There was a time when my life was chaotic, stressful and painful. Divorce, addiction in the family, lots and lots of attachments and expectations had drowned me in suffering. One day, sitting in an undergrad class called, Asian Thoughts, I heard about the Buddha’s teachings. Prince Siddhartha, the Buddha to be, had left home in search of happiness or more precisely, in a search to end suffering for humanity. Oh how I had longed for leaving home in search of happiness. But I had kids, responsibilities and unable to see the beginning of a road that would lead me to the treasure mine of happiness.

Even after divorce my drama infected mind was in charge and determined to make me suffer. It wasn’t til the day I collapsed into a complete sense of helplessness, that I recognized the pebbles at the beginning of the road to happiness. That painful day, I dropped to my knees on the floor of my kitchen between the stove and the large island in the middle of the kitchen. I shouted off the top of my head, calling out to the Universe, which I hoped would be bigger than God. More powerful, more dynamic, more merciful, more attentive, more present. I wasn’t going to talk to God, rather all the goodness from everywhere and all over. A force that could not ignore me anymore. The Entire Universe.

My face drowned in tears and mucus, I uttered, “I have suffered enough, I My face drowned in tears and mucus as I uttered, “I have suffered enough, I have paid my dues for whatever I needed to pay dues for, please release me.” As I heard myself say this, I became stronger and more confident about not deserving so much painful drama. I looked up into the space as if grabbing the universe by its collar, looked it in the eyes and shouted, “It’s enough! Stop, pay attention, bring me peace. Please, it’s enough chaos and unhappiness.”

I sat back and gasped for a few breaths and quieted down. I began to feel some burden lifting. My shoulders dropped and relaxed. My mind became silent. The burden of thinking that I knew what the problems and the solutions were was lifted. The journey to find the map that took me to the land of Happiness became more visible to me. That moment was Mindful Awareness or what Diana Winston calls Natural Awareness.

The above reflection came to me when someone congratulated me on Linkedin on the 13th year of my work anniversary at Perfectly Here. My journey to the mine of happiness opened the doors to meet Daniel Davis who also happened to be a Buddhist and Mindfulness teacher for InsightLA.

Our life together led us to start Mindful Valley in 2007, which later became Perfectly Here. Back then, Mindfulness was rarely heard of in the mainstream conventional world. It was a great challenge for us to spread the word.

Now, 15 years later,

Mindfulness and wisdom teachings are talked about and practiced in many homes and work settings all over the world. The treasure map to the mine of happiness is found and millions of people are reaping the H-Wealth benefits of this vast treasure mine. Thankfully it’s the kind of mine that keeps producing and never goes out, available to each person on this planet.

Do you ever wonder where this treasure mine of Mindfulness, peace and happiness is that people keep talking about and write about?

Well, its location is the nearest address you’ve ever travelled to. This Happiness Mine’s treasures include the ability to see both the beauty and the horror, the jungle of thoughts and the peaceful empty spaces. Treasures that equal to having the most loving parents, the most truthful caring friendships and most security and wealth. Treasures of peace and joy as dependable as the earth itself. When you cultivate this treasure mine you can harvest its treasures whenever you need them or desire them.

The location of the Mine of Mindfulness, Peace and Happiness

Is none other than the inner world of your own heart and mind. You may get to this location within yourself by a map I call the KADTO, an acronym, I created for the cycle of Knowledge, Awareness, Development, Transformation and Optimization. A cycle I’ve gone through over and over and you can, too.

Read more about KADTO in Manijeh Motaghy’s upcoming book.