It is a hot summer day, and you feel thirsty. A friend offers you a refreshing cold glass of lemonade. How do you feel when you see the glass? How do you feel when you drink it? Will you describe your feeling as happiness or as pleasure?
I believe you will say it is a feeling of pleasure. There is a connection between these two kinds of feelings, and sometime one evokes the other, but they are not the same thing. Pleasure is more dependent on the five senses while happiness is independent of them.
Pleasure is a good feeling that comes from eating good food, watching a good movie and enjoying a party. Pleasure has to do with enjoyment through the five senses and is dependent on circumstances, objects and people.
When you are happy, minor unpleasant events usually do not disturb you. When you are unhappy, you feel as if everything is against you. You may compensate for it by eating chocolate and sweets because this gives you pleasure; yet you stay unhappy.
A person may smoke cigarettes because it gives him pleasure, yet, this does not make him happier, especially if he acknowledges the fact that it is not good for his health.
There are people who fear that if they experience happiness, it is soon going to be taken away from them. They regard it as a temporary state and are afraid to experience it. They believe happiness is always followed by unhappiness.
Others may go to the extreme of not seeking it at all, because they feel unworthy of it. There are also people who upon experiencing it, always look around, wondering where the blow will come from.
The physical world is always in a state of flux. Each moment a new thing is being created, sustained, changed, transformed and then destroyed. This is the normal state of affairs and no one can change it.
If we attach ourselves to a certain state, we are bound to experience unhappiness sooner or later. No state remains as it is. These are the laws of nature. When circumstances change, and the changes are not to our liking, we experience unhappiness.
On the other hand, if we exercise detachment, nothing can influence our moods. From the moment of birth there is yearning for happiness and endless race towards it. It is considered as one of the greatest positive attributes.
If we analyse our actions we see that all of them are in some way or another, happiness oriented. Everyone wants to feel good and happy. When circumstances and events are to our liking, we are happy, and when they are not, we feel miserable.
When do we experience this coveted state? This feeling emerges when some problem has been solved, a burden has been lifted or a desire has been fulfilled. It comes when we are assured of the love of someone dear to us.
What happens at these times? The tension that has been accumulating while we were pursuing, waiting, expecting or desiring is released. There is no more any need to run after the coveted object. Some tension or burden has been lifted.
At this moment happiness appears. When something happens that puts to an end or brings to a happy conclusion, a search, a worry, a fear or anything else, our minds become calm. We then have no need to think, worry or desire the object.
The room of the mind was filled with desire, worry or fear. Now the room has been emptied, and the mind freed of the compulsion. There is freedom, a feeling of ease, inner peace and joy.
Watch your mind next time you experience happiness and see what is happening. You will find out that the mind becomes quiet, and its constant chatter stops for a while. You will see that happiness comes from the inside.
Happiness is inside us and is attainable. On a cloudy day, the clouds hide the sun, but the sun is always there. The clouds of thoughts, worries and desires cover and hide our happiness. We have to disperse them in order to experience it.
Then the happiness that is inherent in the soul and is always there shines forth. Happiness is not something far away and unattainable, and it does not depend on circumstances. Objects and events are not its causes.
It is an inseparable part of our consciousness, only that as mentioned previously, it is hidden and covered from sight by our endless thoughts, desires and worries. You cannot see a treasure at the bottom of a stormy and muddy lake though it is there.
Make the water still, and let the mud sink, and you see the treasure. The treasure is there whether you see it or not. So is happiness. It is always here, only covered and hidden.
Happiness is here, within you. Just calm your mind and stay relaxed, and you will experience it. A calm and detached mind is the gate to true happiness