To Be Happy and Free of Suffering

Every single sentient being wishes to be happy and free of suffering.
By no means does Buddhism say this is wrong; rather, this is where we
start from.
The very root of this yearning for happiness, this yearning to be free
of suffering, is the fundamental expression of the buddha-nature. If
for the time being we turn our gaze away from the myriad ways that we can
stray from the agenda–trying to find happiness by buying a more
luxurious car, or a bigger house, or getting a better job–and just come back
to the primary desire of wishing to be happy, we find at the very
source of our yearning for happiness the buddha-nature wanting to realize
itself. It’s like a seed that wants to spring into the sunlight.
Sometimes it gets terribly contorted, when we want to injure somebody else for
the sake of our own happiness, but the fundamental yearning is
something to be embraced.
–from “The Four Immeasurables: Cultivating a Boundless Heart” by B.
Alan Wallace, edited by Zara Houshmand, published by Snow Lion
Publications