The art of happiness

[Netti-Netti]

Originally Posted by seattlegal

Happiness is not something ready made. It comes from your own actions.

~Dalai Lama

"Happiness arising"? Mmm, not crazy about it.

From Canto 15 of the Dhammapada, the section called "Happiness":

Victory begets enmity, the defeated dwell in pain.
Happily the peaceful live, discarding both victory and defeat.

[Netti-Netti]

Originally Posted by seattlegal

Christianity stipulates repentance, and Buddhism stipulates renunciation.

Does the renunciation extend to happiness?

Do Buddhists renounce a desire for happiness?

[seattlegal]

Originally Posted by Netti-Netti

Does the renunciation extend to happiness?

Do Buddhists renounce a desire for happiness?

According to my understanding (which might very well be incorrect,) they renounce desire (attachment/aversion), which might produce transient happiness, along with suffering. The renouncing of the transient extinguishes suffering and produces lasting happiness.

Dhammapada 21:1 (or verse 290)
290. If by renouncing a lesser happiness one may realize a greater happiness, let the wise man renounce the lesser, having regard for the greater.

[Netti-Netti]

Originally Posted by seattlegal

Dhammapada 21:1 (or verse 290)

If by renouncing a lesser happiness one may realize a greater happiness, let the wise man renounce the lesser, having regard for the greater.

That would have to be the perfect quote in this instance, SG!

It is seems the Buddhist plan of action for attaining happiness does indeed involve renouncing certain kinds of happiness as a way of managing the problem of evil. I'd tie this into what you wrote previously:

Originally Posted by seattlegal

"In Buddhism the problem of evil relates to suffering, which in turn reflects

Originally Posted by seattlegal

ignorance and attachment (desires and aversions) in a world the very nature of which does not lend itself to any kind of lasting happiness."
Partaking of the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil?

An article I found by Buddhadasa Bhikkhu deals with the tree of knowledge from a Buddhist point of view. It's kind of interesting given that Buddhism ordinarily does not deal with G-d. The article starts out with a description of how our ability to be happy was impaired:

Those of you who are Christians or who have read the Bible will be familiar with the story of tree of the knowledge of good and evil that appears at the beginning of Genesis. It tells how God forbade Adam and Eve to eat the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. He warned them that they would die if they did not obey. If you understand the meaning of this passage, you will understand the core of Buddhism. When there is no knowledge of good and evil, we can't attach to them, we're void and free of dukkha. Once we know about good and evil, we attach to them and must suffer dukkha. The fruit of that tree is this attachment to good and evil. This causes dukkha and dukkha is death, spiritual death.

Adam's children, down through the ages to us, carry this burden of knowing good and evil, the burden of the self that attaches to good and evil and suffers spiritual death. We identify things as good and attach to them. We identify things as bad and detach from them. We are trapped in worldly conditions by our dualistic obsession with good and bad. This is the death of which God warned. Will you heed His warning?

The Buddhist response to the human condition seems fairly straightforward: short-circuit the process that leads to unhappiness. The idea is to eliminate the basic problem of hunger, which is "the problem that leads to dukkha."


How is this accomplished? By releasing attachment. How does one release attachment? By means of knowledge or insight. What knowledge or insight would that be? That would be insight into sunnata,"the voidness of 'I' and 'mine'":

In sunnata there's no hunger. Even the most subtle levels of hunger disappear. Therein dukkha is quenched and true spiritual peace remains. This is the final goal. As long as there is the slightest hunger, it prevents the final goal. As soon as all hunger has been extinguished, and with it all problems and all dukkha, genuine emancipation is evident. Emancipation in Buddhism is this freedom from hunger that comes with the realization of sunnata (voidness).

We note here that the term Nirvana means "to extinguish." In light of sunnata doctrine of void, which some say is the Buddha's single most important teaching, Nirvana may be considered "supreme voidness."
Sunnata

The problem is desire. Buddhists seeks to eliminate unhappiness by extinguishing the desire that leads to unhappiness. It is unclear whether the end result is a positive form of happiness. There is no fulfillment because once you attain the end state, you no longer have any desires to be fulfilled. Even spiritual emotions are of no apparent value since there is no "I" to experience them or appreciate them. Actually, it is unclear how you can appreciate anything if you don't even want anything. After all, we value things we want, right?

Given the preoccupation with severing the bonds of suffering, I am inclined to say that a Buddhist renunciate doesn't care about happiness, but is more concerned with relieving unhappiness. The focus is on finding ways to make their lives less painful by extinguishing desire, releasing attachment, and quenching ego and dukkha, blowing out or extinction.

Buddhism stipulates renunciation.

Initially, it seemed that it wouldn't make much sense to strive for a state of happiness if one has no desire for it. Indeed if you don't desire it, why would you get any satisfaction from it, should it come your way? Your post -- including the quote of Dhammapada 21:1 -- clarifies the issue: transient happiness that is being renounced in favor of a more stable or lasting happiness. Buddhadasa Bhikkhu again:

The final goal of Buddhism, the highest liberation, isn't a mind that is merely happy or quiet. The ultimate goal is total freedom from all attachment, from any clinging to "I" or "mine."..... Buddhism aims to eliminate the kind of happiness and enjoyment that depends on things to satisfy its hunger.

[seattlegal]

Got a link to that article, please?

[Snoopy]

Do I detect an attachment to the Dhammapada?

s.

[seattlegal]

Originally Posted by Snoopy

Do I detect an attachment to the Dhammapada?

s.

Hehehehe! I'll see your attachment to the Dhammapada, and raise you a Kalama Sutta...

[Snoopy]

Originally Posted by seattlegal

Hehehehe! I'll see your attachment to the Dhammapada, and raise you a Kalama Sutta...

So I'll see your Kalama and raise you a Trust (Faith) in Mind.

Trust in Mind: The Rebellion of ... - Google Book Search

- pages 21 - 24 are eminently appropriate to this thread I feel.


(did I ever recommend this book? Mu Soeng is an excellent author IMHO).

s.

[Netti-Netti]

Originally Posted by seattlegal

Got a link to that article, please?

Here's the Buddhadasa Bhikkhu article:
Buddhism : HAPPINESS & HUNGER (II)

[seattlegal]

Originally Posted by Snoopy

So I'll see your Kalama and raise you a Trust (Faith) in Mind.

Trust in Mind: The Rebellion of ... - Google Book Search

- pages 21 - 24 are eminently appropriate to this thread I feel.


(did I ever recommend this book? Mu Soeng is an excellent author IMHO).

s.

Originally Posted by Netti-Netti

Here's the Buddhadasa Bhikkhu article:
Buddhism : HAPPINESS & HUNGER (II)

Now, I am happy. I think I'll celebrate by chasing down some dust bunnies.

[Snoopy]

Originally Posted by seattlegal

Now, I am happy.

<< hugs >>

s.

[Netti-Netti]

Originally Posted by Snoopy

Trust in Mind: The Rebellion of ... - Google Book Search

(did I ever recommend this book? Mu Soeng is an excellent author IMHO).

Thanks for that, Snoopy. I'm finding all kinds of gems in that volume. For one: dukkha is not strictly a property of a world that ultimately seems so unsatisfactory. Rather, it is something that arises from our relationship to the world, our attitude toward it, and our expectations.

Here's the thing: Do we change our attitudes and expectations because we know it'll make us feel better (by decreasing our unhappiness with short-term pleasures)?? Or do we do it because we want to clean the vessel to receive Divine Infusions (increase spiritual emotions associated with a more lasting sense of personal progress toward the One)??

I would say the whole business of overcoming egoistic bias and finding release from attachment that the Buddhists talk about takes on a whole different meaning if you see it as a movement toward God-dependence rather than just as a freestanding technique for short-circuiting the process that leads to unhappiness by eliminating the problem that leads to dukkha - i.e., problem of hunger and its resultants (craving, clinging, karmic entanglements and such).

[seattlegal]

Originally Posted by Netti-Netti

Here's the Buddhadasa Bhikkhu article:
Buddhism : HAPPINESS & HUNGER (II)

Fasting of the heart

[Vajradhara]

Namaste Ahanu,

thank you for the post.

Originally Posted by Ahanu

This book is informative. I was suprised to find out that the Dalai Lama said, "No," when he was asked if he is ever lonely.

No?

I read the line about 3 or four times in surprise.

His Holiness has led an extraordinary life and i'm surprised by his answer as well. did he qualify the statement in some manner?

from a Buddhist perspective, anybody want to share how they would overcome these problems?
self disclosure,

well.. this is a somewhat difficult phrase to parse as you can imagine within the overall rubric of Buddhism though it has more to do with our ideas regarding the term self and that to which the term refers.

that said, the practice of Tonglen is remarkably effective in this process, in my experience.

difficulty communicating with others,

i suppose that would depend on if the reason is organic or not.. i.e. is there a physiological reason for such an impediment or is it psychological. many renowned Buddhist teachers had notoriously difficult issues with communicating to others, the 6th Patriarch of Ch'an for instance. in many cases, of course, it is through our actions and our behaviour that we most clearly communicate with others.

are poor listeners,

generally speaking this is a matter of mindfulness unless you mean in the sense of being a sympathetic listener. mindfulness would help there two but i think that aspect is more a function of the development of Bodhichitta within an individual being.

and lack certain social skills such as picking up conversational cues.

mindfulness is quite important in most aspects of our existence. when i was in the military we had a saying "stay alert, stay alive." which is sound advice in most situations

by and large our skills improve as we use them so the more often that we can practice our nonverbal communication, reading body language, making the correct inferences with regards to personal space and so forth, the easier it becomes.

metta,

~v

[Netti-Netti]

Originally Posted by seattlegal

Fasting of the heart

Nice passage.

But the hearing of the spirit is not limited to any one faculty, to the ear, or to the mind. Hence it demands the emptiness of all the faculties. And when the faculties are empty, then the whole being listens.

This sounds a lot like the spiritual transparency suggested in descriptions of Buddha mind (Prajna intuition). Empty the contents to get to No-Views.

Could be Neo-Confucianism with a Zen influence. Some of the permutations of Neo-Confucianism have been lovingly characterized as "Ch'an (Zen) Buddhism decked out in Confucian garb."
Neo-Confucianism