What is happiness? Is it attainable?
Often we think happiness as an exuberant joy that would have us doing somersaults and cartwheels on the sidewalks. That might be attainable from time to time, but it’s certainly not sustainable, nor is it meant to be.
We are human beings with all of the attributes of Allah (swta) breathed into our hearts, and we are here to freely experience the range and depth of all of the emotions available to us.
For much of my life, I had shut down my heart. I was disconnected from my heart, out of touch with my feelings, unable to experience my emotions. A spontaneous spiritual awakening burst open my heart in an instant, and suddenly I could feel again.
I was whisked through a range of highs and lows. My heart was expanded to encompass them all without taking me into a debilitating state. It was actually a joyful experience to be free to feel whatever was moving through me without trying to control it.
Though the experience was not 100% elation and expansion, it brought happiness. It brought joy. It reminded me that I was fully alive and experience all the gifts of this life. And on an average day, when things are on an even keel, I’m not holding anything at bay. There is not constriction, but more like a witnessing. It’s not cartwheels of joy, but contentment.
One of our students had this to say about his experience just last week:
Wishing you a happy weekend!
With love and gratitude,
Mastura Graugnard on behalf of all your friends and family at UOS
