15/08/2025
According to all the wisdom traditions, I think, including Buddhism, the answer to our happiness or unhappiness doesn’t lie outside, it lies inside. There are two kinds of happiness: One is the very animal happiness of satisfying our physical needs and the pleasures of the senses. And then there is genuine happiness. Genuine happiness is an inner joy which arises within ourselves irrespective of what is happening on the outside. This genuine happiness gives a feeling of inner space and inner release, inner liberation. It’s not based on our sensual desires. Inner joy.
So, how do we get that? It’s not on sale on Amazon. We don’t have to go out and buy it. There’s no price to it. You don’t even get bargain offers. But we all possess it already, if only we could recognise it. What prevents us from recognising our own inner sense of joy, happiness and freedom are the negative emotions which arise in our mind.
- Jetsunma Tenzin Palmo
Photo by Olivier Adam: Black and white photo of Jetsunma laughing in her office in Dongyu Gatsal Ling Nunnery, 2015.
