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How can happiness be achieved
How to achieve happiness
How can happiness be achieved
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Throughout history, and even to this day, humans has spent all their lives striving for one thing, supreme happiness. And to define this term, many people depending on their culture and background, would each have a different definition. Whether it's wealth, long life, or material, none of would be able to offer a person true happiness. Because while one spend their entire life seeking wealth and materials, one will soon realize that he has been neglecting other aspects of his life that are worth far beyond materialistic values. As for the desire of a longer life, what is the purpose of one having a long life when one's life has no greater good for society and oneself? Therefore, these shallow interpretations cannot truly define happiness. However, there are many techniques where one can practice to help achieve supreme happiness. An example would be from the Dhammacakkapavattana Sutta.
The Dhammacakkapavattana Sutta is an ancient Buddhist text, that is widely recognized as a record of Buddha's first teaching after reaching enlightenment. It presented many ideas and theories of how one can achieve true peace and freedom. Two of the main concepts were the ideals of the middle way, and the four noble truths.
The ideology under the meaning of the middle way is that one must stay between two extremes: "the pursuit of sensual happiness and sensual pleasures" and "the pursuit of self-mortification" (Bodhi 1). Buddha believed that the pursuit of sensual happiness and pleasure is "low, vulgar, ignoble, and unbeneficial," while the pursuit of self-mortification was believed to be "painful," and ignoble as well (Bodhi 1). As a result, when one can finally separate oneself from these extremes, then he has successfully reached the midd...
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... the image that suffering is inevitable in one's life. One must understand that no one can break away from the suffering of birth, age, illness, and death. The second noble truth was about the origins of suffering, and that all problems were in essence created by one's own mind. The third truth explains that one can end one's own suffering by simply putting the first two noble truths into practice, and integrate it into one's daily actions and decisions. At last, the fourth noble truth clarifies the eight-fold noble paths. The eight-fold noble paths were the paths of correct thought, speech, actions, livelihood, understanding, effort, mindfulness, and concentration. In conclusion, Buddha's techniques in the Dhammacakkapavattana Sutta were therapeutic because if practiced the correct way, one should be able to experience happiness, peace, and love when practicing.
The second Noble Truth is, the cause of suffering is the desire for things that are really illusions, such as riches, power, and long life. Siddhartha had all of these things, however, no matter how rich, how powerful, how old, one can not reach nirvana by materialistic matters. In Siddhartha’s life, while a merchant, he played dice. However, when he lost he did not get mad, due to the fact that riches were not greatly important to him.
In order to understand the concepts of the Four Noble Truths, one needs to understand the aim of Buddhist practice. “The aim of Buddhist practice is to cure craving, the desire conditioned by ignorance that leads to suffering” (Demoss 1).2 Buddhism advocates meditation, and a “…goal of Buddhist meditation is to produce right mindfulness, an alert awareness of what is happening in body, mind, and world at the present moment” (Demoss 318).3 “Traditionally, ‘right action’ is defined in Buddhist ethics by the five percepts: do not kill, do not steal, do not engage in illicit sex, do not lie, and do not become intoxicated” (Demoss 319).4 “According to Buddhism a person does not have an intrinsic permanent changeless identity. There is no core self. The self is empty” (Demoss 1).5 The Four Noble Truths provide a conceptual framework for all Buddhist thought. According to the Four Noble Truths, craving leads to suffering, but craving can cease if one cultivates a path of mental discipline, wisdom, and moral conduct (Demoss 309).6 An understanding of Buddhism is...
Buddhists believe that life is pain, and pain is caused by desire. They believed that ridding themselves of all desire would also end any pain they felt. These beliefs are known as the Four Noble Truths. The last step to end pain is to follow the Eightfold Path. If an individual has right views, right resolve, right speech, right conduct, right livelihood, right recollection, right effort, and right meditation all pain would cease (Doc 6). Without the interference of pain, Buddhists strive to reach a state of higher truth, peace, and enlightenment known of nirvana. Reaching nirvana also real eases the soul from its constant cycle of
The first noble truth of Buddhism is about the truth of suffering and explains that suffering is a part of life. The truth of suffering covers a variety of areas in human life from the inevitability of death to unavoidable sickness; life, by definition, forces people to suffer. The Buddhacarita helps explain the first of the four noble truths in a couple different ways. The first, and most blatantly obvious way, in which these are shown is at the beginning of the story where the bodhisattva first sees suffering in the form of an old man, a sick man and a dead man. While through an enormous amount of luck it is possible to avoid sickness, both old age and death are unavoidable facts of life and the bodhisattva learns this fact from his charioteer who tells him “death is certain for all in this world” disregarding one’s dharma (B 3.59). Not even the bodhisattva, who is destined to become the Buddha and enlighten the world about how to end suffering, is able to break free from the grasp of death and this is of vital importance to the Buddhist doctrine as it stresses that no one, not even the main religious figure, is above the laws of the earth that is the law that all things must eventually succumb to death. Although the Buddha knew that “[he] must die” it was still even hard for the gods themself to understand this fact and not even they were able control
In Hermann Hesse's Siddhartha, a classic novel about enlightenment, the main character, Siddhartha, goes on a lifelong journey of self-discovery. Along the way, Siddhartha encounters many who try to teach him enlightenment, undoubtedly the most important being the Buddha himself. Although Siddhartha rejects the Buddha's teachings, saying that wisdom cannot be taught, we can see, nevertheless, that along his journey for understanding Siddhartha encounters the Four Noble Truths that are a central theme in Buddhism: suffering, the cause of suffering, the end of suffering, and the middle path.
When an average person seeks happiness, most often they search in the wrong place: "If only I could have that I would be happy." For ages, man has been seeking happiness from outside, not within. People have the misconception that material things and materialistic goals will bring them ultimate happiness, but in truth those only bring transient happiness. True and lasting happiness can be reached from within when one realizes the ultimate truth. This ultimate truth, the main focus of transcendentalism, can be reached through self-reliance, nature, and oversoul, the main principals of the philosophy. By meditation, by communing with nature, through work and art, man could transcend his senses and attain an understanding of beauty, goodness, and truth.
The Dhammapada is a unique book that addresses about Buddha speaking upon how to free one’s self from suffering based on the eight fold paths. The book talks about how we live life and how to learn from our suffering to prosper without any suffering in the afterlife. There are many proverbs of wisdom, similes, metaphors, and analogies where one can learn from Buddha’s teachings to live a better life without enduring any more pain. What I have learned the most coming from the eight fold paths are the following; right speech and right concentration.
In the Buddha’s first sermon, he laid out the four main ideas that he had been enlightened with; he called them the Four Noble Truths. 1) Everything in life is suffering and sorrow. 2) The cause of all suffering is people’s selfish desire for the temporary pleasures of this world. 3)
Buddhism is one of the prominent and influential religions and philosophies of the world. A basic tenet of Buddhism is that worldly desires and possessions cause all suffering. To absolve one’s self of necessities beyond basic human survival is one of the many plateaus that Buddhists strive to achieve. Furthermore, Buddhists free themselves from temptation via seclusion from society and attempt to allow nature to support them. They believe that Nirvana, the ascension to heaven, can be achieved by freeing oneself of earthly desires.
230). There are two main “types” Buddhism that are practiced around the world. The first is Theravadin, and the second is Mahayana (Smith-Stoner, 2005, p. 228). Buddhism contains a “message of salvation” that considered the “Four Noble Truths” (Leming & Dickinson, 2011 p. 134). They are, the truth of suffering, the truth of the cause of suffering, the truth of the end of suffering, and the truth of the path that leads to the end of suffering. Leming and Dickinson (2011) describe how the combination of ethics and meditation are the eightfold path to enlightenment (Leming & Dickinson, 2011 p. 136). The author believes it is important for practitioners to recognize the increasing numbers of people practicing Buddhism in the United States in order to enhance their ability to care for end of life needs in this population. Smith-Stoner (2005) states that Buddhism is one of the fastest growing religions in the United States and that Colorado is one of the main population centers (Smith-Stoner, 2005, p. 229). In Buddhism, it is extremely important to be able to tame emotions and the mind which is done through meditation. The author thinks it is pertinent to know the
Most people think that the highest end is a life of pleasure. Hedonists have defined happiness as " an equivalent to the totality of pleasurable or agreeable feeling.';(Fox, 3) Some pleasures are good and contribute to happiness. Not all ends are ultimate ends but the highest end would have to be something ultimate; the only conceivable ultimate end is happiness.
The Four Noble Truths of Buddhism capture ethos of the spirituality and its teachings. By just these four lessons, Buddha preaches the principles of tranquility within meditation of mere concentration. From these truths he developed a guidance referred to as the Eightfold Path, a series of principles that lead to awakening when practiced and understood. He preaches that inevitable suffering comes from desire, however he concludes with a solution to a life lived in nirvana. The first two of the Four Noble Truths are Dukha and Avidya, focusing on the primitive presence of suffering within day to day life. The other two are Nirodha and Magga, contributions to having faith that solvents for all suffering do exist and how it is accomplished. The combination of each understanding is a simple recipe to ultimate salvation, hence the contribution to development of self awareness and happiness within cultures across the map.
The Fourth Noble Truth leads to the end of suffering and provides a practical pathway to the realization of Nibbana in the form of the Noble Eightfold Path. This consists of eight factors: right understanding, right thought,...
Firstly, the Four Noble Truths come about with the concept that in order to first be able to fix a problem, the first step is admitting and accepting that there is something wrong in order to seek help, get diagnosis and eventually find a cure. “ In this talk we see the Buddha as physician to the world, the relentlessly clear – seeing healer whose love embraces all creatures.” The first Noble Truth refers to “ Life is Dhukka”, which is interpreted as the diagnosis. It introduces the concept that all life is suffering persistent dissatisfaction, similar to a stuck wheel of a car. It further follows into many pondering questions in which we do not have answers to, like for example why do good things happen to bad people. It further introduces the concepts that all life will eventually die and come to an end. All life objects and individuals will grow old and die, and our possessions will eventually rust and decay. The second Noble Truth refers to “ Trishna” which is the cause of Dukkha. The reason why individuals suffer is due to desire, attachment and the craving and thirst of materialistic items. Individuals spend an enormous amount of time, energy and money on creating and buying fancy and outrageous materialistic possessions, however eventually all of these things will be taken away when the individual dies. The Third Noble Truth refers to “ Nirvana” which is the cure of Dukkha. This noble truth tells us what we
Happiness is a psychological term that is hard to define since it is particular to each individual. However, we can define it as a psychological sense of life satisfaction, pleasure, and positive emotional condition. For some people, it is difficult to achieve happiness. In contrast, other people can find happiness in the simplest things. However, remember that happiness is in our hands. Just keep seeking it and we will finally be