How To Find Real Happiness

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How To Find Real Happiness

'Happiness,' said life, is a wayward prize,
To be won by men with patient striving ;
Half the race you have run, now please arise,
And push on, the goal is at the turning.'

Do you want happiness? This simple question will alway be answered with a big 'Yes'. Yes, we all, without exception, want to have happiness, although the idea of what constitutes happiness and how it can be obtained differs from person to person.

One writer says, 'Happiness, as viewed by most people, is a much sought for destination. It is something to be. It is something to become. To this unfortunate lot, happiness is the end of the rainbow, the pot of gold. They spend a lifetime changing rainbows. They might as well as chase their own shadows for they shall never find in the external that which only resides within.'

All men crave for happiness. They work hard day and night to gain happiness, even if it is known to be fleeting. Yet, despite their striving, they are often further rather than nearer to what they have tried so hard to work for. Why is this so?
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The Search for Happiness
Modern life is a struggle - a struggle to gain monetary rewards, comfort and luxury. Instead of bringing happiness, this lifestyle brings anxieties and stress. There are important moments in everyone's life when all material things are of little value when compared to the mental or spiritual joy detachment from worldly things.

In living a lay life, the importance of economic welfare for leading a good life cannot be understated. We should pretend that people can be happy if they are striving and living under miserable conditions. Poverty and living in slum areas can stifle human happiness. It is wretched life in the slums of a large family has to live, eat, sleep and procreate in one small hut.

However, it is useful to remember that wealth and poverty, happiness and misery, are all relative terms. One person may be rich but unhappy; another may be poor but happy. Wealth is a blessing if rightly and wisely used. But part of the tragedy of the poor is their selfish desire for material things. If their cravings are not fulfilled, they live with resentment. The tragedy of the rich is their inability to rise above their wealth. They cling to their wealth foolishly. Hence happiness is not found in either case, with poor or rich.

Buddhism teaches to adopt harmless and righteous mean to gain happiness. There is no meaning in trying to enjoy one's happiness by causing suffering to another person or other living beings. This is in keeping with the advice of the Buddha, 'Blessed are they who earn their livelihood without harming others.'
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Ingredients for Happiness

In building a happy, purposeful life, we should exercise our compassion and wisdom, the two wings that can fly man to the summit of human perfection. If we are to develop the emotional aspect neglecting the intellectual, we will become good-hatred fools, while the development of our intellectual side at the neglect of the emotional will make us hard-hearted intellectual with no feelings for others. According to the Buddha, compassion and wisdom must be developed jointly for man to gain liberation. Good life is inspired by love and guided by knowledge.
What is compassion? Compassion is love, charity, kindness and tolerance. It is acting out of love and concern for all that live, especially when they are in unfortunate circumstances.

And What is wisdom? Wisdom is seeing things as they are, and acting out the noble qualities of the mind. When a man sees a beautiful woman and is attracted to her, he wishes to see her again and again. He derives pleasure and satisfaction from her presence. However, when the situation changes an he con no longer see her, he must not act unreasonably and behave foolishly. This unsatisfactory side is a fact of human experience. If he has no unrealistic attachment or selfish clinging to her, he will be relatively free from suffering. In the pleasure of life, there are pains and sorrow. While there is no denying the happiness that people derive from sense pleasure, the nature of such pleasure is brief and does not offers lasting happiness. The realization of this fact is happiness.

The ingredients for happiness are simple. Happiness is a state of mind. It cannot be found in the material things about us, such as wealth, power or fame.
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Where is happiness?

Where do we look for happiness? 'Within you,' says the Buddha. Nobody will deny that happiness is the most desirable state of being. Happiness is not something which simply happens. Happiness is state of consciousness that doesn't depend upon the physical appetites and passions.

"Happiness is a perfume you cannot pour on others without getting a few drops on yourself.