What Is Happiness?

What is it that everyone is seeking? Happiness with no sorrow. A continuous happiness with no taint whatsoever of sorrow.~Lester Levenson

Happiness is our basic nature.

We rarely find it because we are not in touch with our basic nature. Instead we look for happiness everywhere where it doesn't exist.

The world equates happiness with fulfilling a desire. Yet every goal achieved and every possession finally owned is a fleeting pleasure.

I do appreciate what I have. Yes, I am grateful for it. However, satisfaction and pleasure are not the same as happiness.

Again, one can be loved, even adored, and still not be happy. People, for example, considered Elvis Presley adorable. He was beautiful, talented, and kind-hearted. Yet, he, himself, was not happy.

What, then, is happiness?

Everybody craves it, but few enjoy it. And those that do enjoy it, do so only fleetingly. Seasons pass and what was once considered a source of endless delight fades in its glory.

The closest we can get to happiness is through love. Loving stimulates happiness.

This happiness arises when we give love. It arises because love, too, is our basic nature.

Thus, when we love, we are happy; and we are happy because we are being ourselves, expressing our true nature.

Our true nature is happiness. This is the quality of soul. In fact, soul, in its primal aspect, is a consciousness that is blissful, wise, and powerful beyond measure.

However, we seldom experience our true nature and seldom get in touch with our souls because the limitations of thought shadow the soul the way clouds hide the sun.

It is the task of every person to discover their own soul. This quest is fulfilled through spiritual practices.

As we shed our illusions about the nature of the world and our relationship to it, we become more aware of our own luminosity.

When we give, love, and share, we touch upon the majesty of our soul. We bring it out into the world. We slip out from behind the veil of mind and show ourselves.

One who has stripped away all veneer of thought, all layers of mind, becomes ensouled. When the mind is quiet there is nothing left over but the infinite Self.

Resource Box

Saleem Rana got his Masters degree in psychotherapy from California Lutheran University. His articles on the internet have inspired over ten thousand people from around the world. Discover how to create a remarkable life

Copyright 2004 Saleem Rana. Please feel free to pass this article on to your friends, or use it in your ezine or newsletter. It's a shareware article.

In The News:


Olympics-Happiness for Bhutan Olympians is not golden
Reuters
Neither Sherab nor Kunzang expect to win medals for Bhutan, an impoverished, largely Buddhist country between India and China which only opened up to foreigners in 1974, banned television until 1999, and uses happiness to measure its success.

and more »

How to Be Happier at Work: 3 Tips
TIME
Tan used his 20% time, working with experts, to create a course called “Search Inside Yourself,” designed to help Googlers improve their emotional intelligence and mindfulness, making them happier and more productive employees, and better bosses.
Increased Productivity Through MindfulnessSeattle Post Intelligencer (blog)
How to be happier at work: Three tipsDynamic Business

all 3 news articles »

Travel: Happiness is a humidity-free seaside town, plus top 10 states where ...
San Jose Mercury News
How else would you explain Kiawah Island, SC, and Naples, Fla., beating the sublime Sausalito and Tiburon in the publication's first-ever list of the 15 Happiest Seaside Towns? (Coastal Living is based in Birmingham, Ala., so there's that.) ...

and more »

Modern Happiness: Springsteen and the American Dream
Huffington Post (blog)
I think happiness is an idea that's kind of overblown in our society, and incredibly muddled down by different shit that tries to appeal to happiness or make you happy, but really only one person knows what happiness is, and that person is everybody.


The Guardian (blog)

The New Economics of Happiness
The Atlantic
But do they know how to measure happiness? If they did, what would we even do with the results? Each year, the OECD produces the Better Life Index, a comprehensive report on the well-being of advanced countries based on a long list of factors, ...
Happiness is - being a woman!Indian Express
The Happiest Countries in the World24/7 Wall St.
Better life: relaunching the happiness indexThe Guardian (blog)
Moneynews -MercatorNet (blog)
all 1,129 news articles »

IBTimes.co.uk

Can Happiness Research Invent a Better Economics?
The Atlantic
But do they know how to measure happiness? If they did, what would we even do with the results? Each year, the OECD produces the Better Life Index, a comprehensive report on the well-being of advanced countries based on a long list of factors, ...
Top Ten Happiest Countries in the World in 2012 [SLIDESHOW]IBTimes.co.uk

all 40 news articles »

ADDING MULTIMEDIA Money Can Buy Happiness After All ... Sort Of
MarketWatch (press release)
ATLANTA, May 24, 2012 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- They say money can't buy happiness, but $5 will get you pretty close today. After welcoming its 5 millionth guest earlier this year, the World of Coca-Cola, also known as the home of happiness, is celebrating ...

and more »

AARP News (blog)

Happiness: Reversing the Formula
Huffington Post
We grow up being taught to believe external things will bring happiness. Many of us learn to equate our own happiness with the level of success we achieve and the external things that come with the achievement. If we meet the right person, ...
What's Your Happiness Formula?AARP News (blog)

all 2 news articles »

Sowetan

'Happiness' is key Semenya ingredient
Sowetan
FOR Dorcas Semenya, world athletics champion Caster Semenya's mother, the most important lesson to teach one's children is to always be happy. PROUD: Doris Semenya has instilled joy in her children. "I am a person filled with joy.

and more »

WBEZ (blog)

Are the Chinese happier than they were 20 years ago?
WBEZ (blog)
After two decades of rapid economic growth, people in China aren't necessarily happier than they were 20 years ago. At least that's what a recent economic study found. Better economic conditions haven't really affected middle-income earners and the ...

and more »
Google News

Happy Talk and 3 Simple Secrets to Happiness

What is the one thing you want more than anything... Read More

Top 25 Happiness Quotations

"There are hundreds of languages in the world, but a... Read More

Great Relationship Problem Solving Technique

This is one of my all time favourite problem solving... Read More

Get Out Those Legos

Many of my clients are working harder than smarter. This... Read More

Inevitable Changes and Changeless Connections

Sometimes change is pleasant. A child is born. A new... Read More

Keys to Happiness

"Happiness is the whole aim and end of human... Read More

Today It Is ... Tomorrow It Will Be ...

What is your life like today? What do you want... Read More

Life Purpose: How To Be in Love with Life

Falling In Love with LifeThere is no feeling in the... Read More

Quick Steps On Being Happier

Want to be happier?Edward W. Smith, motivational speaker, author and... Read More

You Need To Start To Like Yourself

If you have a very low self esteem or a... Read More

Boosting Your Success with Six Easy Happiness Tips

In what areas of your life would you like to... Read More

No Happiness Without Patience

I'm searching for modern happiness. The old-fashioned kind takes just... Read More

A Shortcut to Happiness -- Vote with Live 8

Did you see any of the Live 8 performances in... Read More

Getting In Touch With Your Inner Feelings

Every disease or ailment, whether it be cancer, diabetes, arthritis,... Read More

Why We Have Problems? A Coach Debates

As a coach, I often ask myself the question why... Read More

Design Psychology: How Our Sensory Responses to Aromas Create Happy Homes

Our sense of smell elicits strong emotional reactions and triggers... Read More

Reframing with NLP For Enhanced Happiness

I used to work for the Independent National Newspaper in... Read More

Common Scents For Emotional Well Being

Aromatics which include essential oils, perfume, centred candles and incense,... Read More

Sunny Days Are Here To Stay

Yes, this is correct. Sunny Days are here to stay,... Read More

Where is Your Happiness? Past, Present, or Future??

Achieving a level of personal happiness previously unknown is closer... Read More

You are Where You are Because You Decided to be There

The decisions we make everyday have a big impact on... Read More

Sweeten Up Your Life

Sometimes life experiences can be like a lemon-flavored Tootsie Roll... Read More

Eleven Keys to Success and Happiness

1. Mend a quarrel Seek out a forgotten friend and... Read More

Love, Uncles, and Etymology

Thwack! . . . Thwack! . . . Thwack! Steven... Read More

10 Ways to Bring Meaning to Your Life

My life always appears to be so hectic. It's as... Read More