Last word: The importance of knowing nothing
Whatever you are doing, nothing is more important
Nothing is more important than happiness, health and wellbeing. Our political leaders all seem to agree on this, whatever their persuasion. The problem is that while they seem to think they know something about happiness, health and wellbeing, they know very little about nothing.
Some would argue that nothing is what our children learn in school, nothing is what our doctors know about real health, and every idea we have about acquiring a standard of wellbeing amounts to nothing - but this is zero, which isn't the same at all.
Having spent 10 years writing narrative non-fiction on the subject of happiness - a career that has enabled me to give more consideration to mental, physical and spiritual wellbeing than most of us can dream of - I can tell you that it's a fascinating but elusive subject, and one about which it's particularly difficult to know anything. We know what isn't true: the idea that a larger house will change everything; a faster car will make us feel free; a younger partner will make us more, er, something; a more prestigious job will provide a wider circle of influence; and spending money will lead to the elusive 'happy' state. We deny the influence of the all-pervasive 'acquire' myth; we know that's not it. We imagine, perhaps, that we are each of us wiser. But how do we find the no-thing that leads to real happiness?
How do we gain nothing? Well, here's the thing. By doing nothing. NOTHING. For a recent book I spent 10 days on a retreat where we sat on the floor for 10 hours a day, not moving, not speaking and not making eye contact with anyone. We were allowed no communication with the outside world, no books or newspapers, no laptops or phones, no personal food or drugs, no personal items at all, no things. Nothing to focus on. Most people I know who think they know something (or, worse still, believe that they are someone) couldn't do this little for that long. Why not? They are far too busy doing, well, something.
Not that it's bad to want to do something. There is a lot to be done: a planet to be saved, for example. The problem is that so many of the people who are working so hard to do something are wearing out themselves and the planet doing it all. Some of them would even say they are working so hard that they end up too exhausted to do anything. We want to know about happiness, but have no time to do nothing.
What do we make of Apollo's teaching, "Know thyself"? Jesus Christ's command to the doctor, "Heal thyself"? Buddha's thoughts on happiness, "Peace comes from within, do not seek it without"? Mohammed's words, "The one who knows himself knows his Lord"? Are we making any progress looking inwards? How many of us can do nothing for 10 minutes or 10 hours, let alone 10 days?
On a current book tour I have the pleasure of springing five minutes of Vipassana meditation on my surprised audience. This is a form of meditation that requires complete physical stillness, with the mind focused on the breath (because we find it difficult to focus on nothing). More than one audience member has said: "That's the first time I've sat still for five minutes in my whole life." One said: "That was blissful." I have not invented stillness - nor created silence - but I introduce the absence of anything as if it were a gift and smile when it is experienced as joy. "It's weird..." one woman said, "but I feel that just changed everything."
So what am I saying? Be careful listening to anyone who knows anything about happiness, health or wellbeing and, if you meet an expert, please don't introduce me to them. I'd rather meet a spiritual teacher who knows nothing. Let me sit with him or her and dwell on nothing while wanting nothing. I'm almost there myself: I used to think I knew a thing or two about happiness. Now I'm wiser. I know almost nothing. It's a beginning.
Isabel Losada is an author and broadcaster.
Nothing is more important than happiness, health and wellbeing. Our political leaders all seem to agree on this, whatever their persuasion. The problem is that while they seem to think they know something about happiness, health and wellbeing, they know very little about nothing.
Some would argue that nothing is what our children learn in school, nothing is what our doctors know about real health, and every idea we have about acquiring a standard of wellbeing amounts to nothing - but this is zero, which isn't the same at all.
Having spent 10 years writing narrative non-fiction on the subject of happiness - a career that has enabled me to give more consideration to mental, physical and spiritual wellbeing than most of us can dream of - I can tell you that it's a fascinating but elusive subject, and one about which it's particularly difficult to know anything. We know what isn't true: the idea that a larger house will change everything; a faster car will make us feel free; a younger partner will make us more, er, something; a more prestigious job will provide a wider circle of influence; and spending money will lead to the elusive 'happy' state. We deny the influence of the all-pervasive 'acquire' myth; we know that's not it. We imagine, perhaps, that we are each of us wiser. But how do we find the no-thing that leads to real happiness?
How do we gain nothing? Well, here's the thing. By doing nothing. NOTHING. For a recent book I spent 10 days on a retreat where we sat on the floor for 10 hours a day, not moving, not speaking and not making eye contact with anyone. We were allowed no communication with the outside world, no books or newspapers, no laptops or phones, no personal food or drugs, no personal items at all, no things. Nothing to focus on. Most people I know who think they know something (or, worse still, believe that they are someone) couldn't do this little for that long. Why not? They are far too busy doing, well, something.
Not that it's bad to want to do something. There is a lot to be done: a planet to be saved, for example. The problem is that so many of the people who are working so hard to do something are wearing out themselves and the planet doing it all. Some of them would even say they are working so hard that they end up too exhausted to do anything. We want to know about happiness, but have no time to do nothing.
What do we make of Apollo's teaching, "Know thyself"? Jesus Christ's command to the doctor, "Heal thyself"? Buddha's thoughts on happiness, "Peace comes from within, do not seek it without"? Mohammed's words, "The one who knows himself knows his Lord"? Are we making any progress looking inwards? How many of us can do nothing for 10 minutes or 10 hours, let alone 10 days?
On a current book tour I have the pleasure of springing five minutes of Vipassana meditation on my surprised audience. This is a form of meditation that requires complete physical stillness, with the mind focused on the breath (because we find it difficult to focus on nothing). More than one audience member has said: "That's the first time I've sat still for five minutes in my whole life." One said: "That was blissful." I have not invented stillness - nor created silence - but I introduce the absence of anything as if it were a gift and smile when it is experienced as joy. "It's weird..." one woman said, "but I feel that just changed everything."
So what am I saying? Be careful listening to anyone who knows anything about happiness, health or wellbeing and, if you meet an expert, please don't introduce me to them. I'd rather meet a spiritual teacher who knows nothing. Let me sit with him or her and dwell on nothing while wanting nothing. I'm almost there myself: I used to think I knew a thing or two about happiness. Now I'm wiser. I know almost nothing. It's a beginning.
Isabel Losada is an author and broadcaster.
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