The Happiness Podcast 019 - Why You Don't Want Happiness
Sep 18, 2019
A provocative take on why people resist true happiness and prefer conditions instead. It explores how society teaches us to anchor joy in possessions and relationships. It examines how suffering and crisis can force a wake-up call. It challenges common beliefs about love, therapy, and what it means to be sane in an insane world.
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Happiness Tied To Conditions Prevents Awakening
- Anthony de Mello argues most people refuse unconditional happiness because they tie it to conditions like people or possessions.
- He says we declare "You are my happiness" and then refuse happiness if we don't get that person or thing, trapping ourselves.
Stop Depending On Others For Happiness
- De Mello advises that true spiritual freedom begins when we stop depending on others for happiness.
- He suggests people must become disillusioned with relationships and suffer enough to seek another way of living independent of others.
Therapy Helps But Hitting Rock Bottom Often Triggers Change
- As a psychotherapist, Anthony de Mello recalls some clients benefited from therapy while others needed to hit rock bottom before changing.
- He admits sometimes people should "suffer a little more" to become sick of their sickness and wake up.