Let me explain what I mean by that cryptic phrase. You have been told and I have been told that just being is not enough. Happiness, we assume – especially the Western mind – must be being “plus” something else. Objects, prizes, trophies. The right job, career, car, home, lover…mindset, beliefs, titles.

So we try. We chase them our whole lives. But still, our moments of true happiness are few and far between. Go ahead and just ask yourself honestly. Even when we try to let all that go, we are still desperately trying, right?

Why? The underlying logic is that being is neutral. When we are just being, we are not happy, nor sad – just there. We see our emotional lives on a scale, and being is zero. Not negative, not positive, just zero. And like all things at zero, we regard it as trifling, worthless, trivial.

This is fatally mistaken.

Being is happiness. It is the source of all littler happinesses, whether gratification or delight or joy. Being is not zero on the emotional scale. It is infinity. The way that we value existence is upside down. How can we find happiness that way?

You are sitting before a beautiful sunset, just being. You are lying on the beach, eyes closed, just being. You hold your newborn’s hand in yours, just being. Breathing, calm, still, pure. How do you feel?