What is the mission for every human being?

To be happy. That’s the mission for every human being. When you’re happy, you have fun, you enjoy life. Not just enjoy life, but you enjoy more of life—you see more. You actually see more when you’re happy. You don’t miss out on lots of things.

If a person is struggling or suffering, not happy, they miss so much in life. They miss the beauty, the magnificence, the full moon. They miss someone’s joke, they don’t find anything funny. They miss the laughter, they miss the punch lines. They miss the meaning of great poetry. They miss deep human relating. They miss so much in life, you see.

Because when you’re not happy you’re just living in your own world. You’re living in the box of your mind. You’re basically living in this 5-kilo thing that sits on top of your neck. The universe is tons and tons and tons, but you’re living in this 5-kilo room! You miss out on so much. You miss out on the deep qualities of a human being, the deep love and joy, deep wisdom and bliss. You miss out on so much.

So, that’s why we came. Our goal is to be happy.  And to express that happiness in the world—to all the people that we meet in our life, all the beings we encounter, animals and pets, and the birds and the trees and the plants and the wind and the sun and the moon, the soil, the flower.

When we miss life, we won’t be able to connect and enjoy this beauty. It’s like going on an adventure, a two-day bush walk, but you forgot to bring your drink bottle. You go on the bush walk, and after some time you feel, “I’m thirsty,” and you go to pull out your drink bottle, but you realise you left it behind. You’re not going to enjoy the walk.

If you’re not happy, then it’s because you don’t know what happiness is. You’re thinking happiness is A, but it’s actually B. So, every time you’re at B, you’ll be running away from B to go to A. Every time you’re actually happy, you’ll be running away from that, thinking it’s something else.

So, how are we going to be happy if we keep turning our back on what makes us happy?

Happiness is so simple, but not knowing what leads to happiness is what makes it difficult. Because we’re so complicated, we get lost in the complication and we miss the simplicity of happiness. We shift our awareness away from the ordinary moment of happiness, away from being tranquil and content in this moment.

See, it’s such a simple thing. But it’s difficult because we think, “Oh, what is the moment? What does that mean? What’s the definition of it? What’s this, what’s that? How do you do it? What practice? How long do I have to practice?” It becomes such a philosophy!

Happiness is when you are in the present moment, the here and the now, and there’s a knowing you are here and now. You’re not in the box in your head, somewhere else in your imagination, thinking. If you’re thinking in your head, then you will lose awareness of the here and the now—being here, in this moment.

If we live life in the box of our mind, thinking and imagining, we’re not in the moment, so therefore we’re not happy.

So, we came here to be happy, and I’ve shared that happiness comes from being in the ordinary present moment. Then, it’s just a matter of experimenting with that and knowing the truth ourselves.