For a cruel yoke and hard weight of servitude it is to be subject to the things of time, to be ambitious of the things of earth, to cling to falling things, to seek to stand in things that stand not, to desire things that pass away, but to be unwilling to pass away with them. For while all things fly away against our wish, those things which had first harassed the mind in desire of gaining them, now oppress it with fear of losing them.
St. Gregory (c. 540 - 604)
Yesterday, it was reported that Mayo Clinic researchers have found the path--or, in medical terms, prescription--to happiness. The prescription, as reported, involves two primary steps: focus less on one's one self; and learn to prevent one's attention from focusing on negative thoughts.
To a man or woman who has studied any of the great spiritual traditions, these results seem only to provide new empirical support for what has for ages been known through experience. Many spiritual teachers have counseled against attachment to the petty self, with its pride, vanity, and covetousness. Above, St. Gregory provides one reason why attachment to the self leads to unhappiness. Ambition to obtain "the things of earth" (such as power, position, wealth, comfort, entertainment) leads one to focus on the gratification of one's own desires, which ultimately cannot be satisfied since the objects of our desire are so fleeting and beyond our control. Even if satisfied, the acquisition of "things" leads to further misery, in that we then fear losing those things. We have unsettled minds due to our covetousness, and unsettled minds due to our attachment to our fleeting possessions. The more we remove our attention from fleeting things, the more happy we become.
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