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 0xYg3n
topdawg
Registered: 04/29/04
Posts: 18,881
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 What is Happiness? 
#2655536 - 05/09/04 12:26 AM (19 years, 11 months ago) |
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Is happiness long term or short term? Why can you be happy one moment and all of a sudden be sad the next? How does being happy sometimes interfere with happiness? Such as a superficial happiness or a temporary happiness.
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fireworks_god
Sexy.Butt.McDanger
Registered: 03/12/02
Posts: 24,855
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 Re: What is Happiness? [Re: 0xYg3n]
#2655915 - 05/09/04 05:25 AM (19 years, 11 months ago) |
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Happiness is always there in every moment. If we are not experiencing it, we have seperated ourselves from it... we are short sighted like that. Check out this thread.
 
Peace. 
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If I should die this very moment
I wouldn't fear
For I've never known completeness
Like being here
Wrapped in the warmth of you
Loving every breath of you
  
 
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JacquesCousteau
Being.
Registered: 06/10/03
Posts: 7,825
Loc: Everywhere, Everytime.
Last seen: 1 year, 11 months
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Re: What is Happiness? [Re: 0xYg3n]
#2656022 - 05/09/04 06:50 AM (19 years, 11 months ago) |
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"Happiness is not a fish that you can catch..."
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 kaiowas
lest we baguette
Registered: 07/14/03
Posts: 5,501
Loc: oz
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Re: What is Happiness? [Re: 0xYg3n]
#2656167 - 05/09/04 08:24 AM (19 years, 11 months ago) |
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yes chekc that thread fireworks posted, it's chalk full of common sense ideas!!!
also
"many of us are unhappy because we are trying to find enough security, sex, pleasant sensations, ego rushes, prestige, money, power and status. this struggle yields lives of constant resentment, worry, suspicion, anger, jealousy, shyness, and fear. most people tell themselves tjeu must do to be happy ends up yielding more frustration than joy. the more sucessful a person is in making money, collective skills and possessions, aquring knowledge and degrees, and achieving positions of status, power, and prestige, the less loving peaceful, and contented they may find themselves.
And yet it is not these things in and of themselves that create an unhappy life, it is the internal mental feeling about the desires for them that minute by minute keeps one from enjoying life 99% of the time. Addictions (or emotional backed demands) bring fear of non-fullfillment; jealousy that someone may steal our source of fullfillment, anger when someone twarts us; cynicism if constantly undersupplied; paranoia if constantly threatened; boredom if we're making no progress towards statisfying our addictions (emotional backed demands); worry if we can't see the steady supply; anxiety if we;re worried about being worried; and unhappiness when the outside world does not supply is with whatever we are addicted to. since commons snese tells us that the way things go in life is that you win some and you lose some, an addicted person has no chance of living a happy life over 90% of the time( ie being loving, peaceful, wise and effective.) And the addictive programming is not necessary to find and enjoy that which we prefer in life.
we will be ready for this type of growth into a constant supply of happiness when you realize the utter futility of trying to live a beautiful life by your efforts to rearrange or change the world of people and things outside of you to fit your emotional backed demands. we will find time and again, that you have to rearrange your own personal responses to life situations...things that we learned in our childhood that was nessary so we survive in our younger years.
as we start growing, we will find that we have always had enough to be happy. it is the patters in our heads that make us unhappy, although we tend to blame the pole and conditions outside of us for our unhappiness.
this does not require you to detach yourself from your present life. serenity can be used most efficiently if we stay with our current business and personal life. once we understand this system thoroughly, you won't need a teacher. our lives will be the best teacher for we will discover that we are always putting ourselves in learning situtions that are ideal for growth. the programming that we must changew has an unerring way of putting us into life situations that can make us aware of the exact inner work we need to do. this will add to the enjoyment of life all around.
think of all the energy we put now into the up and down hour by hour coping with our feelings will contiually trying to rearrange the people and situations in our lives so that we can be loving, effective, and happy. and yet year by year our quest may be as elusive as ever. since almost everyone around us has trouble in boming happy 95% of the time, we may have lowered our standards and decided that continuous happiness is probably not realistic. let's get rid of this notion and up our standards, after all, we are worth it!
Most of us assume that our desires (backed up by emotional feelings) are true guides to doing the things that will make us happy. but yet no one has yet to find happiness by using emotional backed demands as guides. flashes of pleasure...sure, happiness...no.
our wants and desires are so seductive...they are thought of as needs that must be satisfied so we can be happy at last. we tell ourselves "if I can jsut become president of this compnay, or if I jsut make this much money, I will be happy." It is fine to aquire these positions, and to aquire money, but it may be misleading to expect it to bring us peace, love and happiness. "if only..." so we search for these external situations, we trust in them, but we all know life doesn't go our way half of the time.
our negative emotions are a misleading result of an extensive pattern of scars we have experienced. again, uhhappines through repetition. we haven't had the chance yet to understand and love on a continuous basis..so we think it's not possible. it is how we have dealt with emotions that lead us to percieve differences that make us uptight, instead of similarities that enable us to understand and love. we percive other people and situations as threats when we rely on the external world and situations for our happiness. we respond with adrenaline, faster heartbeat, increase in blood sugar, and other jungle survival responses that prepare us for fight or flight.
think about some of the threatening situations you have felt in the last day or two. are you going to lose your job? is the person for whom you feel the most love paying attention to somone else than you? do you have unpaid bills that you cannot take care of? now these problems euther have solutions or they don't. either you can do something about them now, or you can't. if you can do something about it, then do it, even if it's jsut a first step. don't dwell on the situation, yes think about it, but not dwell, this doesn't lead to getting th problem fixed. if you are in the process of fixing it, but it'll take some time, stop dwelling while you're doing it. if you are doing what you can, then feeling negative about it doesn't help, it just hurts your mind, the body, and possibly the situation. you energy will be drained when you are worried or axious about a problem. do what you can do, but don't be addicted to the results or else you will creat more worry. if you can't do anything about it right now, then why make yourself uncomfartable about it, save that energy for when you CAN do something about it. these negative emotions in non life threatening situations jsut lowers insight and effectiveness of our actions.
if you do not hassel yourself emotionally when the outside world doesn't fit your demads (as it often does) you will be much more joyous, and really appreciate each moment of you life. we need to learn to flow with the people and things around us, because after all, we are all different, and no one is going to conform jsut for you. since we are conscious beings, the only thing we need to find happiness in life is to perceive clealy who we are, and what exactly are the real conditions. in order to do this, we need to do some inner work, and we will do this through repetition"-handbook
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Annnnnnd I had a light saber and my friend was there and I said "you look like an indian" and he said "you look like satan" and he found a stick and a rock and he named the rock ooga booga and he named the stick Stick and we both thought that was pretty funny. We got eaten alive by mosquitos but didn't notice til the next day. I stepped on some glass while wading in the swamp and cut my foot open, didn't bother me til the next day either....yeah it was a good time, ended the night by buying some liquor for minors and drinking nips and going to he diner and eating chicken fingers, and then I went home and went to bed.
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deff
just love everyone
Registered: 05/01/04
Posts: 9,428
Loc: clarity 
Last seen: 1 hour, 41 minutes
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Re: What is Happiness? [Re: 0xYg3n]
#2656376 - 05/09/04 10:28 AM (19 years, 11 months ago) |
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Happiness is the ego getting what it wants and rewarding you with a chemical change in the brain. 
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Redo
CTA
Registered: 04/13/04
Posts: 1,296
Last seen: 18 years, 8 months
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Re: What is Happiness? [Re: deff]
#2656688 - 05/09/04 12:29 PM (19 years, 11 months ago) |
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Emotions are evolved to help us =b. Its not some mysterious thing, its an emotion to help us with the day to day life, whatever lifestyle we have now or what we had thousands of years ago. Fear helps us think on our feet, stress helps us concentrate on what needs to be done in order to get out of whatever situation we are in, etc etc.
Emotions are just changes in a select few nuerotransmitters such as the two big ones, seretonin and dopamine.
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Viaggio
ChemicalConsumer
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Re: What is Happiness? [Re: 0xYg3n]
#2656731 - 05/09/04 12:37 PM (19 years, 11 months ago) |
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Happiness is a state of mind. The state of mind is in constant flux. Happy hunting
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"...yet another in a long series of diversions an attempt to avoid responsibility."
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0xYg3n
topdawg
Registered: 04/29/04
Posts: 18,881
Last seen: 15 years, 27 days
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Re: What is Happiness? [Re: 0xYg3n]
#2656780 - 05/09/04 12:52 PM (19 years, 11 months ago) |
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kk, thx for replies
edit: that books sounds really interesting.
Edited by 0xYg3n (05/09/04 12:53 PM)
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BlueCoyote
Beyond
Registered: 05/07/04
Posts: 6,697
Loc: Between
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Re: What is Happiness? [Re: 0xYg3n]
#2657327 - 05/09/04 03:28 PM (19 years, 11 months ago) |
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Happines is definitively a great gift.
Its comparable to big sadness, just the other way round. In both cases it happens when your mind can not comply with the according informations.
Happiness: your mind thinks it could end in a positive way.
Sadness: your mind thinks it could end in a negative way.
That's all, I think  Hormone/Neurotransmitter releases are the consequent spontaneus reactions of the brain to comply...
But also, enduring sadness (depression) could be a lack of specific neurotransmitters. Perhaps enduring happiness (euphoria) could be the opposite ?
Just don't worry, be happy !
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Frog
Warrior
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Re: What is Happiness? [Re: 0xYg3n]
#2657574 - 05/09/04 04:25 PM (19 years, 11 months ago) |
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I agree with Viaggio. Happiness is a matter of perception, and a state of mind. We can feel any way we want about anything, depending on how we perceive things. Change your perception, change how you feel.
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The day will come when, after harnessing the ether, the winds, the tides, gravitation, we shall harness for God the energies of love. And, on that day, for the second time in the history of the world, man will have discovered fire. -Teilard
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Swami
Eggshell Walker
Registered: 01/18/00
Posts: 15,413
Loc: In the hen house
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Re: What is Happiness? [Re: Frog]
#2659645 - 05/10/04 01:20 PM (19 years, 11 months ago) |
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We can feel any way we want about anything...
I would vehemently challenge that. Saying "We can..." as a theoretical possibility is quite a bit different than saying "We can..." as a reality.
Outside events do affect us both positively and negatively. It is like standing in the ocean with heavy surf, strong currents and powerful riptides. You WILL be moved.
Lost my job and have no means of support? I am happy!
Child died in a car accident? I am happy!
Spouse cheated on me and then beat me for asking him about it? I am happy!
something lese severe perhaps: Got a $350 fine for speeding? I am happy!
Swami no think so.
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The proof is in the pudding.
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Viaggio
ChemicalConsumer
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Last seen: 18 years, 25 days
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Re: What is Happiness? [Re: Frog]
#2660281 - 05/10/04 04:27 PM (19 years, 11 months ago) |
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Hmm...I love it when people agree with me, but I think you might have misunderstood me, Frog. It seems like we have less control over what governs our state of mind because it is dependent on factors we do not control (such as spontaneous events, brain chemistry, etc). We can certainly reach for things that will make us happy, but nothing is permanent (especially the state of mind).
It's funny how we desire things (people, accomplishments, etc) that we're convinced will make us happy, but the road leading to these things involves suffering. Would eliminating desire equal permanent happiness? Or do we need desire (thus suffering) to define happiness?
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"...yet another in a long series of diversions an attempt to avoid responsibility."
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Viveka
refutation bias
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Re: What is Happiness? [Re: 0xYg3n]
#2660329 - 05/10/04 04:45 PM (19 years, 11 months ago) |
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Happiness is accepting the fact that you won't be "happy" all the time.
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deff
just love everyone
Registered: 05/01/04
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Re: What is Happiness? [Re: Viveka]
#2660750 - 05/10/04 06:23 PM (19 years, 11 months ago) |
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Any seemingly outside emotion is really caused internally. What I mean is the only reason you feel sad/angry/whatever when your boss fires you is caused by your want of a job position, your lust for money, and your need for social acceptance. Really, everything is internal, and therefore everything can be controlled fairly easily.
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MarkostheGnostic
Elder
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Re: What is Happiness? [Re: 0xYg3n]
#2660978 - 05/10/04 07:03 PM (19 years, 11 months ago) |
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As the saying goes: "If you chase after the blue bird of hapiness, it will fly away from you."
As the late, great psychiatrist Victor Frankl said in 'The Unconscious God: Psychotherapy and Theology' :
"Primarily and normally man does not seek pleasure; instead, pleasure, or for that matter, happiness - is the side-effect of living out the self-transcendence of existence. Once one has served a cause or is involved in loving another human being, happiness occurs by itself. The will to pleasure, however, contradicts the self-transcendent quality of the human reality. And it also defeats itself. For pleasure and happiness are by-products. Happiness must ensue, it cannot be pursued. It is the very pursuit of happiness that thwarts happiness. The more one makes happiness the aim, the more one misses the aim....What is behind the emphasis on sexual achievement and power, what is behind this will to pleasure and happiness is again the frustrated will to meaning..
Frankl's philosophy and derivative psychotherapy were forged in four Nazi concentration camps including Auschwitz in which he experienced human suffering - the diametric opposite of pleasure/happiness - to a degree that only other camp survivors could comprehend. He found that those who could hold that there was meaning behind the unbelievable suffering were much more likely to choose life and increased their subjective ability to survive. If this could be applied to such hellish circumstances, it certainly applies to the neurotic whinings of spoiled adults and disenfranchised youth.
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γνῶθι σαὐτόν - Gnothi Seauton - Know Thyself
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Swami
Eggshell Walker
Registered: 01/18/00
Posts: 15,413
Loc: In the hen house
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He found that those who could hold that there was meaning behind the unbelievable suffering were much more likely to choose life and increased their subjective ability to survive.
While interesting (and I think Frankl to be a very rare and wise man), it still does not answer the riddle: is this increased longevity a bio-chemical response to positive thought (and obviously worthy of adopting this outlook on life) or something much more mystical: the trancendence of the normal human state and a tapping into of a hidden God-current that gives strength beyond normal endurance.
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The proof is in the pudding.
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fireworks_god
Sexy.Butt.McDanger
Registered: 03/12/02
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Re: What is Happiness? [Re: Viaggio]
#2661905 - 05/11/04 03:30 AM (19 years, 11 months ago) |
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Quote:
viaggio said:
It seems like we have less control over what governs our state of mind because it is dependent on factors we do not control (such as spontaneous events, brain chemistry, etc). We can certainly reach for things that will make us happy, but nothing is permanent (especially the state of mind).
Actually, the more able one gets at directing their own thoughts, the more and more happiness and acceptance of the moment can be held. You mention reaching for things that will make us happy, but I think the real problem here lies in having emotion-backed demands of what is suspossed to happen in the moment, including playing games with what will make us happy and what won't.
Everytime I experience some negative, seperating from-the-moment emotion, I reflect and explore on why I'm feeling that way, first off. Am I being forced to feel bad? Do I have any control over how I feel in the moment? etc. etc....
Quote:
It's funny how we desire things (people, accomplishments, etc) that we're convinced will make us happy, but the road leading to these things involves suffering. Would eliminating desire equal permanent happiness? Or do we need desire (thus suffering) to define happiness?
I don't think it is eliminating desire. I think it is about being free to take actions and to desire whatever we feel like desiring, but to not be emotionally attached to our desires. If I want to enjoy a few peaceful moments listening to psy trance and posting on S and P, but the baby wakes up earlier than I expected and starts crying, and requires me to attend to him... do I allow that to get me down? Sure, I would prefer to enjoy those peaceful moments.... but reality is reality, and the sooner we accept reality, the less suffering we will experience. There is a difference between addiction and preference.
If you allow external conditions to effect your state of mind, if you allow yourself to suffer, that is up to you. If you feel suffering because your car broke down, your girlfriend left, or a friend passed on is justifiable, then by all means, suffer. After all, we are the ones in our own mind, and we are the ones in control of the way our thoughts flow. If we allow external circumstances to lead us around without control, then hell, that is what happens. 
Peace.
--------------------
If I should die this very moment
I wouldn't fear
For I've never known completeness
Like being here
Wrapped in the warmth of you
Loving every breath of you
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TheShroomHermit
Divine Hermit of the Everything
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Posts: 7,575
Loc: border of Canada and Mexi...
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Re: What is Happiness? [Re: 0xYg3n]
#2662476 - 05/11/04 09:34 AM (19 years, 11 months ago) |
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Happiness if a state of the mind. The question should be, is the thing making you happy long or short term. Being happy one moment and sad the next shows how easily changed these mind states are. It may also be manic depression, if it happens often.
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Viveka
refutation bias
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Re: What is Happiness? [Re: Swami]
#2662784 - 05/11/04 11:00 AM (19 years, 11 months ago) |
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Quote:
He found that those who could hold that there was meaning behind the unbelievable suffering were much more likely to choose life and increased their subjective ability to survive.
While interesting (and I think Frankl to be a very rare and wise man), it still does not answer the riddle: is this increased longevity a bio-chemical response to positive thought (and obviously worthy of adopting this outlook on life) or something much more mystical: the trancendence of the normal human state and a tapping into of a hidden God-current that gives strength beyond normal endurance.
This seems fishy coming from you, Swami. Is this bait?
Why does it have to be either? Couldn't it simply be that these people had developed a profound gratitude for life after experiencing a full range of extremes of human joy and suffering? Call it a "hidden God-current" if you will but considering that we are a part of the everything some like to call "GOD", I don't see how calling it that changes the meaning in any way.
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Ped
Interested In Your Brain
Registered: 08/30/99
Posts: 5,494
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Re: What is Happiness? [Re: 0xYg3n]
#2662999 - 05/11/04 11:59 AM (19 years, 11 months ago) |
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Happiness is a mind that does not expect things to be different from what they are.
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