Thread: Define happy for me.

W-T-F???? Pearl Harbor rules! Seriously I love that movie...

Originally Posted by Timothy Paradox

Why are you talking to ME in particular?

I suppose because you said this:

Originally Posted by Timothy Paradox

If you accept everything without thinking about it or questioning it, you are no human, you're a sheep

I wanted to bring to your attention that there is no universal meter-stick of happiness on which we are all measured on, which essentially contradicts the notion that certain things "must" or "ought" to be done, when it comes to the subject of happiness that is.

Originally Posted by Timothy Paradox

I disagree with the Buddha. What he says is that you have to be poor before you can be happy. So if you are rich you can't be happy? What a bullshit.

Shallow interpretations yeild shallow remarks. He forfeited his wealth because he was unable to "let go" of his dependence on worldly things, and it was that ever increasing dependence (as it would be with a drug) that was keeping him from attaining a higher level of happiness. You see, because he was rich, he never had sufficient reason to ditch his emotional and psychological dependence on material things. Its like being addicted to cocain and knowing you won't be truly happy until you can kick the habit...but having more than enough money to feed you addiction for as long as you'd like. He chose to be poor because it, in a way, forced him to quit "cold turkery".

Originally Posted by Timothy Paradox

Money DOES make you happier, by the way. It grants you more freedom.

You'd think, wouldn't you? But like I said before, money is only half of the equation. The other half is emotional/psychological. If we are only talking about ones income increasing, then yes, it should yeild more happiness. BUT, usually when someones income increases, so to does their "happiness debt" because now that they can afford that which they used to want, they have moved on to bigger and "better" desires.

Here's another analogy. Happiness is proportional to the level of water in a cup. The fuller the cup, the more happy you are. Income is how much water is being poured into the cup and desires is the size of the hole in the bottom of the cup.

You'd think that the more water you are able to pour into a cup, the happier you'd be. But, that isn't intirely true when you consider the second variable...the leak. You want the most water you can pour, but the smallest leak as possible to maximize your happiness. If you are only looking at how much water you are pouring into the cup, with no regard for the gaping hole in the bottom...you might find yourself suprised to realize that, despite a massive flow of income, your happiness (retention) is next to nothing.

Isn't it possible to be both rich and happy? I mean you use your cash to survive (no XXL mansions or ferraris) but you also satisfy yourself emotionally (friends, hobbies, etc).

Yes, of course its possible. people tend to just get strung out on money though. What used to be enough money slow becomes not enough...and this seems to be true regardless of how much (or little) you actually have. or in other words, this seems to be true for both rich and poor people.

The problem is that we get used to what we have (regardless of what or how much), and as a result, the happiness it gives us slowly fades until we are more or less numb to it. This makes us want more, which if achieved, does the same thing. At first is gives us happiness, then we get used to it, then we want more. And the worst part is that, unlike income, desire has no limits. If you let it, there is nothing stopping you from wanting more than what you have, despite being wealthy. If you have a million dollars, you'll want 10 million...if you have 10 million, you'll want 100 million, etc.

The point is that, that sort of satisfaction is real, but it is also fleeting. Thats just how our minds seem to work. But once we understand this, we can gain control of our happiness by purposefully limiting our desires in addition to gaining means to satisfy ourselves. I'm just being realistic. We naturally want things, so its tremendously hard to just eliminate desire all together. We also get used to what we have, which makes trying to have enough income to buy whatever we want a never-ending struggle for happiness. So, the best thing to do is to try to find some sort of equilibrium between the two. Most people think more money is enough to do this, but not when you consider the fact that more money tends to lead to more expenses.

I'd use money to "buy" experiences that are normally way too expensive (space tourism anyone?) and I would feel SO happy if I could donate tremendous amounts of cash to a charity.

You need power to help the world, and unfortunately in this world power = money.

Originally Posted by Howie

Can we define a quality of life or a satisfactory answer to what is happiness?

The best attempt I can think of in about half a minute:

The view of ones self or something objective that causes a content feeling, comparative to a distraught feeling.

Or when expectations of satisfaction are completed.

They're not good. I almost used happy at least 5 times in that haha.

Originally Posted by Howie

What is my point?
Upbringing maybe. When you are taught to believe something it is a very heavy attachment. It takes a conscious effort to rid yourself of something you had believed to not be.
Like innocence, is our window lost after this process? We ca labor over techniques, new ideas and beliefs to try to gain something that could never be the same as it once could be. Once... if we had known from the start.

You're right. We are all taught to believe what should be normal from birth based on our culture. There is no normal though, so some people might be extremely happy with everything because that's just their nature that they have adapted to. Uncontrollable presets that have been implanted into us since conception are limits that are very hard to overcome.

The best way to describe my own happiness is with an incredibly vague analogy!(weird, right?) Okay, so for most people, The Goal is what makes them happy. Getting things, accomplishments, etc. etc. This stems from a material dependence for happiness (usually, goals can still be non-material). Others have a progress dependent happiness. As long as they can see themselves making their way towards their goals, they can still be happy. This is the typical, "Its not the destination, its the journey" type of people.

For me though, I take progress for granted, as the only way to halt it is to die; and I am not doing that any time soon (as far as I know). Similarly, goal oriented happiness is equally pointless to me because once you reach that goal you have to find something else that is going to make you happy, or suffer the resulting unhappiness of not knowing what you want anymore.

For me, the Direction that I choose is what makes me happy. Sometimes I make more progress in that direction than others, and I accomplish various milestones along the way, but as long as I remain steadfast in my heading, I am happy. In this way, my happiness is ever-lasting.

I think being happy consists of truly loving yourself and those around you. Understanding what you want in life. Not that I have those qualities but that's my take on it.

Originally Posted by Zera

I think being happy consists of truly loving yourself and those around you. Understanding what you want in life. Not that I have those qualities but that's my take on it.

Maybe it's a lack of wanting something out of life. Not to say you shouldn't have ambitions and whatnot, but wanting something out of life causes obsessing which causes non-happy.

ok, here is a simple answer

Not being sad

ok, here is a simple answer

Not being sad

Then you have to define sadness so the contrast is clear.

Originally Posted by GestaltAlteration

Then you have to define sadness so the contrast is clear.

that would need a whole other thread...

We would only get the opposite of all the responses we've gotten ere though.

Originally Posted by Stephent91

Maybe it's a lack of wanting something out of life. Not to say you shouldn't have ambitions and whatnot, but wanting something out of life causes obsessing which causes non-happy.

indeed

Only want what you can get, and then get everything you want.

Originally Posted by GestaltAlteration

Then you have to define sadness so the contrast is clear.

ok, here is a simple answer

Not being happy

Originally Posted by Timothy Paradox

Isn't it possible to be both rich and happy?

Yes but you'd be happier if you gave all the things you didn't need to the poor - the ones in need. Nobody has to be rich to survive happily.

And to all those who say "Money buys happiness", if you think so, then it will be so; you must be careful, for when the day comes and you are unhappy, are you going to try and spend money? When you have no money; conclude that you can't have happiness?


Many don't see their potential. Many don't realize that, as PJ said, happiness is a choice. Our life is completely in control, our experiences are determined by the way we think. Optimism ultimately destroys pessimism, encourages happiness and brings health. Happiness is Truth, the real way of life, the "light", which can be seen in everything; happiness is right-thinking.

Unhappiness is wrong-thinking; to create boundaries, germs of fear and harsh doubts, to stray away from one's truest intentions. Unhappiness is being lost. To become furthest away - the most unhappy or evil, is to think of killing, destroying other life for no sake; to not even desire a remedy for oneself; to ignore the possibility of ones optimism; suicide.

Happiness is finding the Truth; enjoyment, passion, harmony. It is appreciation! How does it look when you see the fun in everything and find that somebody else does not appreciate that fun? They do not understand, do they? They have not learned. How narrow it is to enjoy only one genre of music; would you know? To love only those people who a do or have a certain thing; to judge people by how they look? Are you happy to discriminate; to admit bore and dissatisfaction? Enjoyment: Happiness comes from understanding, and it becomes right-thinking.

However, the people and their minds, in this world, are together in a state of constant equilibrium and balance. There would be no happiness without understanding; no understanding without misunderstanding, no strength without first being weak. There would be no getting without giving. There would be no love without hate; no rich without poor; attract without repel; helpers without helpless. You'll find that those who really lift themselves up from the dirt they have fallen themselves in, really become the somebodies, and those who decide to stay in the rot are the nobodies; the faithful give answers for the faithless, yet all are simply choices to understand; make one remain or move; those who pursue their finest dreams are destined to and balance with those who do nothing and let themselves fail. Karma thus is natural.

So here we all share a vast energy of all existence, passing it around in such complex manners, never creating or destroying it; only changing it - giving and getting it. I am happy to think I am coming to the realization of discovering our true selves in nature; the bigger picture and its finer pigments.


What do you focus on to bring your understanding of the world?

Are you a pessimist, or an optimist? Do you bring attention to the good?

Or the bad? http://www.dreamviews.com/community/...ad.php?t=52325

Do you focus on the good, reap it, love everything; live in heaven?

Or do you focus on none or all of the above, unbound by no duality?

Happiness is taking what you think is the best course of action, and not giving two shits what people say.

Originally Posted by Kushna Mufeed

Happiness is taking what you think is the best course of action, and not giving two shits what people say.

That's just a thing that makes you happy.

Actions aren't emotions.

Well, then...happiness if freedom from people's opinions.

Originally Posted by Kushna Mufeed

Well, then...happiness if freedom from people's opinions.

Don't you mean selfishness?

Dattatreya Siva Babba says there are three levels of happiness. Pleasure which is a physical state. Pleasure is mostly fleeting and requires a stimulus. The state cannot last forever. Happiness which is mental state. Happiness is better, but still requires work to achieve and can be lost. Bliss, which is a spiritual state and requires nothing nothing outside the self. I tend to agree with this ideas. Most animals live in the pleasure state, seeking only what brings them chemical pleasure. Most humans float in between the pleasure and happiness state or tend towards either. Ultimately we will reach the state of bliss.

Originally Posted by sephiroth clock

Dattatreya Siva Babba says there are three levels of happiness. Pleasure which is a physical state. Pleasure is mostly fleeting and requires a stimulus. The state cannot last forever. Happiness which is mental state. Happiness is better, but still requires work to achieve and can be lost. Bliss, which is a spiritual state and requires nothing nothing outside the self. I tend to agree with this ideas. Most animals live in the pleasure state, seeking only what brings them chemical pleasure. Most humans float in between the pleasure and happiness state or tend towards either. Ultimately we will reach the state of bliss.

That is interesting. Makes sense .
sephiroth clock --- I have not seen you around in a long time.

My original question is almost impossible to answer . It is like trying to determine someone else's pain compared to your own.
I was striving to find some close encounter to something we or I could referance as the "norm" is considered in reference to happiness.

I like your take, or Dattatreya Siva Babbas. Bliss is not too much to ask.

Happiness is the pursuit of happines (and im not talking about the movie! )

if you are looking for happiness outside of yourself you will never find it. if you are measuring your life you will never find it. if you are comparing, you will never find it. if you think its a goal you will never find it.

Originally Posted by dragonoverlord

Happiness is the pursuit of happines (and im not talking about the movie! )

Good movie though.

Happiness can be obtained through money, and using it correctly.