Happiness

                        What it is to be happy

In my 1st year of graduation, when I was still a fresh and unpolished brain, I attended  a session where the discussion point was "What is your ultimate aim in life?"

My classmates had varied responses like "Wanna do MBA from Indian Institute of Management (IIM), wanna be a pilot, wanna be a guitarist "wanna make my mother happy”, “wanna live for my family”, and so on.

I said "I want to be happy, and my ultimate aim is happiness!". There was a confusing silence in the class. The teacher broke out the silence, "How will you get that?". I said through satisfaction. I continued, "Whatever everyone in this class is doing is for happiness. Some guys want to do MBA, which will give them satisfaction and ultimately happiness. So their ultimate aim is basically happiness and MBA is just a means to achieve that."

But the one thing I never understood at that time was that if everyone has the same ultimate goal then why do people choose so complex paths to attain that?! After around 12-13 years of that incident, getting unwell and encountering Buddhism, I now feel I was very right in saying that and thought  of sharing some of the things I feel, with you all.

 

How many types of Happiness are there 

Relative Happiness

There are broadly two types of happiness. The first one is relative and mostly appears from materialistic things. Owning a car can give us more happiness than owning a bike. Now a Mercedes will give us more happiness than a Maruti. And so on it goes. But its all relative happiness and we will find it fading away with time. We might notice owning a thing makes us happy for a day or two, but it fades away with time, until we realize we aren't even thinking about that thing anymore. What's the use of that kind of happiness that fades away. Why can't we always be happy about a thing?

 Absolute Happiness

That derives the second type of happiness which is the 'Absolute Happiness'. The one that is immaterial, natural, incomparable, and topmost of all, is permanent. This is our enlightenment and shows in our life condition. I might not be the healthiest  person in the world right now, but I have tried hard to reach a state that makes me self accepting and satisfied. And I am determined that I will definitely transform my life. This state of life is absolute happiness.  

 

What for me is Happiness

I remember the day when my brother was giving my example to my cousin, who was cribbing about small issues. He told her, just come anytime, and ask Shuchi 'How are you doing?'. She would always respond with full confidence 'I am perfectly fine!'. Does that happiness come from outside? No. It is  all within. My family and friends are truly helping me with that. I am on my way, and all I am getting is a good push from my friends around.