Happiness
Good Morning,
It's the weekend and we are supposedly in for a warm one! I just wanted to wish everyone a great one and thank you all for the many posts you are each putting up on the site (www.thedailybuddha.com). I know we can all find many things to complain about so it is nice to see so many positive and intelligent comments on the site. I will keep it short today and end with a positive thought and goal for us all:
Thousands of candles can be lit from a single candle, and the life of that candle will not be shortened. Happiness never decreases by being shared. Buddha
Have a beautiful day and try to enjoy someone you know in a different way.
Peace and Love, Jim
jim@thedailybuddha.com
www.thedailybuddha.com
posted by The Daily Buddha at 7:11 AM
3 Comments:
Ah happiness... the so-called "goal" in life for many people. Growing up, I was told that the key to life was happiness, and that if I am happy with my life, I have achieved my goal. Should I become unhappy, I have lost my goal - and I need to reclaim it.
After taking Mr. Day's philosophy classes, he made us think about our "happy box". If we were happy all the time, how would we know if we are truly happy anymore? Simple question, but hard for many to understand. You can only be happy by being sad, angry, depressed, scared, and a number of other emotions - including love. If you cannot love someone or something, you cannot experience happiness.
Think about it... If you truly love something or someone, you go through all these emotions at some point. If you were to lose that peron/thing you love, you would be sad, depressed, or angry. When you are with that person/thing, you can be all those same things, but probably mostly happy because you are enjoying your time with them/it. When I say "love", I do not mean that you have to be "in love" with them/it. It can merly be a pleasurable feeling you have when you think about it.
So, if you can't experience life without knowing all the emotions, happy, sad, angry, depressed, etc... then: life == love :)
Ahh you have touched upon so much more than you know my friend! We are indeed mostly happy when we are with the things we love. The question is does happiness lie within that thing/person? Does happiness lie within the relationship between you and said thing/person?
If happiness DOES NOT lie within the thing/person OR the relationship with thing/person then where does happiness lie?
How many people do you know can be happy alone with themselves for extended periods? I personally do not believe happiness is an illusion or something that can not be acheived. We simply must be mindful of where we think that happiness comes from, otherwise we may appear like dogs chasing their tails.
As you have alluded to happiness can only be understood through compassion, and yes. . . love :)
yea, i guess "compassion" is a better word for it; since "love" is such a strong word for something so difficult to explain. Many people have a hard time wrapping their head around what love is. Not to mention that people feel love can only be used when you are infatuated with something/someone.
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