Dalai: Hello all. How are you people feeling today?
Alfred: I’m feeling happy. What about you?
Dalai: How do you define this “happy” dear Alfred?
Alfred: Well I am happy because I do not have to worry about anything.
Dalai: And what if you had anything to worry? Stressful situations are natural. What about you Aristotle? What do you think of ‘happiness?’
Aristotle: Happiness is just what Alfred stated but how can a human being be free from any negative thought or a feeling?
Dalai: That depends on how you perceive your current situation. If you’re satisfied with yourself, that is what being happy is, completely contented.
Alfred: And when one is internally satisfied, he/she is constructive.
Aristotle: Which means happiness depends on ourselves, and not on our surroundings.
Me: Hello all, looking all very happy today? What’s the matter?
Alfred: Aren’t you happy?
Me: No, I don’t have any reason to be happy about. Do you have any?
Dalai: While of course, we have. We are satisfied with our lives. What’s more happiness than this?
Me: Well I think there’s a difference between being satisfied and being happy. You’re happy when something or some event excites you. Satisfaction is just going with the flow.
Aristotle: An actual happy life is achieved by the fulfillment of wide range of conditions, both physical and mental.
Me: Yes, that’s what I mean. Like I get happy when I have an ice-cream. Why? Because it excites me internally. Otherwise, I’m satisfied having a normal lunch as well.
Dalai: Alright, but what if you cannot afford one?
Me: Then I’ll just be satisfied but not happy.
Alfred: How can one be unhappily satisfied?
Aristotle: Exactly. Don’t mix happiness with amusement or pleasure.
Dalai: The external things give you pleasure, and those are what you desire. Desires can never be fulfilled, and if one places its happiness on the fulfillment of wants, he can never be happy.
Aristotle: Fulfillment of desires is essential to some extent for the well-being of a human mind and body. These pleasures and desires compete with each other so that the amusement of one type of action obstructs other happenings that cannot be done at the same time.
Dalai: Human’s mind is mainly inclined towards negative thoughts. These desires, in one way or the other, harm himself or any other person. And even if they don’t harm anyone, they are never completely fulfilled which leaves a person unhappy.
Alfred: Which implies that desires and its fulfillment make a man unproductive and even destructive.
Me: I agree with Aristotle on this. If we control our desires, which is a hard thing to do, how do we become aware what is good and what is bad for us?
Aristotle: Goodness should be understood in depth to include the desire for pleasure.
Dalai: But even if you understand the goodness, as soon as you get one thing you looked-for, you’ll need the next thing very soon after. Greed is based on the longing to get something, but it is seldom pleased by gaining said item.
Alfred: And how can one be happy if there’s an unending list of desires and wishes going on wanting to be fulfilled? Happiness is when you don’t have to worry about anything on your plate.
Me: We are all humans, worrying about our well-being is a natural thing. We need shelter, food, and clothing for our survival, and to be at peace with the society, we yearn for a beautiful house, good food, and impressive clothing.
Dalai: True. Food, clothing, and shelter are all we should be actively seeking, and those three things should provide all that we need to be happy.
Alfred: But even in the fulfillment of these basic needs, we as humans do establish negative sentiments towards other people.
Aristotle: Yes, so here our virtues play a great role in the attainment of happiness.
Me: For attaining this happiness, we need to be passionate and a little bit selfish, I guess, as everyone around is like that. Competition has greatly increased.
Dalai: Our approaches of being contented are intensely impacted by our propensity to associate and compare. If we keep on comparing ourselves with other people, satisfaction and happiness can never be achieved.
Alfred: While comparing ourselves with one another, hatred resides in the hearts of the people which I think is wasted energy. It’s all nonproductive.
Me: How can you strive to have better when you’ll not compare yourself to someone higher than you?
Aristotle: The noble person is very intricate and shows the correct qualities at the appropriate time, and in a suitable manner. Furthermore, the great-souled man accommodates to his environments where he is moral but not immodest in his activities.
Dalai: Our lives become significant when we cultivate ‘good human values’ like cordiality and compassion. If you keep a kind attitude towards others, then this sincerity makes any connections more pleasant for you, and the other person. And in this way, you add value to the world.
Alfred: I agree with Dalai. Even I’m a sensitive person. A sharp comment by someone hurts me for days.
Me: Sensitivity doesn’t take you anywhere. Well, I think, to be truly happy, one must be straightforward in letting others know that they’ve hurt your sentiments.
Alfred: That will probably lead to a quarrel which I can’t bear.
Aristotle: I would again say showing appropriate virtues at an appropriate timing is important. One must display the best of his virtues even if the other person is not showing his.
Dalai: People also hurt others because they tend to project their emotional states. If someone is not happy on the inside, they will habitually find a way to blame this on their partner or the boss, instead of having the emotive intellect to recognize it as a problem from within. This can be the reason for the baseless abhorrence. Unawareness, desire, and revulsion are the three toxins of the mind.
Alfred: And for me, the happiness lies in the removal of these three poisons which contaminates mind and soul.
Aristotle: This leads to the ‘supreme good’ of a person which truly defines happiness. Our good or bad fortune also contribute in defining our happiness, and it can be impacted by such factors as our material circumstances, our place in society, and even our looks.
Alfred: And if we are blessed with a good fortune, adequate or excess of resources, good looks and a high place in society, we have nothing to worry about which leads to happiness.
Me: Well this feeling of happiness is something we can’t control whether we have all of these things, some of them, or even none of them. McMahon (2006) we can see a lot of people who are not blessed much spending a happy and contented life.
Dalai: That’s because their way of perception of life is different.
Me: So what I can say after all this discussion about what happiness is, is that positive approach towards life is important just like Dalai said, being creative, moral, and constructive should be everyone’s aim to gain happiness like Alfred stated and dealing with your desires while keeping morality in mind is vital to lead a happy life as Aristotle’s statement.
Prospectus-My Position
Dalai’s approach is all towards morality and being all good to oneself and the other people around us. Being kind and compassionate leads to a happy life, according to him. His points are not questionable. While learning about Alfred’s observation regarding happiness, there were things to oppose and to agree upon. His approach towards happiness in a manner that there shouldn’t be anything to worry about is not an acceptable approach. This is because nobody’s life is perfect. We all have a life which consists of many ups and downs. But he is right on the fact that when the negative emotions are eradicated from the mind, happiness enters. Aristotle is right on the opinion that appropriate actions on the appropriate timings is essential and following desires and wishes following the moral standards pave the way for happiness. But his opinion of the impact of external resources on happiness can be modified with Dalai’s approach towards happiness.
Numerous researchers and thinkers have maintained that the capability to be cheerful and satisfied with life is an essential principle of adaptation and optimistic mental health (Taylor & Brown et al. 1988). Some of the studies suggest that happy people are not just self-centered or selfish, they can be comparatively more supportive, and generous. (Williams & Shiaw et al. 1999). Majority of the historians and philosophers agree upon that the notion of happiness from ancient times has been positioned on good luck and prosperity, while the modern Americans interpret happiness as something controllable and something that they can energetically follow (Oishi, 2012). McMahon states, “Happiness is what happens to us, and over that, we have no control” (Mc. Mahon et al. 2006 p. 19). Socrates views happiness as something at least partly within one’s control (McMahon et al. 2006). According to St. Thomas Aquinas, coming closer to God leads to the fully satisfied and happy life.
Works Cited
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