By Susanna Eun, author of 99% of Your Being: A Transformative Journey to Your True Self
Happiness vs. Total Liberation: 1% vs. 99% of You
Which Path Would You Choose?
If you ask most people what they want out of life, the answer is almost always the same: I just want to be happy. Happiness, in one form or another, is treated as the ultimate goal of life. For some, it means good health and longevity. For others, it’s a stable marriage, healthy children, or financial security. Some define it through accomplishments: a thriving career, recognition, or creative success.
These goals are not trivial—they provide motivation, comfort, and stability. Yet if happiness really is the end of the road, why do so many people who seem to “have it all” confess to feeling hollow inside? I have met wealthy individuals, people with status and fame, who admit privately that something is still missing.
That gap—that unexplained emptiness—was also my companion for decades.
The Silent Cry
Even with health, security, and family, there is a silent voice within almost everyone. It whispers: I want to feel loved, respected, safe, and my life is meaningful.
It is this cry that fuels our modern obsessions. That’s why so many post pictures online and check compulsively for more “likes” or more followers. Others scroll endlessly through dating apps, hoping the next person will bring the love they crave. Some spiritually-bent folks binge self-help books, meditation apps, or online spiritual courses, searching for the magic solution.
There’s nothing inherently wrong with these pursuits—they’re part of being human in this day and age. Beneath the surface, however, all of us are searching for the same thing: validation of our existence. We want to know, deep in our bones, that we are good enough and that we matter.
But what I discovered after decades of seeking is that kind of assurance does not come from other people, achievements, or even trying to become our “higher self.” It has to arise from something far deeper.
The Spiritual Chase
Like so many seekers, I threw myself into spiritual practice. Over three decades, I devoured books, meditated daily, attended retreats, and experimented with every path that promised answers. Along the way, I experienced breathtaking glimpses of extraordinary states, many times. There were moments when I felt I had finally “arrived.”
But no matter how profound these experiences seemed, doubt always returned. Old anxieties crept back. The longing never left. It was as though my breakthroughs were just visitors, never permanent residents in my heart.
I wanted more than occasional relief. I wanted freedom—not the kind you read about in self-help/spiritual books, but the kind you could completely re-invent yourself. I wanted to feel as light as a bird, unburdened by fear or the endless need for validation.
My search eventually brought me to Advaita Non-Duality and Buddhist teachings. Teachers like Ramana Maharshi, Nisargadatta Maharaj, and Alan Watts pierced me with their words: Who am I? I am That. You’re It. These teachings are timeless and beautiful, but I often found them too abstract, too far from everyday life. They pointed to something incredible but rarely showed how others could embody their wisdom.
My long-time questions gnawed at me: Why was I born? What is my true purpose? Deep in my heart, there was another whisper: you have an assignment to complete.
Losing Faith in the Search
Gradually, I grew weary of the spiritual marketplace. Too many books and seminars circling around the same themes: eliminate negative thoughts, cultivate positivity, practice gratitude, live in the now. Each had value, but none touched the root of my longing.
It felt as if everyone was rearranging the furniture in the same small room, while no one was showing me the door to the mansion outside.
When I complained about my lack of progress to my teacher, his advice was simple: “Follow the tried-and-true path. Observe yourself constantly, just as the Buddha instructed.” I tried. For years, I tried. But the goalpost never seemed to move closer.
Then, unexpectedly, something happened that changed everything.
A Recurring Dream
For years, a strange dream returned again and again. In it, I saw only words—99% of Your Being—floating against a backdrop of endless sky. No explanation. No context. Just those words.
I didn’t understand them, but I couldn’t ignore them. Every few months, the dream came back. I meditated, contemplated, even prayed to understand meaning of those words, but no clue emerged. For nearly three years, the mystery remained sealed.
Then one rainy morning, as I sat in my car watching raindrops trace down the windshield, a sudden “knowing” washed over me. Unlike any teaching I had read or practiced, this insight struck me at the core. My whole body felt it before my mind could form the words.
The dream had been pointing to the most obvious yet overlooked truth:
Most of us live from only 1% of who we are. That 1% (commonly called ego) is the small self—defined by labels, fears, beliefs, and memories. It is the world of constant striving and never enough. In the 1%, we identify with the body and the restless mind. All human drama—the victories, the heartbreaks, the hopes, the despair—unfolds in this cramped little zone. At best, we polish it and call it “happiness.”
Then there is the other 99%.
The 99% is the vast, luminous core of our being—the very Life Force of the Creator. It is the same intelligence that makes the earth spinning itself while orbiting around the sun, guides the stars, blossoms flowers, grows a baby’s fingers, and orchestrates every heartbeat. Saints and sages throughout history tapped into this truth. They realized that the personal self is an illusion, a mirage born of ignorance. They embraced the 99% as their true identity.
That rainy morning, I knew with unshakable certainty: the only way to end the deep insecurity that haunts humanity is to remember and embody our 99%.
Liberation Arrived
With that realization, Non-Duality was no longer philosophy—it became truth to be lived.
I felt in communion with Maharshi, Maharaj, the Buddha, even Jesus. Their teachings all pointed to the same:
- You are not your perishable body.
- You are not your restless mind.
- You are not even the “spirit” as you imagine.
- You are the Creator’s own pulse—eternal, infinite, and free.
The relief was indescribable. For the first time, I felt utterly free—free from human-made concepts, free from the prison of identity, free even from the need to “seek.”
I Had to Write the Book
This discovery made one thing clear: humanity’s greatest suffering is not poverty, sickness, or failure. It is not knowing who we truly are.
We chase happiness in the 1%—health, wealth, recognition—when what we truly long for is liberation in the 99%. That is why I had to write 99% of Your Being. The message was too urgent, too vast to keep to myself.
In the book, I outline a simple yet radical path: let go of the 1% identity and rediscover the fullness of our true nature. Once we touch the 99%, life changes. Challenges remain, but they no longer define us. Peace arises naturally, not as something cultivated, but as something that emerges on its own.
The Lightness of Being
There is a film called The Unbearable Lightness of Being. Its title captures perfectly what happens when you discard the 1% and step into the 99%. The heaviness of separation, fear, and striving falls away. What remains is lightness—the lightness of puffy clouds, gentle breezes, and rays of sunshine after rain.
When you live from the 99%, you no longer need validation. You do not need a guru, a special teacher, or even an ascended master. You are already complete and whole. Every cell in your body radiates the Life Force of the Creator. Compassion, kindness, and acceptance naturally flow.
The Choice Before Us
Our time on this planet is brief, even if time itself is an illusion. Why spend it clinging to beliefs that never brought peace? Why remain confined to the 1% when the doorway to freedom is always open?
So here is the choice:
- Pursue happiness in the fragile 1%—health, wealth, status, and fleeting success.
- Awaken to liberation in the 99%—freedom from all limiting beliefs and identities, alive as the Creator’s own expression.
Which will you choose?
? This post is adapted from insights shared in my upcoming book, 99% of Your Being.
Author Bio:
Susanna Eun is a doctor of Chinese medicine, nutritionist, energy healer, lecturer, author, and spiritual student/teacher. Holding a PhD in telecommunication research from Michigan State University, she once worked an industry analyst on Wall Street before she started working in healing. She believes her life-goal is to lessen pain and suffering of all forms ? physical, emotional, and spiritual. Her first book: The Seed of Christ/Buddha within You, was published in 2014. In her spare time, she enjoys dancing Argentine tango, playing piano, and practicing yoga. For more information you can visit her website at https://susannaeun.com/
