Musings on Happiness with Resources

This is the clearest description of the problem of happiness, the solution to the problem, and the evidence that the solution works, that I have seen so far.  It is twenty-one minutes long.  Twenty-one minutes for learning about happiness.  It is possible to become consistently happier through consistent, simple practice.

However, I am not a Buddhist monk.  I just said a couple of posts ago that who you are is what you do.  If I talk so much about being interested in happiness, and I agree so much with M. Ricard, why am I not "being who I am" as a Buddhist monk?  I have previously talked about trying meditation as a consistent practice and while I did experience greatly increased serenity, patience, and tolerance the result did not feel like "happy" to me.  It felt like I was losing some things in order to get these other things.  But people are different.  If you believe that what is stopping you from being happy is worry, anxiety, frustration, and displeasure with others, then absolutely you should meditate.  If you are such a person and I could make you do something, I would order you to meditate daily.  To be honest, I think I was probably not doing the full program, and should have got some guidance from an expert.

How can you tell whom to trust with regard to happiness?  It's a useful question, because there are all sorts of people everywhere "selling" you some path to happiness.  Some people say it is self-esteem, some say it is the extinction of the ego.  What I am saying is that there's quite a variation here.  Here is my suggestion.  People are really good at reading voices.  If someone is trying to tell you how to be happy, or compassionate, then listen to their voice.  I bet you will be able to tell very quickly whether they are happy or compassionate.  Here's some examples of people I think have got something useful to tell you.

So, I am different from other people, and so the path from who I am now to a happier person is a different path from other people because I am starting in a different place.  I have been told that The Buddha said to listen and try out his ideas, but if they didn't work for you, throw them out.  If he didn't say this, he should have.  I like straight forward, simple expression of ideas.  So I like to be given the point of the idea quickly, in simply language.  I don't need a myth.  I have therefore found the translation of the Tao Te Ching by Stephen Mitchell to be the most helpful book I have read for happiness, just ahead of Siddharta by Herman Hesse.

Two phrases Christina and I use to help happiness when we start becoming annoyed or frustrated.

"Amused like a grandmother."

"In the abundance of water, the fool is thirsty."

I must admit that part of my attraction for Taoism was the discovery of the tradition of poets wandering off into the countryside, getting ferociously drunk, and then writing beautiful monuments to what life is really about.  Here's one from perhaps the most famous of all, Li Bai (or Li Po).

Life in the World is but a big dream;

胡为劳其生. I will not spoil it by any labour or care.

所以终日醉, So saying, I was drunk all the day,

颓然卧前楹. Lying helpless at the porch in front of my door.

觉来盼庭前, When I woke up, I blinked at the garden-lawn;

一鸟花间鸣. A lonely bird was singing amid the flowers.

借问此何时, I asked myself, had the day been wet or fine?

春风语流莺. The Spring wind was telling the mango-bird.

感之欲叹息, Moved by its song I soon began to sigh,

对酒还自倾. And as wine was there I filled my own cup.

浩歌待明月, Wildly singing I waited for the moon to rise;

曲尽已忘情. When my song was over, all my senses had gone.