Chapter 2 – Happiness

Key concepts:

Happiness is the goal of all human pursuits. We turn away from anything that we dislike, that causes sorrow and discomfort (duhkha nivritti); we chase after anything that we like or find agreeable, that provides comfort and joy (sukha praapti).

At the collective level of nations and governments, as well as the individual, we are constantly trying to change, manipulate and rearrange things in the outer world to secure a more comfortable, happy life. However, it is not possible to:

a)  make everyone happy, because individual likes and dislikes vary

b) whatever changes we make in the outer world cannot last

We are always discontented due to two factors:

·        Excessive preoccupation with the body and the senses

·        Expectations about situations and people

Material success does not equate to happiness, as evidenced by the lives of the rich and famous leading unhappy, dysfunctional lives.

The ancient Vedantic masters have examined and analyzed where happiness is located.  We experience joy through our sense organs , therefore we believe that joy lies in the sense objects. For example, when we hear pleasing, melodious music that come through our ear, we think the music brings us joy. We think we can be happier if we get more of the objects our senses crave. We still find that it does not increase our happiness/ If joy were located in the objects, then an object should provide the same amount of joy to anyone who comes into contact with it – we know this is not the case. As the saying goes, “one man’s nectar is another man’s poison”.

Happiness is a state of mind.

·        When the mind is agitated, we feel sorrow and stress

·        When the mind is calm, we feel happy

Happiness is measured by the tranquility of the mind. Of course, sense objects can bring us happiness – although this is fleeting. The capacity of achieving happiness lies within us. We do not have to look outside, nor be dependent on objects, to be truly happy. We can achieve this goal by learning to quieten the mind.

A mind full of desires is an agitated mind. Happiness =

number of desires fulfilled

number of desires entertained

We can increase our happiness quotient in two ways:

·        Increasing the numerator (Caution: fulfilling more desires will give rise to new desires, increasing the denominator, and leading to decreased happiness)

·        Decreasing the denominator