Life, freedom and the search for happiness. We live our lives chasing happiness "on the outside" as if it were a commodity. We have become slaves to our own desires and longings. Happiness is not something that can be chased or bought like a cheap suit. This is Maya, illusion, the endless play of forms. In the Buddhist tradition, Samsara, or the endless cycle of suffering, is perpetuated by the desire for pleasure and aversion to pain.