Some classical views of Happiness
Poet
Milton says in his
book “Paradise Lost” : “The mind is its own place, and in itself
can make a heaven of hell, a hell of heaven..”. The message is clear. Happiness is a state of mind. It
is purely left to the individual to make one’s mind happy or not. Though the
above words appear to be simple and pleasing to listen, it is very difficult to
keep the mind in a state of happiness, and if does, to sustain its length and
level of happiness. It is extremely difficult either to qualify or quantify the
state of happiness of mind.
To
a question posed to many a people “Are you Happy?”, the reply appears to be “I
don’t know.” Even if a few come with a positive note, they do not know what
makes them happy. Those who are unhappy, have a bee-line of issues to list to
explain why they are unhappy. In a number of cases, one’s inability to make
some achievements, the inability to gratify a few of the personal needs, the
unhealthy comparison of the possessions, achievements and status with those of
others appear to be the nucleus of the unhappiness.
The
origin of this word ‘Happiness’ is linked to its Norse origin ‘Hap” which meant
‘luck’ or ‘chance’. In the French manifestation it referred to ‘good fortune’
and in its German avatar it again meant ‘chance’. Over long years of its
existence and use, ‘happiness’ it referred to several contexts providing –
satisfaction, joy, merriment, a status of well-being, delight, high spirits and
the like. Closely examined all these appear to be certain facets of happiness,
while the real meaning of ‘happiness’ appears to subsume all the above. In a
lighter vein, one can also consider the description of Aldous Huxley, the noted
English writer and philosopher, “Happiness is like coke — something you get as
a by-product in the process of making something else.”
Happiness,
possibly refers to something which describes a higher state of emotional and
intellectual existence. For thousands of years, leaders from several walks of
life – spirituality, religion, philosophy, psychology, sociology,
neuro-cognitive psychology have attempted to look at this word and its depth of
meaning or its related experiences in their own perspective. Each of their
endeavour brings home a new insight to our understanding of ‘happiness’.
Socrates,
one of the great philosophers and thought leader History has ever seen, speaks
in a candid manner. “The secret of happiness, you see, is not found in
seeking more, but in developing the capacity to enjoy less" This
argument is born out of an intense introspection of the process of life and a
close observation of the result of the consumerist behaviour of the human race.
‘Seeking more’ is indeed an addictive pattern the mind develops over materials
and possessions and the chase continues without any end. The very chase is
painful and drives the individual to a level of mental incapacitation where one
finds oneself inadequate at all times. In turn this leads to a self-defeating
attitude. With lesser needs to be gratified, the mind enhances its comfort
level and stays stress-free.
Plato explains in his own inimitable style
that “Happiness comes from doing good and helping others”. He goes a
step beyond to say “Caring about the happiness of others we find our own.” Plato’s advocacy for doing public good and
reaching out to others takes the individual from the limitations of the
personal self to the social and the universal self. This helps to dissolve the
ego that arises of out “I”, “me” and “mine”. It helps in expanding the journey
of the self to a transcendental world where the individual finds the self
reflected in others and the universe. Plato also argues that others happiness
is indeed a reflection of our own happiness and hence one can find the personal
happiness in the manifestation of the happiness of others.
“Happiness
is the meaning and the purpose of life, the whole aim and end of human
existence.” Said Aristotle. This view of Aristotle gave happiness
the supreme position in the pursuit of human endeavour and thus encouraging the
human spirit to engage itself in all such activities which would result in
achieving the pinnacle of happiness. Indeed, it is an idealistic view which
discounts most of the sociological developments that have happened, directing
the flow of human life towards many objectives with short-termism. Further, this,
distances the objectives of individual and social growth dynamics, and hence
doesn’t provide adequate answers to the management of conflicts arising between
the individual self, the social self and the universal self.
“Happiness
resides not in possessions, and not in gold, happiness dwells in the soul” said Democritus. This idea
totally ignores the view of happiness arising out of sensory perceptions, that
which is realized through gratification, achievement, products of pursuits and
that is born out of material inputs. The definition, though has a spiritual
connotation, does not transcend to the realization of common man who lives
through his thoughts, feelings, emotions and relationships.
The
Indian mind has deliberated the term happiness largely on the touch-stone of
spirituality, philosophy and psychology.
Ramana
Maharishi, one of the
greatest proponents of self-realization, says “Happiness is your nature. It
is not wrong to desire it. What is wrong is seeking it outside when it is
inside.” The contention that happiness is the true nature of human
existence makes it clear that there is no point in seeking it outside.
Possibly, one has to unravel the true nature of the self that resides within.
The most important exercise of human life, therefore, appears to be self-realization,
to find one’s true nature – the state of happiness.
Bhagavad
Gita, one of the
celebrated expositions on spiritual reality, describes the human happiness in
three facets as “Tamasic happiness, Rajasic happiness and Satvik
happiness.” Tamasic happiness is said to
be derived from fulfilment of sensory needs and desires, gratification of
emotional needs and all that continues to fulfil the basic consumerist requisites
of an individual.
Rajasic
happiness is the next level of enjoyment that is derived through illusions born
out of ego, power, position, authority and by subordination of materials to
fulfil one’s greed consequent to low self-esteem arising out non-realization of
the true self and its glory.
Satvik
happiness arises out of realization of the supreme self and the understanding
of the reflection of the conscious self in the universal self. That leads to a
dispossessive attitude and ignoring the joy that would seek a compulsive
gratification Satvik happiness is born out of negation of possessions and
understanding the superiority of Mind over the Matter
This
leaves us with a question: At what level are we planning to articulate the idea
of happiness so that its real interpretation could be experienced? This
understanding alone will help us to position our thoughts in curricular
architecture.
Let
us continue to discover our true nature and the happiness enshrined therein…
(To
be continued..)
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