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Thread: Define Happiness Philosophically?

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    Define Happiness Philosophically?

    Namaste HDF

    One HDF member had sent me a personal Deepavali wishes this morningwhich got me thinking.

    When we say Happy Deepavali, have we ever tried asking ourselves what exactly is this thing called happiness?

    We all face different kinds of challenges. We put in lot of efforts, some turn according to our expectations and some other doesn't. For a patriotic soldier sacrificing his/her liFe for the sake country is happiness and for some others surving a deadly blow is happiness.

    Have you guys ever thought about happiness from our philosophical angle? I have raised this question above the branches because members can share their views based on their philosophical school.

    Thanks...
    Last edited by Anirudh; 24 October 2014 at 04:01 AM. Reason: Highlighted my Question so as to clarify the question.
    Anirudh...

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    Re: Define Happiness Philosophically?

    Dear friends ,
    Happiness is taking everything in our stride , thinking that it has got some purpose and meaning behind it .Happy Diwali.

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    Re: Define Happiness Philosophically?

    Quote Originally Posted by saswathy View Post
    Dear friends ,
    Happiness is taking everything in our stride , thinking that it has got some purpose and meaning behind it .Happy Diwali.
    Namaste, well said.

    Hare KRshNa!
    || Shri KRshNArpaNamastu ||

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    Re: Define Happiness Philosophically?

    Quote Originally Posted by smaranam View Post
    Namaste

    What is happiness to you? : A Poem

    written in response to a thread without being aware that it was the Hindu New Year Day - GudhI pAdwA.
    Namaste Smaranam ji,

    Thank you for sharing the poem, but it is perspective based and probably deals with the method to achieve it. The moment we see happiness as perspective based, it is not an universal truth. Methods opted to achieve it can/will be different.

    I think it has to be universal ie my happiness should not differ from your happiness. If it differs then it is conditional and not permanent.
    Anirudh...

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    Re: Define Happiness Philosophically?

    Quote Originally Posted by saswathy View Post
    Dear friends ,
    Happiness is taking everything in our stride , thinking that it has got some purpose and meaning behind it .Happy Diwali.
    Namaste

    That could be a dangerous proposition. Applying the logic we can even defend forced religious conversions or any other serious crime per se.
    Last edited by Anirudh; 24 October 2014 at 08:00 AM. Reason: Kindly read my position completely...
    Anirudh...

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    Re: Define Happiness Philosophically?

    Dear friend ,

    Philosophical happiness does n't have any thing related to religion.

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    Re: Define Happiness Philosophically?

    Namaste
    The concept of happiness has been ill defined all through our history. Infact the word happy is derived from the Icelandic word happ which means luck by chance!
    Happiness is contentment beyond the traps of sensual pleasure. In pleasure we hide and deny while in happiness we radiate and receive. While pleasure is a product of bondage and fear, happiness is a product of fearlessness and awareness.
    When we are fearless, we not only perceive courage but also the deepest sense of freedom. A kitten is held by the cat in its mouth yet the kitten never faces any sense of fear. Its faith in its mother is spontaneous and unforced, where the quality of security comes out as a natural instinct. That natural freedom comes the day we know that it is not the stars but our self which governs our destiny.
    There are thousands of religious bodies claiming to know god, where thousands thong to offer rituals, but did one amongst them foresee the tsunami or the fate of MH370?
    It was funny when one devotee told me how the rest of us are all karmis suffering from old age disease death and how we all end up in the cycle of rebirth and death. Incidentally he himself suffered a stroke and is still paralysed till date and is living on the donations thrown by the same karmis. The stupidity of judgements of such brainwashed lot makes me talk about the term awareness.
    Awareness is something that comes as a by product of experiencing spirituality and not by learning spirituality. We all claim to be religious but how many of us are aware? As we grow, our minds become more and more programmed to names, appearances, rituals and rules of the society. But the sad fact is even religion conditions us to an extent. It is funny when even here I found a thread where a member posted if he has to worship Shiva or Krishna and who is more powerful!!
    Awareness is the state of knowledge that cuts the cords of religious guilt where in, we realize that we are neither the creator nor this creation and float in the ocean of bliss, owing nothing to anything. Do we become aware by worshipping Krishna or by understanding Krishna? Do we become aware by reciting Gita or by following Gita? Do we become aware by worshipping the statue of Krishna or the living Krishna who is present as consciousness pervading our hearts? When Paramashiva appeared in flesh, whether as Brahma, Vishnu, Maheshwara or Krishna, it is just to show us that spirit can indeed transform into matter. But if we stick to the names instead of spirit we are in a state of devolution, not evolution. What demarcated Krishna from the rest of human beings was his quality of awareness of his eternal position as the spirit and not the body.
    The moment we become instinctively aware of our own spirit we would have nothing to fear. The universe would seem like the womb of a mother which nurtures the embryo so it can exit in total safety and assurance. We would only be grateful and the only thing we would see is the unconditional love of God.

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    Re: Define Happiness Philosophically?

    Namaste ji,

    From my perspective 'Happiness' is an emotion often confused with 'Pleasure'. But they are not the same thing and they do not serve the same purpose. 'Pleasure' is a chemical reward for doing something that the biology of the animal that these bodies were created from could use to survive and/or propagate. It happens even when what an animal does isn't necessarily a good thing or good for the body, because it's simply a blind reward meant to keep the animal doing whatever that thing is - in most animals that would be an instinctive need and so the reward keeps the animal alive and reproductive and safe(ish) from predators, etc. But in animals like our bodies, with a higher degree self-awareness, it can be manipulated and twisted into addictions and destructive/harmful behaviors.

    'Happiness', on the other hand, is an emotion that happens when we are 'Satisfied'. When you think about it, 'Pleasure' doesn't always lead to 'Satisfaction' or 'Satiation', in fact some might say it rarely does. I would posit that when Pleasure does not lead to Satisfaction and Satiation, but only more Desire and more Hunger, then this is because what we are doing is Empty and even, possibly, Wrong. But when we are Happy, truly Happy on a deep level, it is because we are Satisfied and have found wholeness, fullness and fulfillment. It guides us to things that do fulfill us and that helps others, and drives us to keep doing these things and even do more of them. It guides us on a path to more and deeper Happiness and Satisfaction, and I would further posit that this brings us back around to our Ishwara, and so Happiness at stronger and deeper levels eventually leads us there.

    In the end though, all of these feelings, these emotions, are of the Material. They take place in our Brains and even further, in our Minds. So in the end, they are distraction. Just as pleasure is a weak echo of Happiness and can only take one so far, Happiness is also weak echo and can only take us so far before it too must be left behind in order to progress. What it echoes is Bliss; true Bliss, which has no dual nature because it is the original state of consciousness.

    ~Pranam
    ~~~~~
    What has Learning profited a man, if it has not led him to worship the good feet of Him who is pure knowledge itself?
    They alone dispel the mind's distress, who take refuge at the feet of the incomparable one.
    ~~Tirukural 2, 7

    Anbe Sivamayam, Satyame Parasivam

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    Re: Define Happiness Philosophically?

    Namaste ajreddy,

    happiness is a product of fearlessness and awareness
    Thank you for sharing your views.

    Other areas you have touched are debatable. Also they don't seem to add value to this thread. And few examples you have given contradict especially when you expect people to be non judgmental, how can you call them as either stupid or brainwashed.




    Quote Originally Posted by ajreddy View Post
    Namaste
    The concept of happiness has been ill defined all through our history. Infact the word happy is derived from the Icelandic word happ which means luck by chance!
    Happiness is contentment beyond the traps of sensual pleasure. In pleasure we hide and deny while in happiness we radiate and receive. While pleasure is a product of bondage and fear, happiness is a product of fearlessness and awareness.
    When we are fearless, we not only perceive courage but also the deepest sense of freedom. A kitten is held by the cat in its mouth yet the kitten never faces any sense of fear. Its faith in its mother is spontaneous and unforced, where the quality of security comes out as a natural instinct. That natural freedom comes the day we know that it is not the stars but our self which governs our destiny.
    There are thousands of religious bodies claiming to know god, where thousands thong to offer rituals, but did one amongst them foresee the tsunami or the fate of MH370?
    It was funny when one devotee told me how the rest of us are all karmis suffering from old age disease death and how we all end up in the cycle of rebirth and death. Incidentally he himself suffered a stroke and is still paralysed till date and is living on the donations thrown by the same karmis. The stupidity of judgements of such brainwashed lot makes me talk about the term awareness.
    Awareness is something that comes as a by product of experiencing spirituality and not by learning spirituality. We all claim to be religious but how many of us are aware? As we grow, our minds become more and more programmed to names, appearances, rituals and rules of the society. But the sad fact is even religion conditions us to an extent. It is funny when even here I found a thread where a member posted if he has to worship Shiva or Krishna and who is more powerful!!
    Awareness is the state of knowledge that cuts the cords of religious guilt where in, we realize that we are neither the creator nor this creation and float in the ocean of bliss, owing nothing to anything. Do we become aware by worshipping Krishna or by understanding Krishna? Do we become aware by reciting Gita or by following Gita? Do we become aware by worshipping the statue of Krishna or the living Krishna who is present as consciousness pervading our hearts? When Paramashiva appeared in flesh, whether as Brahma, Vishnu, Maheshwara or Krishna, it is just to show us that spirit can indeed transform into matter. But if we stick to the names instead of spirit we are in a state of devolution, not evolution. What demarcated Krishna from the rest of human beings was his quality of awareness of his eternal position as the spirit and not the body.
    The moment we become instinctively aware of our own spirit we would have nothing to fear. The universe would seem like the womb of a mother which nurtures the embryo so it can exit in total safety and assurance. We would only be grateful and the only thing we would see is the unconditional love of God.
    Last edited by Anirudh; 27 October 2014 at 09:10 PM.
    Anirudh...

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    Re: Define Happiness Philosophically?

    Quote Originally Posted by Anirudh View Post
    Namaste Already,

    happiness is a product of fearlessness and awareness
    Thank you for sharing your views.

    Other areas you have touched are debatable. Also they don't seem to add value to this thread. And few examples you have given contradict especially when you expect people to be non judgmental, how can you call them as either stupid or brainwashed.

    Namaste

    You specifically asked about the relation of happiness to philosophy. So i gave my view. Happiness does come from awareness and only awareness can give rise to happiness. And my idea of fearlessness is not going and bashing a bunch of guys it means living with instinctive security knowing well everything is a form of gods love and that will give happiness again.

    Happiness doesnt come from judgements. I specifically gave the example of that particular person because our internal world creates this external reality both according to quantum physics and also our own gita. So the fact he got paralysed shows more about his internal thoughts. The idea is to become closer to god. If a person becomes closer to a statue then its his choice. Brainwashing is the term used on people who dont experience or perceive anything but just speak on behalf of something that is rubbed on them.. That particular devotee told me that i am a karmi and that he is close to god just because he sang some names of god and ended up not only unhappy but also paralysed.. So happiness doesnt come from chanting gods names and then criticising others and thinking we are supremely close to god. Also when i asked what happened to the malaysian airlines one of the forum members even said it fell it Tibet, so thats a brainwashed answer meant for brainwashed people and it is also stupid according to any intellectual level.. when a person is brainwashed he can be seemingly in "bliss and happiness" but he in reality will be unaware and that can never be real happiness. We can revel in an eternal vaikunta or kailas or any place mentioned in scriptures and blow a trumpet but how many of us experienced them? It is easy for us to speak on behalf of various scriptures which themselves contradict each other most of the time. But is the idea of spirituality bent on limiting us? If i have to accept limited imaginations of people then i should accept christian evangelism which i wont for the same reason. And god would have given an IQ of 180 to the so called spiritual gurus instead of giving it to an einstein. So studying scriptures especially stories is definitely not for happiness unless we look for the philosophy behind them. People dont yet know this earth completely and they go on talking about vaikunta or kailasa which seems really funny to me.
    And my answer was more like "neti neti"/. I might not know what real happiness is but i definitely know fanaticism is not happiness. I can see people dance and sing but their minds clogged with differentiation of the spirit and limitation of god. And the malaysian airline fate answer given by a "devotee" made me perfectly confident that his path is something i should never even touch with the end of a long pole.
    And if you think my sentences had nothing to do with happiness may i request you to read bhagavad gita and the definition of happiness given by krishna as i think my philosophy resonates with his.

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