The Meaning of Life with Dr. Bob

You were born to be happy. The natural state of your mind is happiness. Something occurred along the path of your life that turned you away from this natural state.

In a nutshell, here’s what happened. Your mind got very busy and you began to dwell in the past or in the future instead of the here and now. Think of yourself as an infant. When you were well feed, clean, dry, warm, sheltered, all of which was provided by someone else, you were happy and content.

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As you grew and matured, however, life became much more complicated. Learning to feed yourself, potty training, getting along with siblings, obeying parents, all these and many more began to occupy your mind, even as it was developing itself. You needed to remember things so you didn’t get into trouble or so that you were rewarded for excellent behavior. In other words, you discovered you had a past and some of that had to be recollected in order for you to function optimally.

Your mind is hurrying along also because your discovered there was a future. Something or someone to anticipate. You even learned to prepare for what might happen in the future.

Your mind was no longer still for any period of time. You no longer lived in the present moment either. You can see, I hope, that none of this casts any blame on you for the lack of happiness you have in your life to this point in that life. (What happens next you do have responsibility for because you are creating your life even as we speak.)

To create happiness, again, you need to still your mind and live in the present moment as you did as a well cared for infant. Still minds and present moments lead to happiness.

What does a still mind do for you? It allows you to detach from every distraction. Everything that has happened in the past or may happened in the future is a distraction from which you need to distance yourself.

You acquire a still mind by developing some form of meditation in your life on a consistent and long term basis. There are many forms to choose from and you do not need to limit yourself to one form. Tai Chi is an example of “meditation in motion.” Listening to meditative type music is another. Mentally speaking mantras or chanting aloud “Om” are additional ways of meditation. An easy Internet search will give you all the choices you need.

When you are practicing a still mind for yourself, you then can more easily practice living in this present moment. Thoroughly detach yourself from the past and the future. While you are at it, detach yourself from everything and everybody in your life that tries to draw you out of the present moment.

I do not mean that you abandon any relationships. But you realize that you only have a relationship in the present moment anyway. You are not guaranteed that a relationship will last forever. You only have a relationship in the present moment. Certainly cherish it in the now. But do not cling to it as if it will save you from … whatever.

When you clearly and cleanly live in the present moment with a still mind, you are closer to happiness. Indeed, in the still mind through meditation you will find happiness as the meaning of life. Then, as you live in the present moment, you can feel that happiness bubbling up within you. Get to it.

Email: drbob4u@gmail.com
Comments/Questions Welcomed.

My Vlog: http://themeaningoflifewithdrbob.com/drbobslifephrases

One Person Can Change The World

Let’s look at happiness from another perspective, that of the spirit. The spirit has been named many aliases. Some will call it God. Some will name it the Universe. My preferred term is The All There Is. I break that down in the word “Tathis.”

Whatever moniker is given it, Tathis is the spirit underlying the entire existence of everything. We can speak of it in these kinds of terms because it appears to be conscious. Indeed, it appears to be Consciousness itself.

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It is when you find yourself in this Consciousness, find yourself present in the Consciousness, that you are happy. This is not happiness as is often defined as worldly substances and events. This is not the joy of achievement or the triumph of having reached your goal. These are worthy steps along the path of your life, to be sure. I do not minimize them in any way.

But they are not the happiness of which I speak today. They are important but temporary and will pass away. Their time comes and their time ceases to be. The happiness of which I speak is timeless and never dies. So long as the Universe exists, the Spirit exists, this happiness will persist and thrive.

The basis of this happiness is total acceptance. The Spirit accepts you as you are right this minute. There are no conditions on that acceptance. There are no hoops to jump through now or ever. What you are, who you are in this moment is accepted. Period.

This is the eternal basis for your happiness. You cannot earn it. You need not earn it. It is a given. The Spirit that pervades and holds in consciousness the Universe all around you and in you, accepts you.

Beyond accepting you, Tathis also promotes you. The Universe advocates for you. Like someone putting in a good word for you as you go to apply for a new job. Or a friend recommending a friend. So does the Spirit seek the best it can for you. It actually sets events, things and people in your path that you come across them and use them to your benefit.

So, being present in the Spirit is happiness. How does one become present in the Spirit?

There is no other way than to develop and maintain a relationship with the Consciousness that holds the Universe. Do not let this thought daunt you, however. Developing this kind of relationship is very simple. It does take discipline and time, but that is all. You can grow this relationship without spending any money nor making any vows.

You do not need to sacrifice anything. You do not put yourself in frightening or dangerous situations. You do not adhere to a particular guru to the exclusion of all others. In other words, you do not become an intellectual slave of anyone.

Through some form of meditation or mindfulness or awareness you place yourself in the presence of the Spirit. I am deliberately being ambiguous here. You choose what form of adherence you will use to place yourself in the Presence. That form may change or evolve over time, as well.

As you get closer and closer to the Spirit, find yourself dwelling more and more fully in its Presence, your happiness will blossom and remain vigorous. Remember happiness here is defined as perfect acceptance of you by the Spirit. The acceptance is a given. All you need do is find it for yourself. Get to it.

Email: drbob4u@gmail.com
Comments/Questions Welcomed.

My Vlog: http://themeaningoflifewithdrbob.com/drbobslifephrases

One Person Can Change The World

We must never neglect our exterior lives. You have found your way to lasting happiness by making and keeping significant connection to The All there Is. In that connection you have found total and unconditional acceptance of you just the way you are in this moment. That is true interior happiness.

But, of course, you want your happiness to carry out into your daily, worldly life. Otherwise what good is it. Your interior bliss needs to be expressed and manifested in the corporal world or it would seem useless. If you seem useless then you have not achieved or accomplish real interior or existential happiness.

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When you have found existential happiness, or you know you are on your way to same, then you beam your bliss into the world and reinforce your interior feelings with exterior action.

One the very best ways to reinforce your happiness is to make a contribution to your world. Please don’t turn me off here. I am not necessarily asking for money here. There are as many ways to make a contribution as there are people.

Here are some: Smile at someone for no reason. Even a brief small smile can change the other person’s day and, therefore, life. You never know.

Donate your time and energy to an animal shelter or a homeless human shelter.

Tutor a child.

Make a micro-loan through one of the many micro-loan outlets.

Write and maintain a blog about what you think is important in this world.

Read to a child – something the child finds interesting.

Offer a cup of cold water at a hydration station during a 15k run.

Teach.

Learn.

Guide.

Discover a vaccine.

Build a better solar energy array.

Green the planet – again.

Give someone who really needs it some cash – anonymously.

Act randomly kind.

You get the picture, I am sure. Big or small or somewhere in between make a contribution to your world and the people and animals in it. You will feel useful and happy.

You will be reinforcing your own interior happiness. But let’s be clear. You do these things out of the bliss you are feeling or developing inside. You do not do these things to make yourself happy. Yes, they can and ought to be used to bolster the bliss you feel inside.

They are never substitutes for those indigenous feelings of total and complete acceptance from The All There Is. They need never be same. But because your visceral feelings need expression, that is the reason you make contributions in the world. Build your exterior happiness. Get to it.

Email: drbob4u@gmail.com
Comments/Questions Welcomed.

My Vlog: http://themeaningoflifewithdrbob.com/drbobslifephrases

One Person Can Change The World