1 Remembering the Conditions of Happiness
Find a quiet spot. It could be the foot of a tree, a grassy bank, or just a quiet corner in your home. On a piece of paper write down the conditions you have to be happy. Following your breathing, come back to yourself. See all the wonderful things that your body, mind, and environment have to offer. If you have eyes that can see, that’s already a huge condition for happiness. You only have to open your eyes and all the wonderful forms and colors of life appear. If you have ears that can hear, you’re able to listen to the singing of the birds and the sighing of the wind in the pine trees. To have time to sit and enjoy your breathing, to have a spiritual path, to hug your loved ones, your children, your grandchildren, to have healthy food to eat: there are so many conditions for your happiness that you could cover far more than one sheet of paper in recounting them. Let go of the idea that only the future can bring you happiness. You can be happy with what you have now.
2 Shopping Meditation
It is possible to go shopping and not to buy anything. There was a time in Plum Village when we needed some nails. I told the children visiting us that we were going shopping. Our intention was to buy the nails and not buy anything else. However, we could look at any of the items for sale in the supermarket in order to learn about them, where they came from, and to meditate on the suffering that may have resulted from their production. For instance, if an item seemed to be very cheap we could ask ourselves whether the worker who produced it was paid a fair price. Was the method of farming sustainable? We can educate ourselves and our children by shopping mindfully and sharing afterward what we learned. The supermarket does its best to persuade us to buy things we never intended to buy, and shopping meditation helps us to be content with what we truly need. Before shopping make a list of what you need and only buy what is on the list. What makes us truly happy can’t be found in the marketplace.
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