I like the notion of ceasing to be unhappy. I liked very much when you said "as for 'happiness,' so far as it inherently means satisfaction, our mind's natural functioning must be contentment, " and then the words attributed to Socrates: "Contentment is natural wealth ... . He who is not contented with what he has, would not be contented with what he would like to have."

It disappointed me that you in other places returned to happiness being our natural condition. I believe in the pursuit of contentment not the pursuit of happiness and do not believe that happiness is a natural state. I write often in essays and comments that I believe that happiness, and sadness (not to be confused with mania or depression) are each fleeting emotional states that provide us with useful signals. Thus I seek contentment, which is not settling but a hopefully high-altitude baseline, coming from within and connection to without. It doesn’t stem from the acquisition of attachments but awareness of connection to the world and the universe as a living, breathing, and heart-beating organism and from alignment of mind and soul and discerning my why — my drive — from discovering who I am at my core.

I wager that based on your use of contentment at other points in the story, you do too and I wish you had stayed intellectually rigorous to the distinction for the benefit of your readers.