There seems to be this idea that spiritual advancement and increased happiness go hand-in-hand. Just ask Oprah Winfrey.

Happiness and joy are not hallmarks of wisdom and understanding, any more than sorrow and regret are signs of immaturity. We are not individual gods, creating our own realities as we see fit. To suggest no one but ourself is responsible for our life, is to turn a blind eye to the real injustices that exist.

We do not choose our parents, nor the country we are born in.
We do not choose who will cross our paths.
We do not choose other people's choices.

Yes, it IS true that if we expect others to provide our happiness FOR us, we will usually be disappointed. This has more to do with the expectation than it does with what others do, or do not do.

We are not in complete control-if one does not recognize this, then this, in turn, can create its own unhappiness. We are finite beings (at least physically) and as such, we should pick our battles carefully. Not every battle can be conquered through willpower and focus alone.

There's nothing wrong with loving yourself-it's the basis of self-respect, something others typically approve of, and avoids some common traps people fall into. But, in my opinion, loving others is a higher calling: we are too focused on "the self" (or one's self) as the center of everything. It's not (ask any mother).

Furthermore, to totally discount anyone else as having anything to do with our own happiness, is to give short shrift to true acts of love. Our reality is not just internal, the environment we live in affects us, in many ways, including our feelings.

Just the devil's advocate in me, taking exception to an "irrefutable law".

Really a demigod as a sales slogan and they made it this far without a war, Oh wait maybe rethink that.

Jesus is at best dead. No god or gods ever existed except in people's minds. Read Feuerbach and his Das Wesen des Christentums.

Unfortunately most don't and are seeking it from someone else to make them "whole".

Goes along with "if you think the world owes you a living, better write it off as a bad debt"

Exactly!