Happiness?

[crow]

Many say: "Nothing will bring you happiness".
But the truth is: nothing WILL bring you happiness.

[MahaVindex]

I was under the impression that happiness was a extremely subjective thing.

[crow]

It generally is, since so few have any real notion of what it is.
Perhaps the word, itself, has so lost its meaning, that it has become useless.
But I consider happiness to be the state arrived at when nothing draws one's awareness away from no-thing.
Balance is happiness. AKA bliss.
It is achieved by awareness of nothing.
Nothingness. No mind. No state. No desire. No Thing.

[Undermind]

This all sounds so very Buddhist.

[Corpse]

This all sounds so very Buddhist.

Not far off, considering crow is a taoist. I'm inclined to agree with him on this, though.

[Squarekiller23]

The word "happiness" is now used as a synonym for immediate gratification. Whatever feels good right now is what makes you happy. This fast food taco or this dose of heroin or buying a new video game or whatever it is.
There's an assumption that comes with this new form of happiness that says nothing "bad" will ever happen to you, as well. When happiness comes to you, it stays forever. Your car will never break down, you'll never be late for anything, you'll never be rejected by anyone, no one you know will ever die, etc. Of course these things will always happen to everyone, but when it happens to "happy" people, they lose their shit. They aren't prepared to deal with these things because they were under the assumption that they're "happy", and bad things can't happen when you're happy.

I agree that balance is what makes happiness, but happiness is more than just feeling good all of the time. It's a feeling of contentedness that comes with knowing who you are and knowing your place in the world, and being comfortable with that. And it means seeing various events and happenings as neither good nor bad, but just as what they are, and being comfortable with that, too.

[Jim Necroslaughter]

The better term is what the Greeks called Eudaemonia.  It coincides with thriving or flourishing.

[MahaVindex]

The better term is what the Greeks called Eudaemonia.  It coincides with thriving or flourishing.

I would agree more with this, happiness to me is something that happens from time to time but is usually followed by contentment, which isn't a good thing in my book.

[crow]

Contentment isn't a good thing in your book?
Did I read that right?

[Humanicide]

Contentment isn't a good thing in your book?
Did I read that right?

Yeah if anything, being content should be a primary goal in life.

Happiness is something fleeting. It's a feeling that has had many definitions through the ages. There's nothing wrong with moments of happiness (whatever that word may mean to you), but seeking happiness for the sake of it will ironically leave one very empty and sad.

[MahaVindex]

Contentment isn't a good thing in your book?
Did I read that right?

Yeah if anything, being content should be a primary goal in life.

Happiness is something fleeting. It's a feeling that has had many definitions through the ages. There's nothing wrong with moments of happiness (whatever that word may mean to you), but seeking happiness for the sake of it will ironically leave one very empty and sad.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X-yMooQWkjM

[Humanicide]

Contentment isn't a good thing in your book?
Did I read that right?

Yeah if anything, being content should be a primary goal in life.

Happiness is something fleeting. It's a feeling that has had many definitions through the ages. There's nothing wrong with moments of happiness (whatever that word may mean to you), but seeking happiness for the sake of it will ironically leave one very empty and sad.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X-yMooQWkjM

I remember that album. That and the EP before it were some of the early hardcore records I got. I've drifted away from them - this was a pleasant nostalgia trip, but it's quite derivative of Integrity and similar bands; not much new. Not terrible though; it's at least listenable whereas everything after this got more and more ignorant and bro-oriented.

About the point - if satisfaction is indeed the death of desire, could this not be good? Desiring things all of the time would make me feel antsy and would impede my ability to relax. Satisfaction isn't complacency.

[crow]

Satisfaction is the lack of desire. Nothing pushes, nothing pulls.
Whatever 'happiness' is, satisfaction is a considerable part of it.

[aquarius]

It is said that addiction is the inability to experience satiation. This makes for an interesting parallel with desire/satisfaction. A disorder of the soul’s on/off switch.

Personally I find it hard to define/re-define ‘happiness’ as though there are different forms of it. It is more like a by-product of functionality and connection with the world beyond oneself. Being honest with oneself, there is no question about what happiness is.

[03-04]

Happiness is like resonance or harmony, yes. Being happy is being in tune: There's nothing that seriously rubs you the wrong way.

That's a far cry from the constant craving-reward-cycle of desire.

Satisfaction is a substantial part of happiness, whereas it is only accidental to desire.