True happiness, what it is, how you can get there

What is the meaning of life? Happiness. To be happy. Everyone wants happiness. Crooks wants to be happy, your mother wants to be happy, your dying uncle wants to be happy. Everyone wants to be happy, and they think they will get there through good things. Okay? So goodness is happiness. Good things, bring happiness. A good house, a good marriage, they bring happiness, okay, but somethings don't bring happiness, like addiction or excessive gambling, so while they may seem good, they aren't, and the reason is because they don't make you truly happy. So, how can you be truly happy? What is true happiness? True happiness is the True Good. If good things bring happiness, then a perfect good brings perfect happiness. But what is that? Well, it isn't found on earth, it's a higher spiritual ideal.

Okay, so let's say you don't believe in anything, but you have to believe that the universe exists, so there is some type of order to the universe, whatever that order is, that is the higher spiritual ideal we are talking about.

So let's say you are a materialist, you think the universe is material, but maybe operates on chance and you dislike religion, okay, but you have to admit there are constant scientific laws. That is the higher ideal we are talking about.

If you are religious, but you only believe what you were taught, okay, then the truth is the higher ideal.

Nothing else is as perfect, so nothing else can give true happiness.

So, why is it perfect? Well if the universe exists, its existence is unchallenged, it can't ever cease to exist, even when you dream, reality still exists, and you wake up in the same reality every day.

Scientific laws can not be overturned by a majority opinion, they can occasionally be overcome through force, but eventually what goes up must come down, nature returns to order.

And the truth, if you are religious, is in your mind unmoveable so it is the "anchor" by which your beliefs are set in place.

So that is the true good, which is why only that can bring true happiness.

And how so? By contemplating the true good as opposed to temporal things, things on a daily level. Rather than caring about trivial things, care about the eternal.

Talking about the higher ideal is good, and even if you don't believe it exists, you can still contemplate it on an abstract level, so that is how to PARTICIPATE in its higher being. I also like to think about the higher ideal, and understand its simplicity, and imagine the implications of this. By freeing myself from temporal thoughts, I start to think about the eternal thought, and that is a deeper sense of enlightenment and being than you can get from winning a sports match or having a wild party.

Not that having material gains is a bad thing. I want to be rich and famous just like most people, but I want to be happy first, then wealthy, rather than assuming I will become truly happy if I am wealthy. Without a firm base of happiness, material things can not make you truly happy unless you are already happy. Just look at wealthy people in the world who are depressed and sad, they have wealth but they don't have happiness.

www.cracked.com...

Cracked explains this very well. They give citations to sources and they make reading up on the info funny.

DP

I tend to think happiness is an extreme emotion. I prefer contentment. It's much like a sliding scale: Sadness on the low end, Contentment somewhere in the middle and Happiness at the high end.

Don't get me wrong, happiness is great, but it's fleeting and mercurial, which is why you are trying to define it. Being at peace with the here and now is more important and healthy, which ultimately brings happiness. Funny how that works.

Quests often end in disappointment, but, if one were to insist on looking for or defining happiness I would only offer a word of caution that I can't claim to have authored:

"The less I seek my source for some definitive, the closer I am to fine." Indigo Girls

reply to post by TsukiLunar


It is wrong to say the idea that people should be happy is a recent invention, that's nonsense, the idea of happiness has been around since the time of Socrates and Plato. They gave true happiness the term of The Good, in which mankind ought to seek after it. Material happiness does not make someone happy, but this is not what I'm talking about.

True happiness is not felt, it is the use and exercise of reason. They show a couple lying in bed, that's not happiness, that's temporal pleasure which lasts a temporal amount of time. True happiness is a power of the mind that is almost independent of feeling, it is more on the level of intellection and thought.

I know that happiness comes from within. OP you are really right-on to say, One needs a base of happiness FIRST. I used to seek the ---right--- job or person (especially person) or living situation, because I was horrendously unhappy from within. This was due to things that I was ignorant of at that time, and things I was in denial about. If you are someone who keeps having disasterous wrecks of relationships for example, you must stop and get with a mental health professional, if necessary, to make you have a raw realistic look inward, as painfull as that may be.
Now......I'm fairly happy. A long time later. Youth is truly, wasted on the young.

reply to post by kosmicjack


Happiness is not an objective thing, so it is not a specific thing you can point to, but the definition of happiness is goodness. Those two words are synonymous with each other, that's the definition of happiness. So a perfect good is a perfect happiness. The concept is abstract of course, otherwise it would be a material thing. True contentment is happiness so long as all your desires are met. If that is the case there is no difference between contentment and happiness. If you are dissatisfied with something, you can't be content.

reply to post by filosophia

True happiness is a power of the mind that is almost independent of feeling, it is more on the level of intellection and thought.

That is interesting! I --felt-- happier, after the Truths, intellectualy, occurred to me. Ignorance is NOT bliss!

Originally posted by simone50m
I know that happiness comes from within. OP you are really right-on to say, One needs a base of happiness FIRST. I used to seek the ---right--- job or person (especially person) or living situation, because I was horrendously unhappy from within. This was due to things that I was ignorant of at that time, and things I was in denial about. If you are someone who keeps having disasterous wrecks of relationships for example, you must stop and get with a mental health professional, if necessary, to make you have a raw realistic look inward, as painfull as that may be.
Now......I'm fairly happy. A long time later. Youth is truly, wasted on the young.

Great point, you understand that happiness must come first, that is good. And happiness does come from within, but the mind is usually preoccupied with external things so it does not have a chance to meditate on the true happiness within.

Originally posted by simone50m
reply to post by filosophia

 

True happiness is a power of the mind that is almost independent of feeling, it is more on the level of intellection and thought.

That is interesting! I --felt-- happier, after the Truths, intellectualy, occurred to me. Ignorance is NOT bliss!

Right on! The intellectual happiness is more permanent happiness because it is closer to your true self, as opposed to a material possession you hold in your hand. This is also why intellectual happiness is better, because words are endless and they don't cost anything for your mind to create, nor can you ever lose a thought. And since the truth is infinite, there are infinite things to contemplate with regards to the truth, so there is an infinite potential of happiness.

reply to post by filosophia

My 'baptism' of ascending, so-to-speak, came after I lost everything and fell through the cracks and wandered without the outward concerns,...for the most part. I think of that situation in the movie The Ten Commandments, where Moses was expelled from Egypt and all his wealthy priveleges, and when he had wandered in the desert enough, the honed metal was ready for the Maker's hand. I was wondering what you think of happiness realization in that manner?

Originally posted by simone50m
reply to post by filosophia

 

My 'baptism' of ascending, so-to-speak, came after I lost everything and fell through the cracks and wandered without the outward concerns,...for the most part. I think of that situation in the movie The Ten Commandments, where Moses was expelled from Egypt and all his wealthy priveleges, and when he had wandered in the desert enough, the honed metal was ready for the Maker's hand. I was wondering what you think of happiness realization in that manner?

That is actually the only way people can get true happiness, by first suffering some misfortune. The Roman philosopher Boethius was imprisoned and his wealth ceased, and only then did he realize the fickleness of fortune, and the true happiness within his mind. The Buddha had a similar story, he left his royal family and went into the wilderness to meditate (much like the story of Moses).

The truth is, people who have never experienced adversity can not understand what true happiness is, or that it exists within them rather than outside of themselves. They are too caught up with their trinkets of happiness and until their world gets turned upside down, they will never have the patience to contemplate philosophical happiness. Until that time, they will have to enjoy their ignorant bliss, and when misfortune strikes, you can see it rather as an opportunity to re-align yourself with true happiness, as opposed to possessions that can be taken away from you.

I've actually been struggling with this "happiness" thing for the past year (easily longer). I agree and think happiness needs a "base", but I cannot seem to find it myself. 22yrs old and have lost motivation to do anything but get out of bed and work, say hi to my girlfriend if she wants to visit (she insists that I'll 'get better'), and seek solace in silence. Am I happy? No. Content? Only when I abide or am asleep. Sad? I don't even understand that either.***

Sorry if that was off subject matter somehow or topic. Enjoy your day folks... "Don't worry, be happy."

***Not a materialistic person (anymore), I know that my "feelings" should come within. Thought I should add that in.

I don't know if this is off topic, but it has me thinking about ascension via trauma. My father was a man who loved beer and TV, and sports. He was an Athiest who loved to poke fun at the womenfolk in the family, their expressions Christianity. Then he got gravely ill and hospitalized. During that time, he left his body, and saw people and things going on in the hospital, from near the cieling, mostly. After that, while he was dying, he didn't want his room's TV on anymore. Like he only wanted to reside in monastic contemplation, until he passed.

Originally posted by Vivec
I've actually been struggling with this "happiness" thing for the past year (easily longer). I agree and think happiness needs a "base", but I cannot seem to find it myself. 22yrs old and have lost motivation to do anything but get out of bed and work, say hi to my girlfriend if she wants to visit (she insists that I'll 'get better'), and seek solace in silence. Am I happy? No. Content? Only when I abide or am asleep. Sad? I don't even understand that either.***

Sorry if that was off subject matter somehow or topic. Enjoy your day folks... "Don't worry, be happy."

***Not a materialistic person (anymore), I know that my "feelings" should come within. Thought I should add that in.

edit on 9/13/2011 by Vivec because: Pursuit of Happiness

If you seek solace in silence, you are halfway to meditation already. Try meditating. If you need any tips I can give you some. There are two ways to achieve inner happiness, through intellectual argument and through meditative experience. It is best to experience both of these at the same time if possible. Use your mind to contemplate the Self beyond your mind, while also being observant of the workings of your mind. It sounds more difficult than it really is.

Originally posted by simone50m
I don't know if this is off topic, but it has me thinking about ascension via trauma. My father was a man who loved beer and TV, and sports. He was an Athiest who loved to poke fun at the womenfolk in the family, their expressions Christianity. Then he got gravely ill and hospitalized. During that time, he left his body, and saw people and things going on in the hospital, from near the cieling, mostly. After that, while he was dying, he didn't want his room's TV on anymore. Like he only wanted to reside in monastic contemplation, until he passed.

That's sad to hear, but at least it seems like he went out peacefully. It's sad that people usually don't realize this until their time is up. That's why I am thankful I know this now and not moments before I die. I would encourage people to seek true happiness now while they still have their health, so they can enjoy the rest of their lives rather than living unhappily.

True happiness is a myth, contentment is a much more realistic possibility
2nd line..

Originally posted by Atzil321
True happiness is a myth, contentment is a much more realistic possibility

2nd line..

I already addressed that point, but I'll say it again. Contentment is not different from happiness. Happiness is a state of contentment in which nothing is lacking. If something is lacking, how can you be content? The lack makes you incontent. So they are the same thing, contentment and happiness. What difference could there be? To be mildly content is the same as being mildly happy, but true contentment is no different from true happiness. both are found within and not from without.

And true happiness is not a myth. I am truly happy and have been for many years now. I can still remember when I first experienced it and it is the same to this day.

reply to post by filosophia


I am sure you are the expert and everything, but did you even read the whole article? I mean, how can you say they are false if you are just reading the title? And where are you sources on 'True Happiness'? They give nice answers to what the concept of happiness is, Ignoring them get you nowhere.

Originally posted by kosmicjack
I tend to think happiness is an extreme emotion. I prefer contentment. It's much like a sliding scale: Sadness on the low end, Contentment somewhere in the middle and Happiness at the high end.

Don't get me wrong, happiness is great, but it's fleeting and mercurial, which is why you are trying to define it. Being at peace with the here and now is more important and healthy, which ultimately brings happiness. Funny how that works.

Quests often end in disappointment, but, if one were to insist on looking for or defining happiness I would only offer a word of caution that I can't claim to have authored:

"The less I seek my source for some definitive, the closer I am to fine." Indigo Girls

Well said, it is the balance that we seek. It is ok to feel down sometimes. People that appear overly cheery kinda annoy me! I guess that is why....although I am drawn to the light as they say....I do not associate with the various lightworker networks... They seem fake to me. It is all love and light and everything else, but I KNOW the dark...am I just supposed to forget that and be all bouyant and joyful...all the time??? I think not...it is not human nature.

I'm not saying that it is not good to strive to be positive and towards the light, but know the dark too. Ride the middle line of the Yin and Yang.