[jchinzilla]

Originally Posted by Phynx

I'm sure he's referring to a "True" happiness, one void of all stress, pain, suffering and anything else that promotes negative emotions.

Yes

I've been reading this book The Monk and the Philosopher: A Father and Son Discuss the Meaning of Life. There's a chapter wherein they talk about the existence of evil. In Buddhism, the belief is that the fundamental nature of all living beings is perfect...and this "perfection is always there, deep within us, even when it's hidden from sight by ignorance, desire and hatred." Evil is thought to have no more existence than a mistake. The Absolute Truth, they claim, is that the opposition between good and bad doesn't really exist. Nonduality is the term for this.

Originally Posted by Oni-Paranoia

Sad thing is, it's impossible to achieve.

Hardly. What I've said is that there exists in religions long-standing methods which put us on a paths that lead us toward understanding our own inner peace. Hermits, monks, nuns, and the like aren't living in isolation from the world just to ignore the world. They are trying to cultivate this true inner perfection in a way that can (hopefully) ultimately help the other 6 billion people.

I believe that Buddhism has developed one of the strongest contemplative traditions. However Christianity also has a powerful tradition of mysticism (read Thomas Merton). Even the Muslim religion of Islam provides a way. The very name "Islam" is derived from an Arabic word meaning "to be safe," "peace/purity," "obedience/submission to god."

Originally Posted by revolutionomega

I would say true happiness is the level at which you...can accept faults and limitations at face-value.

I would agree with this statement. Yet what we perceive as a fault may not be a limiting factor at all, just our conditioned way of seeing things.

I must confess that I feel a bit hypocritical because out of all the reading concerning meditation and prayer...I never do such things! That is, in the formal way that religions have taught. Yet the spiritual reading that I have done has set in me a mode of contemplation which I think is imparative to becoming a decent human.