Happiness

Seeking satisfaction of desires is intrinsic to human nature. The satisfaction is supposed to lead to happiness and it may rarely happen. Desires are endless, one gets satisfied and is promptly replaced by others. Satisfaction is simply reflection of the past while wishes, desires, and ambitions are things in the future. The future is just a dream and the past is memory. It is only the present that one is in real contact with and has any control over; what one does in the present shapes the future. Understanding this simple fact can go a long way in finding happiness and success.

Happiness is an attitude of mind and it can only come from within. There is no 'how to' help for being happy. Success does not necessarily bring happiness unless it is considered in terms of achievement and self-satisfaction. But that happiness is always temporary. Success and achievement both imply an end - the end of an effort. Happiness is not some destination we arrive at; it is always from moment to moment and therefore, in the present.

The main problem lies in understanding what happiness is. Understanding is not a matter of knowledge; it is always intuitive and comes like a flash. Happiness that results from any thought or action is different from the one that comes spontaneously, for example, from watching the beauty of a serene sunset or some other phenomena in nature. In that enchanting moment the person becomes one with nature without any thought in the mind. The same happens when there is no desire. Desire always brings thinking and the mind can never be calm while thinking.

It may be argued that watching nature or listening to music is also a kind of action that is always prompted by some motive. Life itself is action. What we are talking about is action without any desire for the result associated with it. It is extremely difficult to put this into practice but in a way we do it all the time. We do not breathe thinking that it is a matter of life and death. There are other functions of the body of which we are not conscious. In nature it happens all the time. A flower blooms without any expectation that it will be appreciated and will be useful to others. A bird sings with no thought of whether or not anyone will listen to its song. Everything in nature represents self-expression. If we take the clue from nature, we should also be able to consider every action as self-expression.

Another negative aspect of action prompted by desire is that one wastes precious time in waiting anxiously for the result. The satire of the life for most of us is that we are all waiting for something. The object of waiting may be as mundane and commonplace as waiting for the result of a lottery or it may be as lofty as waiting for nirvana. In almost all cases the result is uncertain and beyond our control. Once we realize this fact it may be easier to perform action without any concern about the result.

The action resulting from desire may not be always related to the expectation of fruit.Still it has a negative aspect; if the person is conscious of the action. It is no longer self-expression. Virtues in people are admired. However, if a virtue is practiced deliberately, it is no longer a virtue. Take humility for example. If we are being humble fully aware of our humility, it ceases to be humility; it becomes a part of our ego. In an abstract way the same is true of happiness. As soon as we become conscious of our happiness we cease to be happy; the mind gets involved in a thought process and drifts away from the state of happiness.

Happiness is always related to an individual. It is clear that we have been talking about two different types of happiness. One relates to the body and the other to the soul, which represent the duality inherent to an individual's existence. Both types of happiness are desirable, and even essential in life. No happiness lasts forever. The happiness that comes from the fulfillment of desires is transient because it benefits only the body and the ego. That which comes from the calm state of mind and is self-expression benefits the soul and in that sense it is not temporary. The body is perishable, the soul is not.