I lived as a monk and studied Zen for 20 years—here’s the No. 1 thing people miss when they talk about happiness

There is no happiness, everything is empty. I feel like the real mistake is an attachment to happiness in the first place. Let go of the desire to be happy, there I wrote the article, stop worrying about whether or not your "happy" cause it's not a real thing. Of course, easier said than done. But what do I know, I haven't lived as a monk or studied zen for 20 years, and I've certainly never written an opinion peice for msnbc.