Recently, I went to see Julia Roberts in the feature film Eat,Pray,Love. The movie portrays a woman in her late thirties who decides to pursue true happiness when she realizes that she has still not attained true happiness even though she has all that her heart desires. She has the dream career, big house,doting husband and still finds that tears are her only solace. In pursuit of true happiness she essentially gives all her material goods away and begins the journey of discovering what happiness really is.
In “Eat,Pray,Love” Robert’s character under goes a series of rituals which ultimately allow her to focus on the “man in the mirror” and begin to see her role in her existence. Once she understands that she is responsible for her state of life she determines to create causes that lead to effects that match her desires.
Without giving the book and movie away I believe we can ultimately determine to live a life of boundless happiness by awakening to the truth of our existence.
As a Buddhist I understand that the pursuit of desires will always result in unhappiness as desires are fleeting. There are very few constants in life and the attainment of desires is an impossibility as human desire is ever changing and therefore the palate can never truly be satiated. I am Nichiren Buddhist and believe that in order to truly be happy one must first change the inward perspective and then the desires that one has begin to change. The end result is a happier existence that encourages one to share happiness making for a happier world.
