Conditions of Happiness

[mkrnhr]

The link provided doesn’t seem to work, for some reason... ? :(

Hi,
try to copy the link https://cassiopaea.org/forum/index.php/topic,23803.msg277415.html#msg277415 in the browser.

 

[David]

The link provided doesn’t seem to work, for some reason... ? :(

Hi,
try to copy the link https://cassiopaea.org/forum/index.php/topic,23803.msg277415.html#msg277415 in the browser.

Thanks... that worked, probably some kind of memory issue as links usually work... thanks again.

 

[mkrnhr]

Thanks... that worked, probably some kind of memory issue as links usually work... thanks again.

Computers are strange sometimes and the trick is to try different things when it happens. Happy reading :)

 

[l apprenti de forgeron]

Also the spiritual decline of our ages with it's materalistic worldview must make people really unhappy. I've never been so happy as today and the biggest reason is this network and the knowledge through it. When you just think of all this information about the infinite all-encompassing universe, Divine Cosmic Mind and your life as a religion and lessons, it makes you really humble... and happy! :)

I agree, and this is because here we adquiere knowledge. And for me knowledge is happiness. For me is that simple as that. Yesterday I was re-reading one chapter in the wave about knowledge, the most important thing to be present, and to be present here and now is, for me, happiness. It was a conversation with the C's, so beautifully explained:

The following was one of their earliest explications of “Knowledge Protects”.

October 22, 1994

A: The only defense needed is knowledge. Knowledge defends you against every possible form of harm in existence. The more knowledge you have, the less fear you have, the less pain you have, the less stress you feel, the less anguish you feel, and the less danger you experience of any form or sort.

Think of this very carefully now for this is very important: Where is there any limitation in the concept behind the word “knowledge”? Being that there is no limitation, what is the value of that word? Infinite.

Can you conceive of how that one concept, that one meaning frees you from all limitation? Use your sixth sense to conceive of how the word, the term, the meaning of knowledge can provide with all that you could possibly ever need. If you think carefully you will begin to see glimpses of how this is true in its greatest possible form.

Q: (L) Does this include knowledge learned from books?

A: This includes all possible meanings of the concept of the word.

Can you think of how it would be that simply with one term, this one word could carry so much meaning?

We sense that you are not completely aware. You can have glimpses of illumination and illumination comes from knowledge

If you strive perpetually to gain and gather knowledge, you provide yourself with protection from every possible negative occurrence that could ever happen.

Do you know why this is?

The more knowledge you have, the more awareness you have as to how to protect yourself. Eventually this awareness becomes so powerful and so all encompassing that you do not even have to perform tasks, or rituals if you prefer, to protect yourself. The protection simply comes naturally with the awareness.

Q: (L) Does knowledge have a substance or an existence apart from its possession or its acceptance?

A: Knowledge has all substance. It goes to the core of all existence.

Q: (L) So acquiring knowledge includes adding substance to one’s being?

A: Indeed. It includes adding everything to one’s being that is desirable. And also, when you keep invoking the light, as you do, truly understand that the light is knowledge. That is the knowledge, which is at the core of all existence. And being at the core of all existence it provides protection from every form of negativity in existence. Light is everything and everything is knowledge and knowledge is everything. You are doing extremely well in acquiring of knowledge. Now all you need is the faith and realization that acquiring of knowledge is all you need.

Q: (L) I just want to be sure that the source that I am acquiring the knowledge from is not a deceptive source.

A: If you simply have faith, no knowledge that you could possibly acquire could possibly be false because there is no such thing. Anyone or anything that tries to give you false knowledge, false information, will fail. The very material substance that the knowledge takes on, since it is at the root of all existence, will protect you from absorption of false information that is not knowledge.
There is no need to fear the absorption of false information when you are simply openly seeking to acquire knowledge. And knowledge forms the protection — all the protection you could ever need.

Q: (L) There are an awful lot of people who are being open and trusting and having faith that are getting zapped and knocked on their rears.

A: No. That is simply your perception. What you are failing to perceive is that these people are not really gathering knowledge. These people are stuck at some point in their pathway to progress and they are undergoing a hidden manifestation of what is referred to in your terms as obsession. Obsession is not knowledge; obsession is stagnation. So, when one becomes obsessed, one actually closes off the absorption and the growth and the progress of soul development, which comes with the gaining of true knowledge. For when one becomes obsessed one deteriorates the protection therefore one is open to problems, to tragedies, to all sorts of difficulties. Therefore one experiences same.

To be protected by knowledge it is like a light inside and this is happiness. You can be sad, but sadness is another subject. Knowledge is the core of happiness.

This extract was from the Wave, chapter 10.

Then, perhaps, we could say that happiness is somehow linked with love?

September 9, 1995
A: The problem is not the term "love," the problem is the interpretation of the term. Those on third density have a tendency to confuse the issue horribly. After all, they confuse many things as love. When the actual definition of love as you know it is not correct either. It is not necessarily a feeling that one has that can also be interpreted as an emotion, but rather, as we have told you before, the essence of light which is knowledge is love, and this has been corrupted when it is said that love leads to illumination. Love is Light is Knowledge. Love makes no sense when common definitions are used as they are in your environment. To love you must know. And to know is to have light. And to have light is to love. And to have knowledge is to love.

And therefore happiness makes no sense when common definitions (subjective) are used as they are in our environment.

 

[loreta]

Happiness is an energy that gives you strength and courage. You go outside, walk on the street and see an old woman. You smile to her, ask her if she needs help with her heavy bag, she is old and tired. Happiness is this energy that wants to help others, smile to others, listen to others, be part of this life, of this sky, of this ocean, of this street, of this colour on the street, of these trees and dogs and cats... Happiness is also to be angry and sad because you SEE, you are present. So normal that you feel sad and angry. Happiness is presence, "presence d'esprit", your spirit is present, when you read, or when you wash your dishes, or when you do your house cleaning or when you work even if your work is boring.

For my part, I don't like the word happiness, it is too much used as a mantra, like in "don't worry, be happy". When you are happy (again this word) you are listening, you are giving, you are receiving and you worry in a cosmic sense: you know what is happening in Syria, you try to give information, you try to wake up others, you try to look for the truth about it. And even if in Syria kids are dying, unfortunately, you still smile to this old woman on the street,maybe because in Syria is happening what is happening. That is happiness for me. But I say, this word is not very good to explain what we feel inside, this energy.

 

[Flow]

Interesting topic. I can't add anything general about happiness, but when you wrote, loreta, "this word is not very good to explain what we feel inside, this energy", I remembered that recently a friend asked me what is happiness to me, what associations comes to me, how does it feel, what structure, color, taste or else qualities has it, can I explain it in neutral terms? So, my first associations were mildly and wavy. I found this as a good exercise for someone like me who is not in touch with my emotions. So, I just wanted to share here, maybe one more perspective when considering happiness is to ask ourselves: how does it feel like inside? You can explain it to yourself, or write it, draw it or express it in any way that comes to your mind.

 

[loreta]

Interesting topic. I can't add anything general about happiness, but when you wrote, loreta, "this word is not very good to explain what we feel inside, this energy", I remembered that recently a friend asked me what is happiness to me, what associations comes to me, how does it feel, what structure, color, taste or else qualities has it, can I explain it in neutral terms? So, my first associations were mildly and wavy. I found this as a good exercise for someone like me who is not in touch with my emotions. So, I just wanted to share here, maybe one more perspective when considering happiness is to ask ourselves: how does it feel like inside? You can explain it to yourself, or write it, draw it or express it in any way that comes to your mind.

I was thinking about happiness today, and I thought that the word joy is better to express what is happiness. It is a sort of joy you feel, movement inside, a sort of tempo, like the beginning of a poem, or an idea, or a picture that you want to do, with a lot of light, clarity of light.

So for me joy is a better word for me that can express this sensation, this emotion that permeates everything, even when I am mad or sad, so my madness and sadness are embraced and accepted with more compassion and love, I can understand better what I feel thanks to this joy that is presence and knowledge. Because happiness, this state of joy, is also a quest of objectivity. I always put the example of this old woman on the street because in this image I have my eyes that see and accept and also understand. And to understand, to touch something, even if it hurts, makes me feel happy.

 

[Flow]

I was thinking about happiness today, and I thought that the word joy is better to express what is happiness. It is a sort of joy you feel, movement inside, a sort of tempo, like the beginning of a poem, or an idea, or a picture that you want to do, with a lot of light, clarity of light.

So for me joy is a better word for me that can express this sensation, this emotion that permeates everything, even when I am mad or sad, so my madness and sadness are embraced and accepted with more compassion and love, I can understand better what I feel thanks to this joy that is presence and knowledge. Because happiness, this state of joy, is also a quest of objectivity. I always put the example of this old woman on the street because in this image I have my eyes that see and accept and also understand. And to understand, to touch something, even if it hurts, makes me feel happy.

Oh, this is so beautiful! Thanks for sharing, loreta.

 

[David]

Perhaps happiness or the pursuit of happiness in the conventional sense is something that is the result of a pathology in our world, almost like gamblers at the roulette wheel (materialistic life), where the house always wins, but most just get enough to keep going back for more. In the sense of the etymology as suggested by Obvatel ‘Luck,’ and maybe as such, just a form of dissociation today.

Perhaps people should forget about the word ‘happiness’ and just consider ‘emotional well being’ and consider the conditions for that...

I remember a psychologist called Solomon, giving a Tedtalk about depression, he suggested that the opposite of depression was not happiness as most people think, but vitality.

Assuming that vitality, is that of mind and body, which enables one to respond to life, in the same way in this forum, in particular the diet and health, cognitive boards...

But to me the only thing that helps sustain vitality, is people, its like a huge tribe, and not being happy might be equated to failure, and failure as a type of rejection... how dose an old person feel when struggling and being ignored, nobody coming to help, or when I heard of an account of some young lady being molested on a train, and everybody looking at their ipod’s, not lending support to another in need of help.

And rejection it seems, has a lot in common with getting a burn from a hot stove, neurologically, though getting a burn from a hot stove, is easier to understand, the other might be like getting burned by a moving stove that’s invisible... so to speak and leaves a person continually looking for a happiness fix because of it, maybe.

When happiness is just something that happens naturally, as much as any other feeling or emotion, that is appropriate, for a given situation, for a healthy human being, osit, but I might be somewhat off the mark... but that’s the way I see it at the moment.

 

[ka]

Bruce Charlton MD says animists are happier than rationalists:

The idea that people in simple hunter gatherer societies are ‘happier’ than either agricultural peasants or modern industrial-mercantile citizens . . . . has been amply confirmed by all other informed references and reports on the topic that I have been able to find (Charlton, 2000). This greater ‘happiness’ of hunter gatherers is twofold. A greater frequency and/or intensity of gratifying emotions on the one hand, and the integrated sense of feeling at home in the world on the other. Feeling at home in the world, as discussed above, is not necessarily associated with more frequent or intense pleasurable emotional states - but is itself a profoundly gratifying state of mind. . . .

. . . . The core feature of animism is one of humans dwelling-in and moving-through a world that is alive and aware, and potentially in communication with humans. For the animist their world is wholly 'peopled'. Nothing is indifferent to the human observer, and the observer is personally concerned by every entity. The animistic world is bound together on both sides by feelings - likes and dislikes, desires and fears. Each person is at the centre of a web of reciprocal emotions. Each person’s place in the world is defined by this mesh, nothing is isolated and independent, everything is linked to other things by affective bonds.

. . . . Because the natural world is seen as sentient, for an animistic thinker significant events don’t ‘just happen’ - like inert billiard balls bouncing-off one another - instead events occur because some entity wants them to occur. For the animist, every significant event is intentional, every significant event has personal implications. So a dog may be ‘kind’, a tree ‘wise’, a sky ‘cheerful’, a landscape ‘threatening’ - and such categorisations are as individual, flexible and variable as categorisations of people would be.

. . . By contrast, since the invention of farming, modern life has become a state of siege, a small gang of family and allies against a mass of hostile strangers, an island of order surrounded by overwhelming forces of chaos - planning is essential, yet most plans will fail. The world is not an unconditionally nurturing parent but must be coerced into producing the necessities of life, survival is a hard bargain, failure an ever present threat. For the farmer, the natural world is neither unchangeable nor ‘giving’ - it is raw material for the production of food and other necessities and luxuries. Production entails prolonged, dull, repetitive tasks to force nature into new and different shapes.

. . . . Alienation is the feeling that life is ‘meaningless’, that we do not belong in the world. But alienation is not an inevitable part of the human condition: some people do feel at one with the world as a consequence of the animistic way of thinking which is shared by children and hunter-gatherers. Animism considers all significant entities to have ‘minds’, to be ‘alive’, to be sentient agents. The animistic thinker inhabits a world populated by personal powers including not just other human beings, but also important animals and plants, and significant aspects of physical landscape. Humans belong in this world because it is a web of social relationships.

Animism is therefore spontaneous, the ‘natural’ way of thinking for humans: all humans began as animistic children and for most of human evolutionary history would have grown into animistic adults. It requires sustained, prolonged and pervasive formal education to ‘overwrite’ animistic thinking with the rationalistic objectivity typical of the modern world. It is this learned abstraction that creates alienation–humans are no longer embedded in a world of social relations but become estranged, adrift in a world of indifferent things.

. . . . .Methods used to help in the recovery of animistic modes of thinking have been known since the Romantic era. They essentially involve detachment from the social systems that tend to maintain objectivity and rationality. For example, solitude (away from people), leisure (away from the economy) and unstructured time (as contrasted with technologically-measured time [ time “off the clock”]) . Direct contact with nature is another classic strategy. Under such conditions of societal detachment there tends to be a spontaneous resurgence of animistic thinking

Dr. Charlton credits much of his thinking on this subject to Hugh Brody, author of The Other Side of Eden: hunter-gatherers, farmers and the shaping of the world, 2002. From that book, he quotes:

There are eruptions of the hunter-gatherer in the [modern] urban setting… arenas in which a rival mind seeks expression and longs for its particular forms of freedom […] The hunter-gatherers in the heartland of the exiles… are opponents of the dominant order. They oppose hierarchy and challenge the need to control other people and the land itself. Consciously or not, they are radicals in their lives.

At the least, they experience the tension in themselves that comes from a longing not to plan and not to acquiesce in plans; at most they use a mixture of knowledge and dreams to express their vision. It is artists, speculative scientists and those whose journeys in life depend on not quite knowing their destination who are close to hunter-gatherers; who rely upon the hunter gatherer-mind.

I had instinctively done what it takes to make periods of solitude, time off the clock, and contact with Nature a regular part of my life, before reading this. Now I can say that the doctor prescribes it!

The quotes above were taken from articles linked below:
http://www.hedweb.com/bgcharlton/meaning-of-life.html
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17141965
[urlhttp://hedweb.com/bgcharlton/animism.html][/url]

 

[happyliza]

Perhaps a better way of thinking about happiness is striving for an inner serenity?

Serenity: the state or quality of being serene, calm, or tranquil; sereneness.

 

[edwardthefirst]

My first thought on reading the title was to think of Maslow's hierarchy of needs.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maslow%27s_hierarchy_of_needs

His theory states that human happiness sits at the top of a pyramid of related needs. Each lower level must be fulfilled before the next level can be reached. the levels are:

1) Physiological needs - e.g. food, warmth, water, etc.
2) Safety
3) Love/belonging
4) Esteem
5) Self Actualization/happiness

 

[Seato]

Reading this topic made me think of a quote I saw on a card today.

In the words of Paul H Dunn

Happiness is a journey, not a destination; happiness is to be found along the way not at the end of the road, for then the journey is over and it’s too late. The time for happiness is today not tomorrow.