The key to happiness lies in contentment and letting go. The happiness that comes from being generous comes from freeing ourselves from our attachments and worries. Buddhism teaches us to let go of negative thoughts and emotions associated with death and sickness, and to be happy in the face of these occasions. Buddhism teaches that true happiness comes from understanding the Four Noble Truths and practicing the eightfold path. This can be achieved by following the basic tenets of the religion, such as detachment, acceptance, control of desires, and contemplation of the moment's beauty. When tragedies happen, we usually focus on the things that are going wrong. But when we focus on what's actually going on inside of us, we start to see that life is always changing and that it's always going to pass. This allows us to be happier and handle difficult situations better. Buddhism teaches that by slowly letting go and becoming more at peace, we can be free of our past.

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This dhamma talk was originally recorded using a low quality MP3 to save on file size (because internet connections were slow back then – remember dialup?) on 30th May 2003. It has now been remastered and published by the Everyday Dhamma Network, and will be of interest to his many fans. If you like the Ajahn Brahm Podcast, you may also like the Treasure Mountain Podcast and / or the Forest Path Podcast which are also produced by the Everyday Dhamma Network.

These talks by Ajahn Brahm have been recorded and made available for free distribution by the Buddhist Society of Western Australia under the Creative Commons licence. You can support the Buddhist Society of Western Australia by pledging your support via their Patreon page.