There is nothing at all wrong with wanting to be happy. When we ask the voice of desire if it wants happiness, it will always respond with a resounding “yes”! But, what if the endless pursuit of happiness is nothing more than a kaleidoscope of metaphysical distractions, orchestrated by concealed conditioning to keep us well clear of that precise possibility?

Real-Life Story: While attending an international conference on Positive Psychology, I spoke at length with a leading professor in the field. I asked her to consider the possibility of identifying and letting go of all concealed conditioning, toward complete happiness. She was quite intrigued by the question and asked how this might be possible. After explaining the process, I eventually suggested that she make the pursuit of freedom from concealed conditioning marginally more important than anything else in her life. After a few pensive moments she said, in a tone that hardly masked the deep dissatisfaction upon which it rested, “But that would be impossible. I am already trapped in a career and I have a mortgage!”

Is it likely that this response was not coming from the voice of full potential in this attractive, forty-something Ph.D., a leader in her field of positive psychology? Perhaps it was the voice of the unhealthy-ego lashing out in defense of limitation, taking a stand for itself, while its host had no idea what was happening. The idea that complete happiness was unrealistic to the professor was correct, but only from a perspective that wishes to defer the consequence of uprooting all concealed conditioning.

This is often why, after a thirty-year quest for complete happiness, you may wonder why the only obvious changes are the cosmetic ones. Deep-seated issues often remain unresolved, such as: What is my purpose? Why does unnecessary suffering persist? What is my place in this world? Why is my experience the way it is and not some other way? How can I change the things about my world that I really don’t like? How can I express my full potential together with other people?

Why, after billions of dollars spent to awaken, have so few done so?

Any process of personal happiness which is designed by the unhealthy-ego is ultimately of little value, except in keeping the insanity of unnecessary suffering alive. The developmental plans of the unhealthy-ego cannot awaken you because these requests for transformation are already locked into conditioned safety zones. That’s why the ‘personal potential’ marketplace is replete with guides and gurus who thrive on the inquisitive nature of those who suffer so unnecessarily. When the unhealthy-ego is coaching itself in you, it always gives safe guidance to predictable outcomes. The ego’s purpose is to keep alive the illusion of separateness, in turn separating you from complete happiness.

The unhealthy-ego-mind has little or no interest in your complete happiness. And rightly so, for the disowned ego knows that such freedom serves ease of being, joy, and humanity - but not the ego. To preserve itself, the unhealthy-ego offers you a convenient image of progress toward complete happiness instead. Then, to nourish this goal-less fantasy, it provides countless resources so that you may hone your skills in all sorts of ‘living-on-purpose’ projects.

The unhealthy-ego then labels all of these activities as part of your conscious path. Therefore, it cleverly avoids detection by persuading you that activities motivated by its cravings and aversions are an integral part of your transformation. This is why we consistently create a future that looks and feels much like the past.

What if complete happiness called for the alteration of many aspects of your current lifestyle, and the basis for the majority of your most important relationships? Would you be eager to do that? Letting go of an exclusive identity with the ego-mind creates the first possibility for complete happiness. While this is a challenging task, take faith in the fact that it is entirely possible. It’s only a matter of what you want.

An awakened person is only unhappy when he is reminded of how people are blinded by their own self-awareness and how a current majority of humanity is fixated only on the limited identity offered by the ego. This is not personal unhappiness for an awakened person, because he is no longer attached to such a concept. In awakening, he has ended the illusion of personal unhappiness.

Look not at what makes you happy, but at your intentions for seeking joy in those ways. Therein lies the key to complete happiness.

© 2008 Mick Quinn, All Rights Reserved

For more information, please visit www.mickquinn.com