BREATHING

FROM PAGE 10 of many problems, she said, and they destroy happiness.

“It’s completely unnecessary. Which is the whole purpose of meditation, to show us how unnecessary it is,” she said. “We’ve been so busy trying to control everything outside of us.”

She compared it to anger with someone else. It may last for a few days and then one day, those angry feelings leave.

“If you can do that deliberately (getting rid of negative feelings), which we can, then you can see we stopped the grasping or stopped the delusions, we just experience deeper and deeper levels of happiness,” she said.

Identifying delusions is the rst part of the equation. e other half is universal love and caring about others. It comes from understanding everyone wants to be happy, and that there isn’t much di erence between people.

It can be a city councilor running for o ce, understanding their opponent wants the same things, but sees di erent ideas on how to move forward. ey aren’t always bad people.

Realizing that leads to the next step: wisdom. at takes understanding reality. It means turning away from the anxiety, sadness and other negative emotions and escaping to the reality within the body that possesses in nite happiness and peace.

“We can train in wisdom. Understanding that things are not as real as they appear,” James said.