Saturday 22 September 2012

Prashant Nautiyal_BLP038_Happiness_September2012


Most of the people when thinking of the concept of happiness think of attaining some material things, things like a good job, cars, well home. In my opinion, happiness comes from within and if a person follows his religion like  the eightfold path of Buddhism as a reference, will find himself closer to happiness.

For example, Buddhist philosophy of Mindfulness is also practiced in SOIL as one of pillars and is one of the pre requisites for a happy life. Being mindful relates to being aware of the present moment, appreciating what’s in front and all the good things in life. When we are truly present in the moment and are free of thoughts of past and future, we are truly mindful which Buddhist monks practice.

Various texts are available which also suggest that a person’s long-term happiness depends on his ability to notice and appreciate the details. He should be able enjoy little things in life. In this way even if things go wrong you’ll feel unhappy instead of disappointed and will drive towards making best use of getting out of the situation.

Another suggestion various texts like “The Monk who sold his Ferrari” and Japanese Philosophy is of kaizen. Kaizen means constant and never ending improvement. When a person decides to live his life with the principles of kaizen he follows a path of self-mastery and improvement, which helps in giving him a sense of direction and deep satisfaction.
In my opinion, by following the above thoughts and philosophies one can charter his path of pursuit of happiness. Happiness may not be permanent for us beings involved in the rat race unlike monks, but we should strive to apply these in our life to reap maximum benefit.

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