Radical Happiness is the happiness that exists at our core and doesn’t come and go with circumstances. The opportunity to realize this happiness exists in every moment—for anyone—when we are simply present in the moment. It is the happiness that comes from awakening to the truth of who we really are and living in the world as a unique expression of that.

The Now: The Now is the space in which everything is happening. Or it could be said that the Now is the present moment. Of course, the present moment is all that exists, since the past and future are simply thoughts about the past and the future. But because we are programmed to pay attention to our thoughts, we often fail to notice what is actually going on now. Most people live in a mental world. When we drop out of this mental world into the Now, we experience a depth, a richness, and a joy and peace that feel sacred. This is the experience of our true self, or Essence. So, when we talk about being in the Now, we are also talking about this experience of our essential Self, or Essence.

Essence: Essence is who we really are, the divine Self that is living this life through us. It is our essential goodness. We are actually spiritual beings playing at being human beings. Essence is the individualized expression of the Oneness behind all life.

The ego: The ego is the idea of who we are (not who we really are) that is created by thoughts about ourselves: "I am fat, tall, a father, a hard worker, a musician, not good enough." These thoughts create the false self, the sense of who we are as an individual. The ego is also a primitive aspect of the mind related to survival and the storehouse of conditioned ideas and beliefs.

The egoic mind: The egoic mind is the aspect of the mind that reflects and is driven by the ego. It is the voice in our head that chatters on. It is the ongoing mental commentary that we think of as our thoughts. The egoic mind is different from the functional, or practical, aspect of the mind that we use to read, learn, calculate, analyze, and so forth. The functional mind doesn't speak to us but is a tool we use when engaged in tasks that require us to think.

Conditioning: Our conditioning is comprised of beliefs, opinions, judgments, “shoulds,” and any number of other ideas that belong to our psychological makeup, most of which we acquired from other people, particularly from those who raised us, from our culture, and from what we have experienced and concluded about life. This conditioning affects what we like and don't like and how we see and react to the world, and we often respond unconsciously to it without realizing we have a choice.

Spiritual Awakening: Spiritual awakening refers to the shift from identification with the ego, or false self, to the recognition of yourself as Consciousness. This shift happens whenever we are simply in the moment without all of our thoughts. However, generally "awakening" implies a more permanent shift to living from a place of non-identification with the ego and alignment with our true nature.