04/23/2026
A new kitchen, a bigger house, a newly decorated room, an expensive piece of art, a giant television, downloading the latest song, watching a new movie, a fad diet, meals in glamorous restaurants, a celebrity makeover, a new sports car, a luxury holiday, the latest fashion, the most recent phone, and on, and on, and on, year after year, after year, after year, chasing the same old things - none of which you can take with you when you die.
Although you may experience short bursts of worldly happiness from buying or doing all of these things, you must have witnessed by now, that not one of these bursts has lasted, and that you immediately chase after the next burst as soon as the last one is finished.
At what point in your very short life will you deeply realise and fully accept that the true lasting happiness that you desperately seek can only be found inside?
You can continue to be exhausted by spending the rest of your very short life by desperately searching true lasting happiness outside. Or from this moment onwards, you can just simply embrace the truth - that true lasting happiness will not be found anywhere or in anything, other than inside that which is doing the searching, and then doing something about it, by stepping on to the Buddhist path.
~ Chamtrul Rinpoche