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Collective Happiness: Transforming Suffering with Mindfulness
Happiness is not a strictly individual possession: it is built together with the happiness of others. In the family as in society, we all have both the duty and the right to be happy; this right is born from our capacity to recognize the suffering around us and to act, even for just a few moments each day, to relieve a parent, a neighbor, or anyone in distress. This compassionate action connects us to others, gives meaning to our life, and produces within us a deep joy, independent of wealth, fame, or power.
Living happily here and now is possible thanks to mindfulness: by walking, breathing, and touching the wonders of life (the sky, the flowers, the fresh air), we cultivate the inner freedom that liberates us from fear, anger, and craving. For this, three practices are central:
- Recognizing the suffering in ourselves and around us
- Understanding its deep roots through meditative looking
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Transforming suffering into compassion, the seed of true happiness
By thus applying the Four Noble Truths—the reality of suffering, its origin, the possibility of its cessation, and the path leading to it—each moment becomes an opportunity to sow calm, freedom, and joy.