In Pursuit of Happiness

Edited: Israr Hasan

Dated: 19^th Jan. 201

Happiness is a mental and/or emotional state of well-being defined by positive or pleasant emotions ranging from contentment to intense joy. A variety of biological, psychological, religious and philosophical approaches have striven to define happiness and identify its sources. Philosophers usually explicate on happiness as either a state of mind, or a life that goes well for the person leading it.

Buddhism

Happiness forms a central theme in Buddhist teachings. For ultimate freedom from suffering, the ‘Noble Eightfold Path’ leads its practitioner to Nirvana, a state of everlasting peace. Ultimate happiness is only achieved by overcoming ‘desire/craving’ in all forms.

Judaism

Happiness or simcha (Hebrew) in Judaism is considered an important element in the service of God. The biblical verse "worship The Lord with gladness; come before him with joyful songs,” (Psalms, 100:2.), stresses joy in the service of God.

Catholicism

In Catholicism, the ultimate end of human existence consists in felicity, or "blessed happiness", described by the 13th-century philosopher-theologian Thomas Aquinas. Human complexities, like reason and cognition, can produce well-being or happiness, but such form is limited and transitory. In temporal life, the contemplation of God is the supreme delight of the will. Beatitudo, or perfect happiness, as complete well-being, is to be attained not in this life, but in the next.

Islam

Al-Ghazali (c. 1058–1111) a Muslim theologian, jurist, philosopher and mystic of Persian descent, wrote The Alchemy of Happiness (Kimiya-yi Sa'ādat). In the work, he emphasizes the importance of observing the ritual requirements of Islam, the actions that would lead to salvation, and the avoidance of sin lead to joy and happiness. Only by exercising the human faculty of reason - a God-given ability - can one transform the soul from worldliness to complete devotion to God, the ultimate happiness.

According to Al-Ghazali, there are four main constituents of happiness: self-knowledge, knowledge of God, knowledge of this world as it really is, and the knowledge of the next world as it really is.

Spirituality and Happiness

While religion is often formalized and community-oriented, spirituality tends to be individually based and not as formalised. The more spiritual a baby is, the happier he/she is. Spirituality may refer to almost any kind of meaningful activity, personal growth, or blissful experience. Inner peace (or peace of mind) refers to a state of being mentally and spiritually at peace, with enough knowledge and understanding to keep oneself strong in the face of discord or stress. Being "at peace" is considered by many to be healthy. Peace of mind is generally associated with bliss, happiness and contentment.

Peace of mind, serenity, and calmness are descriptions of a disposition free from the effects of stress. In some cultures, inner peace is considered a state of consciousness or enlightenment that may be cultivated by various forms of training, such as prayer, meditation, tai chi or yoga, for example. Many spiritual practices refer to this peace as an experience of knowing oneself. Finding inner peace is often associated with traditions such as Hinduism and Buddhism.

Tenzin Gyatso, the 14th Dalai Lama, emphasizes the importance of inner peace in the world:

The question of real, lasting world peace concerns human beings, so basic human feelings are also at its roots. Through inner peace, genuine world peace can be achieved. In this the importance of individual responsibility is quite clear; an atmosphere of peace must first be created within ourselves, then gradually expanded to include our families, our communities, and ultimately the whole planet.

 Philosophical Views

The Chinese Confucian thinker Mencius, who 2300 years ago was convinced that human mind played a mediating role between the "lesser self" (biological self) and the "greater self" (moral self) and that getting the priorities right between these two would lead to sage-hood.  More specifically, he mentions the experience of intoxicating joy and happiness if one celebrates the practice of the great virtues.

The Hindu thinker Patanjali, author of the Yoga Sutras, wrote quite exhaustively on the psychological and ontological roots of bliss.

In the Nicomachean Ethics, written in 350 BCE, Aristotle stated that happiness (being well and doing well) is the only thing that humans desire for its own sake, unlike riches, honor, health or friendship. Happiness, for Aristotle, is an activity rather than an emotion or a state of mind. Happy life is the good life—a life in which a person fulfills his human nature in an excellent way.

Many ethicists make arguments for how humans should behave, either individually or collectively, based on the resulting happiness of such behavior. Utilitarians, such as John Stuart Mill and Jeremy Bentham, advocated the greatest happiness principle as a guide for ethical behavior.

According to St. Augustine and Thomas Aquinas, man's last end is happiness: "all men agree in desiring the last end, which is happiness.” ("Summa Theologica: Man's last end).  However, where Utilitarians focused on reasoning about consequences as the primary tool for reaching happiness, Thomas Aquinas agreed with Aristotle that happiness cannot be reached solely through reasoning about consequences of acts, but also requires a pursuit of good causes for good acts.

Conclusion

All the above discussions about Happiness are academic and theoretical. Let’s examine the state of happiness in our personal life. I invite my every adult reader to pick-up the moments of happiness in their day-to-day personal life. There can be no theory or practices of happiness more authentic than our personal experience of life.

It was a stormy evening with strong wind and rain in a small town of India in 1951, when a news spread throughout the city that the results of Matric Examination (10^th Grade of Schooling) was out and published in a Supplement newspaper. Unmindful of storm and rain, I ran out of my home and got the newspaper, instantly entered in a lighted shop nearby. No words can describe my feeling of happiness and joy when I found my Roll number in the group of first divisioners.  

I have been writing this treatise on happiness for the last two weeks with loss of my comfort, sleep and appetite.  The kind of happiness and satisfaction I feel now at the completion of this treatise are beyond expression in any words. Now, I feel almost the same happiness when a mother feels on delivering birth of a baby after agonizing pain.

Until now, in the 81^st anniversary of my birthday, I have gone through innumerable moments of happiness and joy. But, in fact, the moments of pains and sufferings are larger than the moments of happiness and joy. I find the proportions of happiness and sufferings vary greatly in the social setups of the Third world and developed world. I have had experiences of life-styles of India, Pakistan, Middle East, and now United States of America.

The moments of happiness and joy are largely dependent on the social, political and economic condition in each society. Another characteristic of happiness is its short stay.  I see it as a break in the multitudes of pain and suffering, just as the peace and tranquility of night is a break in the pain and sufferings of the day. And on the same analogy it is believed that death is a moment of bliss in the agonizing tide of life. God knows better.

-O-