between their life and their life situation. I recently read
about a famous actress who died in her eighties. As her
beauty started to fade and became ravaged by old age, she
grew desperately unhappy and became a recluse. She, too,
had identified with a condition: her external appearance.
First, the condition gaveher a happy sense of self, then an
unhappy one. If she had been able to connect with the
formless and timeless life within, she could have watched
andallowedthefadingof herexternal form from aplaceof
serenityandpeace.Moreover,herexternal form wouldhave
become increasinglytransparent tothelight shiningthrough
fromherageless true nature,so herbeautywould notreally
have faded but simply become transformed into spiritual
beauty.However, nobody toldher that this is possible. The
mostessentialkindofknowledgeisnotyetwidelyaccessible.

§

TheBuddhataught thatevenyour happinessisdukkha—a
Pali word meaning "suffering" or "unsatisfactoriness." It is
inseparable from its opposite. This means that your
happinessandunhappinessareinfact one.Onlytheillusion
oftimeseparatesthem.
This isnot beingnegative. It is simplyrecognizingthe
natureof things, sothat youdon't pursuean illusionforthe
rest of your life. Nor is it saying that you shouldno longer
appreciate pleasant or beautiful things or conditions.But to
seek something through them that they cannot give — an
identity,asenseofpermanencyandfulfillment—isarecipe
for frustrationandsuffering.Thewholeadvertisingindustry
and consumer society would collapse if people became
enlightened and no longer sought to find their identity
throughthings.Themoreyouseekhappinessinthisway,the
more it will elude you. Nothing out there will ever satisfy