Misery nourishes your ego; happiness is basically a state of egolessness. That is the very crux of the problem. That’s why people find it very difficult to be happy.

Misery has many things to give to you which happiness cannot give. On the contrary, happiness takes away many things from you. Happiness takes all that you have ever had, all that you have ever been; happiness destroys you.

Misery nourishes your ego, and happiness is basically a state of egolessness. That is the problem, the very crux of the problem. That’s why people find it very difficult to be happy.

That’s why millions of people in the world have to live in misery, have decided to live in misery. It gives you a very, very crystallized ego. Miserable, you are. Happy, you are not. In misery: crystallization; in happiness you become diffused.

If this is understood then things become very clear. Misery makes you special. Happiness is a universal phenomenon; there is nothing special about it. Trees are happy and animals are happy and birds are happy.