Buddhism and Happiness

[@jean-philippeprefontaine6687]

"All the suffering there is in this world arises from wishing our self to be happy. All the happiness there is in this world arises from wishing others to be happy." Shantideva

[@DougsDharma]

It could very well be so Jean-Philippe! Thanks.

[@OgdenM]

The thing is that you can NOT let go of worries and concerns as a lay person. It is absolutely impossible. You really also have to let go of your wants and desires to be able to have lasting happiness because those end up causing worry and turn into dukkha. That is really the whole reason monasteries exist. You don't renounce your worries, you renounce the world. From what I understand of Buddhism after listening to 300 hours of Dhamma talks is: basically says that ANY want to have anything in the physical world be satisfactory is doomed to failure. This is due to a multitude of things, impermanence is one of them. Another is that nothing is perfect and on and on and on. That you're much better off just renouncing the whole thing. If you want joy from the physical, there are three things to be joyful about: 1) Having very basic needs and enjoying those needs being met. Ergo, enjoy the basic food you eat. Enjoy laying down etc etc etc. 2) Enjoy mediation. 3) If you feel called, teach and help others renounce the world when they ask for advice and enjoy that. And.. if you can't renounce in this "life time" well then, be happy with 1 and 2 and stop engaging in external life as much as possible.

[@DougsDharma]

🙏

[@meditemoscl5019]

Hi Doug. This is Jorge Seguel from Chile. Laurie Santos is a young psychologist that teaches at Yale University about the science and practice of happiness. Her suggestions of how being happy are very similar to the eightfold path. Doing meditation, helping others , having altruistic goals, spending time with your loved ones, taking care of your body doing exercise or having healthy habits, understanding what is wiser and healthier. Dalai Lama , Matthieu Ricard and Bikkhu Bodhi agree that happiness lies in Kindness and Compassion. Finally I feel that happiness is equanimity. Be well and congratulations for this new website.

[@DougsDharma]

Yes I think so Jorge. Happiness seems more an active state of being than just a state of mind, but it's equanimous activity. 🙂

[@anattasunnata3498]

Hola Jorge! Al igual que tú, soy de Chile. Es un gusto ver compatriotas navegando por la corriente del Dhamma. Quisiera compartirte la dirección de un foro en el que participo, por si deseas conversar sobre tus experiencias y conocimientos con personas de habla hispana, especialmente con practicantes de la tradición Theravada. Puedes encontrarme por el nombre "bridif1", por si deseas contactarme: www.forobudismo.com/ Saludos cordiales!

[@meditemoscl5019]

Anattā Suññata , somos varios chilenos y chilenas !!!!

[@junidaydreams]

Since starting the Buddhist practice, my peers have been telling me I seem so much happier and positive, and I feel it too! It really does transform one's mindset. Also, although jhana is higher than sense pleasures, I found it can potentially be a sort of craving after experiencing it. I'm working with releasing this craving as I meditate, and reminding myself why I'm really meditating. Also, I could be wrong, but in my experience, the euphoria of jhana is felt when you're not thinking about it during meditation. Anyways, thanks again for a great insightful video!

[@DougsDharma]

You're very welcome Shannan! 🙏

[@thesage90]

I was told to release yourself from happiness you have to let go of attachment and don't harm others. Well I've been working on not being attracted to anything and I've never harmed anyone so why am I still suffering what am I doing wrong?

[@Giantcrabz]

Top notch talk. I think Buddha would also say that one of the best ways to create happiness is not by chasing it for yourself, but simply by working to make others happy through loving kindness. Not in a people-pleasing way, but through acts of genuine compassion or service. Seeing other humans flourish because of our action is far more meaningful than any pleasure you could get from simple sensory stimulation.

[@DougsDharma]

Absolutely so Giantcrabz, kindness and compassion are very fine routes to happiness.

[@Tridib_Tinkel]

Great Video! Thanks Doug! For this generation delights in the habitual craving and attachment, to them, happiness is boring, they chase distorted sense of happiness.

[@DougsDharma]

Glad you enjoyed it. 😊

[@saradamin6749]

Very good... Doug. Nirvāṇa is the highest happiness... "When worry gone away he becomes partly nirvāṇa (tadaṅganibbuto)" - attadīpasutta, Saṁyutta Nikāya May you and all beings be happy and safe

[@DougsDharma]

Thanks for that Sarada min, a good teaching for sure! 🙏

[@patrickacolifloresvillasen1731]

Thank you, Doug, for this relevant talk. I am learning pureland buddhism. And they talk about absolute happiness as compared to temporary happiness. I think of absolute happiness as happiness that comes from within and is unperturbed by what is external. Temporary happiness is the temporary joy that comes from what is external (ex: achievements, etc). Although temporary, I think the second type of happiness is also significant as it helps us how to live. I think both are okay but absolute happiness must be the foundation. I think of it this way: If we have absolute happiness, temporary happiness just adds to the happiness that we already have. However if temporary happiness fails us (ex: we don’t achieve our goals, etc.), it does not subtract to the absolute happiness that we already have.

[@DougsDharma]

Yes. Also in a Buddhist sense, temporary happiness is actually dukkha, since it's temporary and will pass away.

[@anniechua8985]

Excellent talk! This brings so much clarity, thank you! 🙏🙏🙏

[@DougsDharma]

Glad it was helpful! 🙏😊

[@afanasibushmanov7463]

Great video. I never looked at happiness that way, but now that I think about it that's really what happiness is. The only thing I would mention (I've told you this in the past) is that when you get rid of worry, desire, etc. you might become apathetic as opposed to happy. I'm noticing that my apathy is starting to slowly evolve into happiness, but the apathy is still there.

[@DougsDharma]

It's possible Afanasi. After all the Buddha himself seems to have debated whether or not to teach at all after his awakening. I think it might help to try to develop kindness and compassion as well, they may help break through apathy. 🙏

[@debralee1401]

Great lesson. Joy, in my experience, is a surge of dopamine, impermanent, as you said... happiness (as Im trying to understand it) is ongoing, is a skill to be/reach a state equanimity and acceptance in the face of dissatisfaction/suffering on daily, moment to moment basis.

[@DougsDharma]

Yes I think that's right Debra, they have similarities but when looked at deeply are in fact quite different.

[@SuperAwesomedude20]

I feel like people use the word the other way around in the west? As per say Dalai Lama and archbishop “Book of Joy” book

[@JamesSmith-kt3bi]

"Why does it matter where he arrived? Because the path is infinite. And the journey has no end. Because of that, it is of absolutely no consequence whether you are standing near the beginning or near the end already - before you is a journey that will never end. That's we for me what's important is not so much the path as much as the moment a [person] enters it, any path" Andrei Tarkovsky (Russian Director)

[@DougsDharma]

Yes, any path towards ethical goals is beneficial.

[@Kashimir]

revisiting this again and its really helpful.

[@DougsDharma]

🙏😊

[@QuyNguyen-lm1gq]

True happiness comes from within .

[@DougsDharma]

That's right!

[@Samew0001]

I don't think we should be ignorant to the world's problems but I cannot have the weight of those problems all on my shoulders. I cannot be fixated with every injustice that goes on, there's no running out of those anytime soon. So I can only be concerned with my life, and I cannot fixate on things that I cannot change.

[@DougsDharma]

Oh for sure Sam, we can't possibly fix every problem there is out there, trying to do so would only burn us out. We have to pick and choose those problems that are fixable while also having compassion for ourselves. But that doesn't mean only being concerned with ourselves. Indeed, if we are truly concerned with ourselves we must work to make our world a better place insofar as we can. It will only help make our own lives easier.

[@Samew0001]

@@DougsDharma just to clarify when I said only being concerned with myself, I meant it as I can only do my part in making the world better. That might mean trying to live a more eco-friendly& sustainable life, buying less, not buying from companies with shady practices, etc. And I also think this is where gratitude comes in, because I can't fix what's going on on the other side of the world, but I can be aware that others might have it worse than I do, so I should be grateful for the life I have. Thanks for everything Doug!🙏

[@JustBens]

Its funny how everyones searching for 'happiness' and we dont even all agree what it is!! What we actually really want is 'not suffering'.

[@DougsDharma]

Yes happiness is a slippery idea!

[@markvincentordiz]

Wow, i didn't notice the 20 minutes.

[@DougsDharma]

Cool! I always hope these aren't too long to sit through. 🙂

[@rursus8354]

I came to Buddhism to pilfer methodology, not to achieve anything. UPDATE: _"Happiness?"_ No, I'm going to keep being grumpy. That's more authentic kind of. Besides: I really like the video: _I'm just grumpy!_

[@DougsDharma]

OK Rursus, if grumpiness makes you happy ... 😉

[@rursus8354]

@@DougsDharma Anyone must find *their* authenticity. I was just reacting against the initial find-your-own-happiness message, which is what New Age promotes selling substandard products. But you just explained another model where _"happiness"_ is what I would call _"relief"_ and _"independence."_ That's my melody, too.

[@rodin34]

Maybe the word 'Contentment' is a better way to describe and a good basis to contemplate the more sustained experience often described with the word 'Happiness'. Certainly the more sublime states in the Formless Jhanas would be more aligned with Contentment - where its not an actively caused state but more a state of not needing anything, feeling less and less lack. Is Happiness more an output of degrees of contentment or degrees of less need?

[@DougsDharma]

Yes, contentment makes a lot of sense, as does a concept like equanimity. I think the idea is that happiness arises as we find ourselves needing less from outside. Happiness is a kind of internal contentment or equanimity with the way things are.

[@Awperan]

Great Video

[@DougsDharma]

Glad you enjoyed it openwide!

[@caitlyntownsend5762]

I'm happier every day

[@DougsDharma]

That's great to hear Caitlyn, though be aware that there will inevitably be ups and downs on the path. Sometimes getting too optimistic about the pace of progress can become its own hindrance. This is a marathon rather than a sprint! 🙂

[@aronmindfulman7727]

The word sukha is mentioned in the early texts. Does it mean happiness?

[@DougsDharma]

Well it does and it doesn't. "Sukha" is the opposite of "dukkha", which literally means "discomfort", "suffering", "ill". So "sukha" could be translated "joy", "bliss", "ease", "comfort", "well-being" ... or "happiness". In English these have slightly different connotations but the Pāli word covers all of them.

[@ruperimeshram8734]

Yess

[@JamesSmith-kt3bi]

Karl Mark fully quoted gives a better context, in which he calls for people to drop the delusion that religion (as opposed to spiritual practice) will offer an end to suffering because it is a symptom rather than a cure to the deluded state of not taking responsibility for one's own happiness, or as the Buddha Dharma says responsibility for one's own suffering caused by the delusion that there is a fixed self and the delusion can attain any fixed state, such as permanent happiness, rather than the emergent state as the delusion of a fixed self falls away. "Religious suffering is, at one and the same time, the expression of real suffering and a protest against real suffering. Religion is the sigh of the oppressed creature, the heart of a heartless world, and the soul of soulless conditions. It is the opium of the people. The abolition of religion as the illusionary happiness of the people is the demand for their real happiness. To call on them to give up the illusions about the conditions is to call on them to give up a condition that requires illusion. The criticism of religion is therefore in embryo, the criticism of the vale of tears of which religion is the halo." Karl Mark Thanks, Doug, appreciated.

[@DougsDharma]

You're very welcome James!

[@mertefe4345]

So Doug is Nibbana really possible? We know it is good and free from stress but how realistically achiavable is it really if you are not a monk? Are stream entrants counted as abiding in Nibbana? If they are not, then this is a very unreachable goal.

[@DougsDharma]

Stream entrants are said to have had glimpses of nibbāna, but they don't abide there. As to whether it's really possible, particularly for laypeople, I'm agnostic on that. The only thing that really concerns me is whether progress along the path is possible, and that I believe is true.

[@mertefe4345]

@@DougsDharma Doug, is our Citta is the something most close to a thing we could call as a "Self"?

[@DougsDharma]

Well ... I wouldn't want to say anything was really closest to a self for the Buddha, because it was a topic he pretty clearly felt we should get away from. That said, the human person in Buddhism is constructed from the five khandas or aggregates: kzbin.info/www/bejne/m2OqdGVmbJJ5psk

[@seescafedeu]

Doug, i am not english speaking, but i think happiness has more to do with outside world and joy with in.

[@DougsDharma]

Perhaps so Glória, thanks!

[@shalokkumar7]

Jai bhim 💙💙💙

[@DougsDharma]

🙏😊