more happiness in their own lives, a greater belief that life has a purpose, and increased optimism for the future of humanity.
BUY HERE
Category: Contemporary Women Writers, How To and Tips
Subscribe
If you enjoyed this article, subscribe to receive more just like it.
