Happiness is a warm gun...

I have read works from many philosophers but I should let everyone know that I've really only touched the surface of these works. I'm currently reading Plato's Republic, Kant's critique of Pure Reason, Aristotle's Metaphysics, and a number of thought provoking novels such as Ishmael; however I pick them up every once in a while. These works tend to be so potent that my mind has to be ready for them and can only digest so much at a time. It's kind of sad really...I can only get through about a page of Kant at a time, but I seem to be getting better.
Here's something interesting though: John Stuart Mill, as well as numerous other philosophers, see happiness as the intrinsic good. I find that incredibly problematic...most of the time it seems like their arguments simply state "Search for happiness but don't this, don't that..." and so on. I realize I'm asking a lot of these guys, but I expect the best. An intrinsic good should go without clarification and guidelines; it is pure. To say otherwise is to say that our very nature is filled with holes, this could be the case, but I don't want to get ahead of myself. I firmly believe that the very nature of our self is perfect and goes without rules. But what is it?
It must be something simpler than happiness...but that seems to complicate things and muddy the water. Happiness seems to be rooted in this physical realm (most of the time), and if what we're searching for is the true intrinsic good, the very nature of our self, and based on my previous arguments of duality, our nature is of something else entirely; our true nature is rooted in the self. Happiness can come from something as simple as a hug or a new bike (I got a bike today, happiness is an understatement). This is not to say that happiness can't come from something much greater however. In racking my brain (which is problematic in itself, for my mind is molded by the physical realm, but it's really my only tool here) for the true "good" I'm coming to find that discovering our true nature may very well yield happiness. This is great. I still haven't decided what this omnipresent good is, but I'll get there...hopefully.



What if...and stay with me now, I am just now beginning to ponder this myself...what if our intrinsic good has no rules? What if our mere nature is free? To realize true joy one would discover the true self, and in turn free the nature of that self. It seems we put too many constraints on ourselves. To even try and define our nature shackles it to our realm, our words. The true nature of ourselves could simply be to free our true nature from the constraints of the worry, the anxiety, and even the pleasure brought to us through the mind and body. If this is the case then this blog entry is over. I have found the answer: stop searching and be. Unfortunately for me I can't just quit here, although I do love being stumped by this.

It seems the mind, body, and soul are in harmony in these sorts of exercises. The mind is at work, but not distracting. It is used as a tool for finding the true essence of the soul. The body acts as a vessel to relay the findings of the mind to the world. The soul is this ever-present source of wonder and freedom. It's so raw. It's so raw in fact, that it might be the only thing that isn't synthetic. The nature is what I'm after. I have not found the answer. I don't think I will for some time. It could be that the nature of the self is to remain unscathed by our rudimentary language or our rigid constraints. If the soul itself resides in a realm that can only be described as beyond the one we currently perceive, how then can we begin to try and understand the nature of it.