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Happy Hour: Tuning into Quiet Happiness

Introduction

Hello and welcome to Happy Hour.

For today's practice, I think what I'd like to do is to invite us to start with settling, with a quiet meditation. The inspiration for today's practice is happiness and the path of practice.

The Buddha was known as the Happy One. There is no shame, no problem in wishing for happiness. In fact, it's part of the metta^[1] wish—wishing for ourselves to be happy, wishing for others to be happy, and offering it.

So the inspiration today is offering this wish for happiness as a wish, as a blessing, not attached to it. "Oh, I'm not happy. I want to be happy. Why am I not happy in this area?" If you become really contracted around happiness, or lack of happiness, that's a sure way to become unhappy. It's the perfect recipe for unhappiness.

But if wishes for happiness are shared as an intention, as a blessing, as goodwill, as a gift without attachment—as a gift without strings attached. You don't give gifts with strings attached, so why would you give yourself gifts with strings attached?

"I wish myself well, I really do." No, no, no, no. "May I be well. May there be happiness. May there be joy, blessing." And seeing the effect of that, playing around with that.

So that's the little inspiration for today's practice, and we'll play around with it.

Guided Meditation

So with that, I invite us to settle into our bodies in this moment in time, whatever is arising. And then connecting with the body, with the earth, the contact points. With the breath in the body.

And letting each breath be easeful, calming, soothing. Tilling the soil for ease.

Nowhere to go. Nothing to do. The happiness of just being here with this breath. So much happiness. Happiness of undistractibility, not wanting, just here with the breath.

Let's explore this happiness first, as much as it's available. And after thoughts, distractions, the happiness of releasing, letting go, non-judgment.

And as if you're returning your radio—tuning your radio, your perception, your awareness—tune into the subtle radio station: a quiet contentment, quiet happiness in this moment. It's very subtle, very soft, but it's definitely here for every single one of us.

No matter the conditions in the body and the heart and mind, it's very subtle. It can just be perceived perhaps as quiet settlement, settling, peace. It's the moment's respite. Or it could be a little louder, a mild contentment, this simple nourishing happiness. It's here already. Peace and quiet. Peace and quiet is already here, we just keep stirring it up. Can we tune into it?

Consider the breath your tuning instrument. The breath in the body. Embodied breath as your tuning lever.

There are so many radio stations on the dial. Thoughts, worries, challenges, pain. There's plenty, there's plenty. There's also contentment, nascent happiness, and joy. Already here in the moment's respite, we can all tune into it.

And let it reverberate through the body, even if there is pain. For example, in my body, there's a lot of pain right now, and yet there is this nascent happiness and quiet joy I'm tuning into. And inviting you to dare, to dare to tune in as well. It's possible for all of us. The practice, practice with it.

As you find your way to tune, turn the dial. The happiness of awareness, this breath, this moment, just being. Even if you tune for a moment and you feel it: "Oh yeah, there is happiness here. Here is contentment." Along with everything else, but this is what I choose to tune into.

And you can say, if you wish, "I am happy," "There is contentment," "There is joy," or "I am joyous," whatever resonates. Or, "May I tune into joy, into happiness," "May I be happy." Whatever version that works for you. "I am happy," or "May I be," "May I tune to it." See what works, play around. Offer it as a wish, as a blessing, as an invocation, aspiration to lift your heart. Turn towards the good. And if it's very subtle, it's okay.

Or maybe it's just simply, "I'm okay. I'm okay."

And if this practice of tuning into this goodness, the wellness, contentment, happiness is working in a subtle way—bringing happiness, joy as an act of metta—you can continue, stay with this. And if you like to switch to the more familiar "May I be happy," you can do that as well, as a metta wish for yourself. Either way.

And as we turn to bring this sit to a close, feeling into any nuances of contentment, peace, joy, happiness that might have been touched into, tuned into. With appreciation, letting them reverberate through your body one more time. There would be gratitude, appreciation even for the slightest bit, which again could be co-existent with challenges, pain, difficulty. And attuning into what's good, what's here already, and appreciating with wholeheartedness.

Trusting that we are planting seeds of kindness, goodwill, metta. Wishing ourselves well. Seeing ourselves while tuning into happiness is an act of metta. It's not taking ourselves for granted, but taking care of our heart, to tune into contentment, joy, happiness, self-love. A way of loving ourselves, tending to our hearts.

And trusting that we're planting seeds of kindness, care, love for ourselves and for others. To be more available or patient with others when we're happy, content, and of service. May we be of service. May we wake up. May all beings awaken. May all beings be truly, truly happy.

Thanks everyone. Thanks for your practice.

Dharma Talk

So, what we did tonight, or this morning, or whatever your time zone might be in this moment in time, it's an invitation to tune into quiet contentment. Quiet contentment, peace, ease, happiness, joy—just a whole range of possibilities.

And again, there are so many different channels in the mind and the heart. As I shared with you, with my body, there's a lot of pain right now, and yet it's possible to tune into happiness. Tune into... yeah, there was contentment of just being here, being with the breath. There's a goodness, there's a contentment, there's a delight, happiness in that. And as we blow on it, it grows.

So yes, you can be—I can be—in pain, and I can be happy at the same time. Yes, I'm happy. Not in pain, of course. You know, as human beings, we often get so narrow. Our focus gets so narrow, especially when we have difficulty, that becomes the only thing that's happening in our field of experience, completely pushing out everything else.

But there's so much presence, so many things that we can tune into. So this was an invitation to tune into contentment, goodness, peace, happiness right here and now. And listen to it more and more. Let it reverberate and see what happens.

And as I shared, for me, there was a sense of, "Oh yeah, I am happy." As I stayed tuned into this channel and the contentment, the joy, the gratitude... yeah, there's so much goodness right now. Yes, happiness is here, along with everything else.

Well, that was the invitation. And if it worked for you, this way of tuning into metta and self-care, great. If it didn't work, no problem, no worries. There are so many ways, so many doors into the temple.

So the invitation now, as we turn to small groups together, is to share, if you wish. You are welcome to share one nugget about how this practice was for you. "Oh, this part," "Oh, there was an aha moment here," or "This was challenging." Just one nugget from your practice, if you wish. Or you can also share silence, just kind-hearted silence, just being present. And you can say "pass" when your turn comes, and the next person will share, or say "pass" and your turn comes again. So you'll go around and around, hopefully a couple of times. Not having a long monologue, but just brief.

And also be inspired, because as you listen to others, you can be inspired by what they found, how they practiced, how they turned to this practice. And just sharing from your own experience, not asking questions of others, not directing anyone else's experience. Showing up as you are with kindness, with humility, and with the aspiration to support others and be supported. Offering again as a way of being held witness. Not to impress. We're really speaking for our own benefit, not for anybody else's benefit. Be kind, be kind. And everything you say here, of course, stays here in small groups.

So let's go reverse alphabetical order according to first name. Yes, the first character that shows up. I'm going to create the rooms. Have fun, take care. Take care of yourselves, take care of each other. And here we go.

Reflections

Okay, welcome back everyone. Welcome back. So we have a few minutes for reflections, aha moments, challenges, questions. And I'd like to invite you, if you haven't spoken in the large group, to step forward. And if you have spoken, pull back. Really make space for those who perhaps have not shared before or tend to hold back. So I'd like to hear from you who are willing to share. What came up for you? How was it? What happened?

While waiting for your hands, I'll share one of the reflections that was shared with me in chat privately: "That was a beautiful meditation. I have to go back to work now, hopefully now with more contentment." Yay. May you all have more contentment. So, any reflections?

Don: I haven't heard from you in a long time. Yeah, I've been lost in the wilderness. We were talking in our group—I think we all really enjoyed the metaphor of tuning in. For a long time, there has been this endless thinking. For me, the tuning in, it was really subtle as you mentioned. For me, it wasn't so much happiness, happiness, but every once in a while it was just quiet. For me it was like this relief of like, "Oh god, wow, this is nice." Anyway, thank you so much.

Nikki: Beautiful. Thanks so much for sharing that, Don. I love it. Yes, yes, that's exactly it. It's subtle, it takes some tuning, and there are different nuances that arise, right? Which is this sense of relief, just as you beautifully shared. "Oh, how nice, how nice." It is subtle happiness. So if you actually have time to tune into it more, that sense of relief is a subtle form of happiness. Yes, yeah, I see you nodding. Sweet, beautiful. That's exactly it. Love it. Yay! And know that this practice is always available to you, especially when there are thoughts and worries and concerns and contraction. "Yeah, I'm going to tune to something different which is already here." Trust that it's here for every single one of us. I know that it's here for all of us. I trust it.

Maybe we'll take one more reflection. Fred?

Fred: Hi. I was saying to my group that sometimes with a meditation like this, with a suggestion involved for fine-tuning, I'll experience something in the midst of it. And then maybe a few hours later it will come back with greater force, and I'll feel something that I'll be surprised by. I mean, I will associate it with the meditation, but it will seem to have come around a corner and it's a happy surprise. One of the people in our group likened it to ripening, which I thought was a really apt way of putting it. That it needs to sit, it incubates. I don't know why, but it just seems to need a little extra time sometimes. Thank you.

Nikki: Thank you, Fred. Thanks so much for bringing that into the space. How powerful, how important to share that for everyone's benefit. Yes, pay attention, and yes, it does need time to ripen. We are planting seeds. We completely are planting seeds, even if we feel during the meditation, you know, something happened, or not much happened, or the mind was all distracted. Or later, "Oh yeah, well, look at that." So powerful. Thanks so much for bringing that in, Fred. Really appreciate it. Beautiful, beautiful.

So dear ones, as I don't see any other hands and don't see any other reflections in chat, maybe this is a good time, on those two beautiful shares, to bring our practice to a close. May we continue to tune in, to tune subtly into this dial, to tune our dial to contentment, peace, release, happiness, and help it grow. Listen to it more and more, so that starting from crackly, it becomes loud and clear. May you all be well. May we all be well. May we all be happy in all things everywhere. Thanks for your practice, everyone. Take good care.