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Introduction

Warm greetings to all of you here. It is often considered in Buddhism to be a happy occasion for a community of practitioners to come together to be on retreat, and to meditate together for even half an hour like we are. It's an unusual phenomenon, and even more so these days, that so many people can join together through the miracle of electronics.

It turns out that happiness is a really key component of Buddhist practice. You wouldn't get the impression that this was the case if you went up to someone who knew a little bit about Buddhism and asked them what the core, central tenet of Buddhism is. They might have heard about the Four Noble Truths^[1] and immediately rattle off: there is suffering, the cause of suffering, the cessation of suffering, and these eight things you have to do to bring about the cessation of suffering.

Just hearing the word "suffering" can be a little bit discouraging for some people. Thinking that this is the central teaching of a whole religion, you would like to have something more obviously uplifting, perhaps. But those teachings on the Four Noble Truths represent the deep insights that bring happiness—a very deep and profound happiness. The practices for realizing that, and the consequences of realizing that^[2], are really intertwined and integral with our capacity for well-being and happiness.

Many of us have a big negativity bias, as it's called these days. Our preoccupations may keep us distracted. Our distractions distract us from what is going well here and now. To have the courage to be with what is going well, the courage to allow yourself to be happy, even joyful—sometimes it takes courage. We receive a lot of messages that it's not okay.

But the reason to focus on well-being in Buddhist practice is so we can address suffering. It's not an avoidance or denial of it; it's to create a foundation upon which we can effectively take an honest and deep look at it, without being troubled, overwhelmed, or discouraged, which cuts at our ability^[3] to really penetrate deeply into the nature of suffering.

These two go together, then: cultivating some degree of happiness, discovering how to avail ourselves of it, and having the courage to be happy, so that we can more effectively look at suffering.

Guided Meditation: Happiness

For this meditation, I don't know if we can sit directly with well-being, but maybe as you sit here and participate with your imagination, with what you choose to focus on and think about, perhaps a little priority can be given to those thoughts, feelings, and imaginings that evoke a sense of well-being for you—a sense of happiness. Not to deny the challenges you live with, but because of the challenges you live with, as a gift to yourself so you can be with those challenges in an effective way.

So, sitting upright. "Upright" can be lying down also, because upright also has a metaphorical meaning of sitting with some intentionality, and with the dedication for an honest meeting of ourselves, an honest being present for our experience. And close your eyes.

Perhaps you can first begin by recognizing the place in which you're sitting or meditating. Maybe it's easy to look around and see things that are wrong about this, but perhaps you can look around and see what is right. Maybe you're warm enough, safe enough to meditate. Maybe you're sheltered in some way or other from the cold, the wind, and the elements in a nice way. Maybe it's nice if you're sitting in a place where it's quiet, and for these minutes it's unlikely you will get a phone call, or have someone come to talk to you, or want something from you.

And then coming into your body. What is going well right now, being here with your body? Even if your body has challenges, what is going well that allows you to be here to meditate in this posture that you have?

As you sit here in your body, what pleasant sensations are there in your body? What sensations might exist that are satisfying, nurturing, or even enjoyable to feel? Perhaps you can feel places where the temperature of your body feels nice, even if some places don't. Perhaps some of your muscles are a little bit soft, with relaxed feelings. Perhaps feeling the groundedness of your body against your chair or your cushion. There's something satisfying about being rooted and grounded. Perhaps there are tinglings and vibrations in the body, sensations of the flow of blood. Become aware of what feels comfortable and nice in your body.

And then, with those feelings of pleasantness or comfort, take a few long, slow, deep breaths, as if your breathing expands out into those feelings of well-being—into the physical sensations that might have some degree of pleasantness or enjoyability in them. Breathing through it and into it. Breathing through with it.

If there is discomfort in the body that you feel as well, some people will feel a sense of rightness or even satisfaction in an honest awareness of that. An awareness, a mindfulness, that makes room for it and opens up around it rather than getting constricted by it.

Letting your breathing return to normal. Perhaps somewhere in your breathing—it could be a little corner someplace—can you notice if there's anything pleasant or enjoyable about breathing? And if there is, maybe it could be the end of the out-breath or the smooth letting go of exhaling. Some smoothness that happens with the inhalation^[4].

It's kind of a miracle to be aware, to be able to notice anything. Perhaps there can be some happy amazement: the recognition that to be sitting here practicing mindfulness is, in fact, to be aware. This capacity to know or to be aware can be independent of our challenges and our sufferings, and what is uncomfortable. Somewhere in the field of awareness, of knowing, there can be some sense of peace, spaciousness, even a happiness. The happiness of being aware.

And then bringing together the goodness of awareness with the goodness of breathing. Allowing breathing to come into the miracle of awareness. Letting the thinking mind become quieter so you have more attention and awareness for your breathing. The more we think, the more crowded our awareness is. The quieter our thinking becomes, the more space there is to be aware.

And then, ever so slightly, maybe if it's comfortable, bring up the outer corners of your lips to make a little half-smile. With whatever joy or delight that brings, let that infuse how you're aware of your breathing, how you receive breathing. Perhaps a delightful quieting, a delightful quiet absorption into breathing. Just breathing.

Noticing if you're thinking in ways which are not conducive to happiness. If that's the case, maybe you're better off being here in your body, mindful of breathing. Feeling whatever pleasure, however subtle there might be, of breathing mindfully.

Dedication of Merit

As we come to the end of this sitting, I'd like to first evoke the idea that clinging tightly to things, closing down to the world around us, is a source of continued suffering. Releasing things, giving things to others, and opening to the world is a source of happiness. This is expressed at the end of a sitting by offering to the world the merit^[5] and good fortune that comes from doing meditation practice.

It's somehow having an open heart and a generous heart to extend ourselves and our good fortune in a generous way, to be of support to the welfare and happiness of others. To wish, and ideally to enact, the extension of the benefit in our practicing outward into the welfare and happiness of all beings, and especially those whom we will encounter today.

May it be that whatever sense of goodness, happiness, calmness, patience, and self-understanding we have from our practice, we may consider how we could use that as a foundation to leave the world a better place at the end of today.

May it be that all beings experience a taste of happiness.
May all beings drink the nectar of joy and delight.
May all beings find the deep contentment and happiness of safety.
May all beings experience the great happiness of a liberated heart.
May all beings share in happiness, love, and mutual care.