P: Most of us feel anxious and insecure about our old age. So, people ask, “What do I need to do to prepare for a happy old age?” However, there is no such thing as preparing to be happy. You must simply be happy at this moment. Let’s say you slip and fall down the stairs and break a leg. If you think to yourself, “What bad luck that I broke my leg!” you will feel unhappy. However, if you think, “How fortunate that I only broke one leg when I could have easily broken both legs!” you will feel happy. If you can see the positive side of everything, you will always be happy. There is no need to prepare for a happy old age.
“When I see in the media, ‘Your old age will be insecure if you don’t prepare for it.’ or ‘You need to do this and that to be happy in your old age,’ I feel like I need to do something.”
Needing to prepare for happiness is a claim of those who have never been happy. Often, all people do is prepare to become happy but end up dying without ever having been happy. Therefore, there is no need to prepare. We should be happy from this very moment. We should not prepare to be happy but be happy immediately starting today.
Those who are not happy today cannot be happy tomorrow, and those who are not happy in this world cannot be happy in the afterworld, should it exist. Those who always complain in this world will find something to complain about even in heaven. You may think that you will be happy the moment you get to heaven, but once you are there, you might still be unhappy. There is no place in the world that will automatically make you happy. You should be happy right here, right now.
Then, how can we become happy? Wouldn’t I be miserable if I envied you and kept thinking, “How I wish I could get married!”? If those of you who are married keep thinking, “I wish I could live alone. How wonderful it must be to travel anywhere as freely as the Sunim does!” you would be very unhappy. A monk like me should be proud of living alone, and those who are married should be so happy in their marriages as to make a monk feel jealous. Living the life we have chosen to the best of our ability is living well.
We should be happy with everything that happens in the natural course of our lives. For instance, we should be happy to grow old as time passes, happy to be alive when alive, and happy to die when death knocks at the door. Then, it will be like living in heaven in this life as well as in the afterlife. It doesn’t make sense to live this life as if we were in hell while wishing to go to heaven after death.
When a person who lives in Korea can live happily, Korea becomes a heaven. This person will be happy even if he lives in the U.S. However, a person who complains about his life in this world will not stop complaining even if he were sent to heaven. A complainer is likely to grumble no matter where he goes. Therefore, heaven and hell do not exist separately in another world. That is, we are in heaven when we are happy and in hell when we are miserable.
We tend to blame others for their hardships and suffering. However, if we look carefully, we will to see that we ourselves make our own happiness and unhappiness. Those who make themselves miserable will feel miserable even in heaven, and those who make themselves happy will be happy even in hell.
We should be content with our current lives at all times. When we wake up early in the morning, when we meditate, when we prostrate, and when we have meals, we should be happy to be able to do these things. Considering that a countless number of people in North Korea are currently starving, shouldn’t we be thankful for the fact that we are able to have regular meals? We should always perceive our lives in such a positive light.
Actually, you are all happy right now. You simply don’t see it or feel it. Once upon a time someone visited a Zen master and talked extensively about the Buddha and his teachings. The Zen master told him, “Just have a cup of tea.” He meant, “Stop thinking nonsense.”
You are already happy. You don’t need to work hard to be happy.
When you let go of the thought, “I will live happily,” you will find happiness.
We create our own happiness.
We create our own misfortune.
Truly, our happiness and unhappiness are not created by others.
