Happiness is within us
What is happiness, and why is this incessant running after it? What does it mean to be happy? What is the difference between happiness and pleasure?
It is a hot summer day, and you feel thirsty. A friend offers you a refreshing cold glass of lemonade. How do you feel when you see the glass? How do you feel when to drink it?
Will you describe your feeling as happiness or as pleasure? I believe you will say it is a feeling of pleasure. There is a connection between these two kinds of feelings, and sometime one evokes the other, but they are not the same thing. Pleasure is more dependent on the five senses while happiness is independent of them.
Pleasure is a good feeling that comes from eating good food, watching a good movie, feeling the warm caressing rays of the sun on a winter day, enjoying a party, etc.
Pleasure has to do with enjoyment through the five senses and is dependent on circumstances, objects and people.
When you are happy, minor unpleasant events usually do not disturb you. When you are unhappy, you feel as if everything is against you. You may compensate for it by eating chocolate and sweets because this gives you pleasure; yet you stay unhappy.
A person may smoke cigarettes because it gives him pleasure, yet, this does not make him happier, especially if he acknowledges the fact that it is not be good for his health.
There are people who fear that if they experience happiness, it is soon going to be taken away from them. They regard it as a temporary state and are afraid to experience it. In this way they avoid the pain that may follow when it goes away. They believe that happiness is always followed by unhappiness.
Others may go to the extreme of not seeking it at all, because they feel unworthy of it, and prefer to avoid it. There are also people who upon experiencing it, always look around, wondering wherefrom will come the blow.
The physical world is always in a state of flux. At each moment a new thing is being created, sustained, changed, transformed and then destroyed. This is the normal state of affairs and no one can change it. If we attach ourselves to a certain state, we are bound to experience unhappiness sooner or later. No state remains as it is. These are the laws of nature. When circumstances change, and the changes are not to our liking, we experience unhappiness. On the other hand, if we exercise detachment, nothing can influence our moods. Then outer events have nothing to do with our inner joy and peace of mind.
From the moment of birth there is yearning for happiness and endless race towards it. It is considered as one of the greatest positive attributes. If we analyze our actions we see that all of them are in some way or another, happiness oriented. Everyone wants to feel good and happy. When circumstances and events are to our liking we are happy, and when they are not, we feel miserable.
When do we experience this coveted state? This feeling emerges when some problem has been solved, a burden has been lifted, a fear has disappeared or a desire or ambition has been fulfilled. We also experience it at a time we acquire or receive something we wanted very much. It comes when we are assured of the love of someone dear to us, when we win a sum of money in the lottery or when we get good grades at school.
What happens at these times? The tension that has been accumulating while we were pursuing, waiting, expecting or desiring is released. There is no more any need to run after the coveted object or evade a fear. Some tension, worry or burden has been lifted. At this moment happiness appears. It is a kind of feeling that erupts from the inside.
When something happens that puts to an end or brings to a happy conclusion, a search, a worry, a fear or anything else, our minds become calm. We then have no need to think, worry or desire the object, event or circumstances. There is a kind of a mental relaxation, which makes happiness manifest.
The room of the mind was filled with desire, worry or fear. Now the room has been emptied, and the mind freed of the compulsion of thinking about them. There is freedom, a feeling of ease, inner peace and joy.
Watch your mind next time you experience happiness and see what is happening. You will find out that the mind becomes quiet, and its constant chatter stops for a while. You will see that happiness comes from the inside.
By Remez Sasson
Source: rafed.net
Other links:
9 Things You Can Do to Be Happy in the Next 30 Minutes
Lack of joy in life ups early death risk
Feeling happy? Spread it around
14 Quick Energy Boosters
Fruits and Personalities
