What is happyness?

[xander]

quote:Originally posted by Tony M.

I'm interested in what you people think happyness is. From a philosophical point of view...

I think it exists only in the mind.

Xander

[The AlphaOmega]

HappIness to me isn't just a philosophical viewpoint.  People put too much emphasis on ideas.  Why not come up with an idea that can be applied.  "I think that happiness exists in the mind" suggests that in reality it's unattainable.  Something to ponder on but never really achieve.  If you ask me, to find happiness you must search away from the material.  Having money problems?  Think being rich will make you happy?  Nope... it will just solve the money problems.  Have a slow car?  Think buying a fast one will bring purpose to your life?  Nope... it'll just make your car faster.  Don't have a boat?  Think buying one will fill that void you can't put your finger on?  Nope... it'll just make you float on water.  If you want happiness you need to learn to let go of all these things.  No one likes it when they have an oil leak, or their bedroom window gets broken.  But it happens, and it's not really important.  Everything can be fixed, but it'll probably happen again just to be fixed again.  Find what's really important.  Got a couple bucks that aren't going to affect your life one way or the other?  Then buy a homeless person a sandwich and drink instead of a soda for yourself.  Help an abused animal find a better home.  Give a gift to a sick kid on Christmas.  Give and you shall recieve no less.  Give happiness to someone who doesn't have it, and you will have it yourself.  Think it's bulls***?  TRY IT!!!!!

[Shirley]

Hi,

An interesting question on which we can only speculate...  The Dalai Lama said that the purpose of life was to be happy. However, this begs the question as to what then can make us truly happy ....

However a guy called Mihaly Chicksentmihaly (and I could be incorrect with that spelling but a google search will probably correct you!) is a psychologist who has psent his career not studying psycho-pathologies of the mind - as is usual with psychologists - but he has spent three decades looking at whatthe nature of  happiness is. Abraham Maslow said something to the effect that unless we realize our full potential then he promises us that we shall never be fully  happy. This was the kind of conclusion that Chicksentmihaly arrived at also. He found that those that lost themselves in a creative process or who worked on their own potential, found a quality of fulfilment that cannot be obtained through indulgence or any other means... he speaks of states of bliss as 'being in the flow' the 'atonement' that is considered highly spiritual but can be gotten from athletes (called 'ebing in the zone'), musicians,  artisits and anyone with true creative endeavour - who looses themselves in the activity and becomes one with the activity (the walker and the path are one). This is the atonement that can be arrived at through spiritual disciplines also. But the spiritual is around us all the time and not exclusive to meditation or religious endeavour. A life of service can be deeply and spiritually fulfilling. If we consider the religious idea of doing to others what we would have them do to ourselves. Or the idea of 'it is in giving that we receive' we can find the same clues to happiness.

Just one idea about it . In a sense all altruistic acts lead to giving to oneself.

[Coffee]

Happyness is beer, sex and good sleep.  It's also children, hot chocolate and...did I say beer?

Anyhoo...some people say we should be concerned with our own happiness, and others say we should be concerned with the happiness of others (hedonism vs. utilitarianism).

I avoid this argument because it still hasn't defined happiness, even though most of easily recognize happiness when we see it.  

Happiness is (in my opinion) a state of being, or maybe a state of mind we experience when we are healthy, loved, and satisfied.

[cainam_nazier]

Happiness is bliss or the total lack of concern over all things considered negative by ones mind.  

However happiness could also be defined as ignorance.  As someone above stated that yes bringing happiness to those that don't have it can bring you happiness, but you kid yourself if you think that you are solving any problems by giving a homeless guy 2 bucks to buy some food.  It is but a temporary solution, and sure in the end you feel good about doing it, but your happiness will last longer than the homeless guys.

People often think that you can make other people happy by doing things like that.  But really you can't, you are only making yourself happy, and fooling yourself into too.  So really the only way to be happy is to wash away the problems of the world from your mind and just assume that every thing is okay.

So I guess I would redefine happiness like this.  Happiness is more like crack.  It's attainable and great, but the come down is rough.

[bomohwkl]

cainam_nazier

Directly into the core! That's why I don't give money to beggar. The best is to help them to help themselves. What can I do if they don't choose to help themselves............

[bomohwkl]

Happiness is nothing material,rather,it is derived from exercising your strengths and virtues, not only for your own happiness but for others.
An unhappy person cannot make other people happy, can't he?

[The AlphaOmega]

Agree and disagree I suppose.  Bomohwkl... can't give money to a beggar?  Well, why?  You believe they must work for their food, like everyone else?  You believe that they must earn what they recieve and not have it given to them out of kindness?  Perhaps I am wrong in what you have said about beggars, but it strikes me as selfish.  How would you have them help themselves?  Could you give them a fresh start?  A new job, a nice suit, perhaps a decent resume?  Could you supply them with the skills needed to start their life over?  Even if I'm wrong, my first guess would be no, you can't.  So what else can you do for them other then give them something that they want, that they need, with no effort on their part at all?  And what's wrong with that?  What's so bad about giving a hungry person food without making them work for it?  What's wrong with giving a freezing person something warm, for no reason other then the fact that they are cold.  If you believe that you must earn what you recieve, then you are completely overlooking what charity means.  No judgement, no preconceptions, just help.  If anyone believes there is harm in giving something for nothing, then we have a long ways to go to attain peace as a species.  Happiness is not having, because everything that one has can be taken.  Happiness lies in giving... and I mean giving EVERYTHING.  The problem is that before anyone even thinks about doing anything, they consider all the pros and cons of it and consider what would be in THEIR best interest.  When in reality, the simple fact is seeing something wrong, and fixing it, without needing rhyme or reason for it.  Someone is hungry, give them food.  Not "how much money do I have" or "why does he/she deserve to eat"... such things are NOT our concern.  It does not matter how the problem came to be, but how the problem can be solved.  You think happiness is a "concept" that differs from person to person?  How can it differ when happiness is all that ANYONE wants... when there is only one kind of happiness.  You either are, or you aren't.  There is not one level of happiness above another.  You are happy in something, or you are not, it IS that simple.  But if you TRULY AND HONESTLY wish to know happiness within yourself, you must creat happiness within another.  You were close when you said "an unhappy person cannot make other people happy"... but the truth is "when you make other people happy you will discover happiness within yourself".  Throw all the "ideas" out there that you want about the "true" meaning of happiness.  But as long as anyone considers why happiness is not important, philosophical or not, then we can go nowhere.  Thinking why and can't will keep us in the dark forever.  It is only untill we ask how and believe we can that the peace we all seek in life begins to manifest itself.

[bomohwkl]

I should have be more specific. Living in a country where the government assists the unfortunate,disabled, the unemployed and aged people in terms of housing,food and other 'start-fresh' benefits. Do you expect a man who is at mid30s begging on the street?

[Coffee]

I know a lot of happy homeless people.  In SanFrancisco, they seem to outnumber the people with homes because there is so much money to be made there.  All of the tourists feel like they owe something to the less fortunate, and they all are willing to give.  
Ask the homeless, and they'll tell you they like the way things are, that they choose to be homeless.  Most of them don't have the skills to earn enough to afford the american lifestyle.
Give a man a fish, feed him for a day.  Teach him how to fish and you'll feed him for life.

Of course, just having food to eat isn't happiness.  I think happiness is when you get what you want, and it's easier to be happy when you don't want much.

[Tony M.]

I'm interested in what you people think happyness is. From a philosophical point of view...