Taking inputs from modern psychology and spiritual thoughts, the happiness can be categorized as follows:-
(i) Happiness from virtues
(ii) Happiness from satisfaction in life.
(iii) Happiness from positive emotions.
(iv) Bliss or Happiness coming from inside
Happiness from virtues
All of us have different virtues such as honesty, capability to do hard work, truthfulness, generosity, helpfulness, spreading happiness etc. All these virtues bring happiness in a person. . Some people are often seen claiming proudly that they have been honest throughout their life and they feel happy about it. Some people have a feeling of happiness and pride in claiming to have rarely spoken any lies. There are people who feel happy while proudly claiming their bravery, about how they defended the nation, how they fought against criminals or how they protected someone’s life. So virtues are a great source of happiness. One should not only possess virtues but also be aware about them to feel happiness. To enhance our virtues, we should take inspiration from virtuous people. Happiness can also be felt through virtues of other people once we relate to them. For example, we may appreciate a cricketer like Mahendra Singh Dhoni and feel happy about how calm he remains during all situations. We may also appreciate an actor like Amitabh Bachchan and feel happy about how elegantly he conducts his programs and acts in movies, even at this age. Hence, having virtues, being conscious about the virtues and appreciating virtues of others can also be a source of happiness.
Happiness from satisfaction in life
Feeling satisfied after fulfilling our obligations or doing our duty towards someone or after achieving what we expected, always gives us happiness. For example, when we do our duty towards our parents or grandparents, we get a sense of satisfaction. On the other hand, a person who does not do his duty, continues to be dissatisfied somewhere deep inside even if he is feeling satisfied in general. Somebody can feel satisfied and happy even by offering water to a thirsty cow or keeping water for thirsty birds on roof tops. These acts may not be directly benefitting them but the satisfaction they derive from these acts gives them happiness. Students may feel satisfied after studying enough and performing well in exams and this feeling gives them happiness. A sports person may feel satisfied by playing up to the expectation of his coach or scoring a big win for his country. A Government officer may feel satisfied by doing his duty for the public, a teacher may feel satisfied when a student scores good marks and a policeman may feel satisfied if there is no crime in his area. So, satisfaction in life can be one of the biggest cause of happiness.
Happiness from positive emotions
Positive emotions add to our happiness whereas negative emotions reduce our happiness. While singing or dancing, one can feel joy in the activity as it takes us to higher and higher levels of happiness. When we express gratitude, we feel happy or when we achieve serenity, we feel peace and happiness. Likewise, when we visit a beautiful place we feel like appreciating the beauty and in turn feel happy. Similarly, when we see an extraordinary monument like the Taj Mahal or the Eiffel Tower, we are filled with wonder and feel happy about seeing it. Taking pride and celebrating our actions and achievements can also give us happiness whereas, thrills in activities like rafting or mountaineering also make us happy. On top of all positive emotions, there is love, which we may feel towards our near and dear ones, our pets, plants, our country etc. and get happiness.
On the other hand, emotions of jealousy, hatred and negative attitude will always reduce our happiness. Having a nature of getting angry for no reason takes away not only one’s happiness but also the happiness of other people. Feeling guilty is also a state of mind which obstructs our happiness. Apart from these, fear is a negative emotion, which can suddenly stop us from being happy.
One can get positive emotions in various activities like music, dance, social gatherings, shows, movies, etc. Festivals also foster happiness. For example, during the Indian festival of Rakshabandhan, there is an exchange of positive emotions between brother and sister, during the festival of colours Holi, positive emotions are felt while playing with colours. Another great source of positive emotions are celebrations and ceremonies. Attending marriage functions, birthdays, celebrations of success and achievements also give us lots of happiness. When someone is in problem, hope can be a great source of happiness while having no hope may deteriorate mental health and even lead to wrong actions by a person.
Bliss or happiness coming from inside
In general, people are in the grip of negative or positive emotions generated as a result of their past or present actions. Our past experiences influence our tendencies, behaviour and character. However, somewhere deep in our minds, we have space of purity, peace and love. When we are able to connect to this space, we can start feeling happiness coming from inside which is also called bliss.
One becomes angry or frustrated by connecting to the negative impressions of mind. Similarly, one can remain peaceful and happy by connecting to the vast space of purity, peace and love. When we overcome/bypass the impressions generated due to our past actions, we can find bliss. The happiness coming from inside or bliss does not depend on external circumstances. The people who get happiness from inside can always remain in a positive state of mind. Outside circumstances may have some effect but do not push a person into negativity. This dimension of happiness is often talked about in various spiritual systems and traditions of the world. Some people feel it by connecting to the divine light in their heart, some people can also feel it by doing acts for much larger cause without any selfish interest. People can also feel it by their devotion to a system of worship or a perfect saint or some other process which takes them deep inside to connect with divinity or purest of the pure thought. Bliss has been referred to as Ananda in eastern traditions. Various yogic or spiritual traditions tell methods or paths of achieving inner happiness or bliss. A person who feel bliss become peaceful, happy and contended. Bliss is the highest level of happiness.
Remaining Happy
To remain happy in all circumstances, it is important to get happiness of all the four types described earlier. People with good virtues and doing their duties for the satisfaction may still look gloomy if they do not have the positive emotions. It is important for them to derive positive emotions from activities like singing, dancing, festivals, ceremonies, etc. Similarly, the people who are always busy with activities like celebrations, dancing, etc., may still not be happy if they lack virtues or do not perform their duties. Feeling satisfied as a result of our good actions stabilises our state of mind and gives us steady happiness. Virtues give us happiness which is inbuilt, whereas positive emotions raise the level of happiness to greater heights. However, negative emotions like jealousy, hatred, etc., can bring down the level of happiness or even turn our mood into a negative one.
Bliss is a kind of happiness which develops a buffer or spiritual capital. Moreover, its steady flow ensures that our dependence on circumstances or external factors reduces to a great extent. Bliss is felt during meditation as well as sometimes during acts of generosity or loving somebody from the heart. Bliss ensures that we never fall into the negative side of happiness and hence, do not indulge into activities related to negative emotions or sadness. A blissful person always remains positive however, his happiness level may go up and down depending upon the other three factors. To conclude, we can say that all four components of happiness are very important and required in our life.
Happiness for all
Happiness can be achieved through various methods, but for happiness to be long lasting, we should ensure happiness of others around us also. If people around us, whether in office, home or neighbourhood are not happy, it will adversely affect us as well. Even if they don’t create troubles for us, we may still feel sad looking at their bad or miserable condition. From time immemorial, all cultures and societies have emphasized on community service, inclusive approach, brotherhood, charity, being concerned about others etc. Moreover, as we try to live happily with others, our happiness also increases manifold. For example, games like football, cricket, hockey etc., can only be played when we have sufficient number of players. Likewise, activities like dramatics, cultural programmes, festivals, celebrations etc., can be manifested along with others only. In group meditation, a person enjoys even more than individual meditation because of the group effect. It is like getting more light when a group of people sit together, each holding a lit candle compared to the light when a single person is sitting alone with a single lit candle.
Happiness for all is not an independent concept but a concept of having a caring attitude towards others, doing group activities, community activities etc. The concept can be further extended to the animal and plant kingdoms as well. All dairy products come from the animal kingdom. If we live lovingly with animals, we would be benefited to a greater extent as we consume so many resources coming from animals since animals also reciprocate the love. It is an established fact that cattle that are served well, give better quality milk. We get fresh air to breathe and food to eat from plants and animals, hence it is important to take care of them. As we are able to appreciate the subtle effects of aromas, we will learn to value flowers.
If the concept of happiness for all is applied to the whole world, there will be no need of defence systems and the tremendous resources can be utilised for welfare of people. All it requires is changing the approach from “I will be better than others” to “I will be happy with others”. Some of the important concepts of happiness for all are given below:-
Relationships
Relationships are the most important aspect of developing bond with others. Unless we have good relationships, it becomes difficult to interact with others and work with them. Many a times we try to please others and still fail. The best approach in having healthy relationships is not to try to please people but to do our duty towards them. As we do our duty, sooner or later the other person starts valuing our relationship. But if we make lot of efforts in trying to please a person and the other person is not in the mood to get pleased at that time, we get frustrated which leads to degradation of relationship . In this duty based approach, we always remain positive towards others and the other person becomes positive when the right time comes.
Non-Entanglement
Many times we get entangled in a situation if we are not careful. For example, when someone discusses their present or past situations with us, we start advising and helping. This may sometimes lead to quarrels and we may get entangled unnecessarily. These things consume our energy unnecessarily and spoil our happiness. We should neither get entangled nor entangle others, rather we should laugh and make others laugh. Laughing or cracking jokes when such a situation arises may be the best way to avoid getting entangled. So many issues and differences get sorted out by choosing to laugh rather than brooding over and getting entangled. Laughing is not only good for our health but is also very important for developing relationships and in turn ensuring happiness for others.
Acceptance
When we work with others, we may come across people who are not of our liking. They may have some quality which we consider bad or they may not be efficient in work or have a bad behavior. Similarly, we may get into situations which we find uncomfortable, for example, we may be given a task which we don’t like to do. But again the solution is acceptance of the people as well as the situation. In order to ensure happiness for all, it is important that we accept the people the way they are and also accept the situation in which we are. After acceptance, we can try to find solution which may be gently requesting others to change their ways or ignoring things which we don’t like. . Similarly, for difficult situations, we may try to find a solution to come out of it or choose the option of going alone.
Happy Forever: The Art and Science of Everlasting Happiness
By Dr Narendra Kumar Arya
The book will help you find your everlasting Happiness
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