If there's a universal happiness method, this might be it

Time for some grandiose thinking, an activity I excel at. Not that my grandiosity leads to grand ideas or wisdom, but, hey, it's the grandiose effort that counts.

Tonight's Big Ponder is centered on the question, is there a universal method for being happy? 

My first reaction was absolutely not. For if there was, seemingly we wouldn't have such a plethora of ways people seek happiness.

The "self-help" category on Amazon would shrink to just a small number of books, each advising pretty much the same approach to being happy.

Complicating my pondering was another issue. 

Is happiness really what we should be after? Maybe meaning is. Maybe contentment is. Maybe not seeking anything is. 

However, I find it difficult to get emotionally excited about a memory of a deeply meaningful moment, a deeply contented moment, or a deeply not seeking anything moment.

But a deeply happy moment? Ah, those come to mind easily. 

(I'm focused on moments rather than a longer time period, because moments are where we actually live our lives -- moment by moment. A bunch of happy moments can lead to a happy week, month, or year, yet take away the moments and there's no happiness left in any span of time.)

My suspicion is that if there really is a universal, or quasi-universal, approach to being happy, it has a lot to do with some strangely happy moments I had back in college. 

Or rather, a summer in between my freshman and sophomore years, if I recall correctly.

Summer jobs were scarce in the San Jose area. I was lucky to get a job at a cannery for the swing shift, something like midnight to 8 am. Being new, I got one of the crappier jobs at the cannery.

Which was, me dressing in waterproof clothing, crawling under the structure that supported a conveyor belt carrying fruit that women sorted, picking out the bad fruit, and hosing the fruit debris into channels that carried the pulp and water away.

I distinctly remember how different this job felt in two states of mind: (1) my normal "this job sucks" attitude, and (2) my benzedrine-fueled "so much fun!" attitude.

The same thing happened when I used benzedrine, an amphetamine that was popular for several decades among all kinds of people, including creative types, to study a subject that usually bored me, like statistics.

A bennie or two could convert any activity into a series of deeply happy moments.

I'm sure there are complex explanations for how benzedrine changes one's mood. For me, it seemed to come down to focus.

Instead of resisting whatever I was doing, benzedrine would cause me to concentrate fully on that one thing with almost no mental leakage of "I wish I were doing something different." And when I think of other deeply happy moments, the same seems to be true.

I was immersed in something to such an extent, hardly anything else in the world existed for me at that moment. I wasn't torn between this and something else. Only this was present in my awareness.

This is, of course, pretty much what mindfulness is all about: being acutely aware of what is actually present, instead of getting behind or ahead of ourselves by leaning toward the past of future.

Well, having just written these five hundred or so words, right now I'm acutely aware that what I've said in this post may strike many people as being either so obvious or so off-base as to be worthless. And I can't disagree with that assessment.

However, i also know that one reason I almost always write a post for one of my three blogs every day is this:

When I'm writing, the world shrinks to my computer screen and the thoughts inside my head that end up being converted to words, sentences, paragraphs, and eventually, an entire blog post. 

This shrinking doesn't feel like a loss. It feels like a gain. A happy gain. 

Comments

[Appreciative Reader]

You call it grandiose, but I found your post lyrical. And spot on.

I'm glad you didn't end up with that cliched "find a larger cause to devote yourself to" crap that ruminations on how to arrive at happiness usually end up at. For a minute, when I saw your blog post title, I was afraid that that kind of pseudo-profundity is what might be on offer here, and was hoping that wouldn't be the case, here of all places.

Because that -- the submerging of oneself into a larger cause -- is, IMV, only the means to an end, as far as the happiness business. The end being this focus that you speak of, this absorption, and the "flow" that sometimes accompanies that focus. Which in turn is what, in my view -- and clearly in yours as well -- what actually facilitates the moment-to-moment happiness that, in the end, is the only kind there is. Everything else, even agreeable pastimes, and agreeable company, as well as ideas and ideals that one resonates with, are no more than the means to an end, if the final tally we're looking at is the happiness quotient. At least that has been my own experience, and my own considered understanding -- such as it is! -- on this, basis my own experience.

Realizing this, and cutting to the chase directly, is what seems wise.

Spot on. Enjoyed reading.

[albert medina]

The DNA in each human cell is about 2 yards long when uncoiled. The average human body has approximately 37.2 trillion cells, according to modern science. To determine the total length of uncoiled DNA from all the cells just multiply 2 yards X 37.2 trillion cells. Then take that number and divide it by 1760, which is the number of yards in one mile.

Then take that number and divide it by 93,000,000 miles, which is the distance to our sun from Earth.

The answer is stupefying: The total length of uncoiled DNA would stretch to the sun and back...225 times!!!!!!!!

A bit of trivia about our precious human body.

Michio Kaku has shared many other wonders of modern physics about our universe. I recall a statement he made about each of our cells having more intracellular activity going on than the city of Tokyo! Whether that is provable or not is less important than realizing the IMMENSE activity going on in our physical body without our knowing anything about it.

Now that's a miracle to me...whether natural, Divine or both! So my humble awe, amazement and gratitude extend to the "intelligence" that has evolved what could be called the most sophisticated instrument in the entire universe - our very own physical body.

Information like this from modern science helps me keep an open and ebullient attitude.

[Dragon slayer]

The only way to achieve happiness is not falling for bent babas from beas. GSD of RSSB is a total HYPOCRITE to his own teachings and has worked hard to secure his place in dehli jail, with his RSSB brother ram Rahim, MSG.

Time is precious here so stop falling for these con artists and focus on loving your own family, working out your own issues and working towards your dreams.

[Princess Hiawatha]

Ignorance is bliss.

[Spence Tepper]

Our thoughts can make us happy or miserable. We have some limited capacity to determine at least their general direction. Focus on miserable things and you may find that a habit that brings you some unhappiness, that, in time, you may not be able to pin down to one thought or another. Same for the discipline of positive thinking. This also leads us further down that line of thinking, focus and deepening the groove of conditioning on our minds. The habit of positive thinking may become easier. It is an excercise that yeilds its own fruit. Then, seeing difficult things we see opportunities.

Biochemistry also sets us up for a proclivity to think thoughts conditioned to how we happen to be feeling. Emotions may guide our thoughts long before we become aware of them, and we can wrongly attribute causes to thoughts instead of the emotions driven by biochemistry.

"I can't afford the luxury of a negative thought."

Can you?

[Spence Tepper]

Is there a line of thinking that is so powerful it helps us focus away from the distractions and burdens of life, find a greater source of happiness within ourselves that restores us? A sanctuary we can turn to that gives us strength and peace in times of devastation? And as a side benefit, gives us insights into how to manage our day-to-day affairs better? Inspired, empowered by inspiration to take action and build moments of success as well?

That would be worship of a higher power, belief in a higher power as a practice, the practice of meditation.

If that higher power is stronger than your own emotions, smarter than your limited thinking, and always looking out for your best interests, then it is always there for you, an excellent foil for the onslaught of emotion and anxiety that is quite often a part of our daily experience.

It doesn't need to change the world. Just powerful enough to help you adapt better. Perhaps that is its only, perfect purpose.

What do we turn to when we need a powerful ally in a situation where there is none?

Belief in a higher power.

It is the belief, the line of thinking, that is that conditioning we build with our thoughts, our devotion, our worship, which, if we are inspired by the thought, builds us.

It isn't for everyone. We each must find our own deepest nature and the symbols that resonate within us. And believe in that. Follow your bliss.

[Manoj]

If there's a universal happiness method, this might be it

It may very well be...

But whats definitely not a going to ever bring you any kind of happiness guaranteed, is the idea of trying to follow in the footsteps of a Clever snidy manipulating shifity baba who goes by the name of GSD, that in itself will bring you a sense of nothing gained, nothing attained period.

And GSD will be the only one in universal happiness

Drop this" fake n fraud "so called clown

And live happily ever after!!!

[S]

This is a really good post. It creates even more questions though. What does happiness feel like. There are so many different feelings that we describe as happiness. It’s like falling in love—it’s a different feeling with each relationship.

Anyway, focus is the key I guess. Focus on the moment or one thing.

A great book about this topic is Finding Flow.

[S]

But I think for the most part we don’t truly know what we want. What don’t know what’s going to make us happy. We choose on thing without the foresight to see that the thing we thought would bring us happiness may actually create more problems in our lives.

And sometimes the things we think we don’t want actually end up bringing us joy.

How are we to know...

[albert]

Thanks, Brian and Spencer...both the blog and comment are masterful and I appreciated the accent on "concentration" being the real source of greater joy and happiness. So many examples can be given to substantiate the increase in pleasure due to a concentrated mind. Examples - lovemaking, successful meditation or contemplation, focus on problem solving, a great meal to assuage hunger, absorption in a captivating cinema, etc. A concentrated mind, whether on an external object/activity or internally on a specific concept/mantra/vision/sound, is a wonderful experience that I believe we are well acquainted with.

It is also a marvel to know that we can apply our focused awareness to anything, animate or inanimate, and by doing so receive the thrill of being more intensely present...alive...of unique value.

Thanks again for the superb article!

[Uchit]

@That would be worship of a higher power, belief in a higher power as a practice, the practice of meditation.

@if that higher power is stronger than your own emotions, smarter than your limited thinking, and always looking out for your best interests, then it is always there for you, an excellent foil for the onslaught of emotion and anxiety that is quite often a part of our daily experience.

Here we go again, caught you out again, Spensor (rssb agent), You are encouraging people to giving their power away to a higher entity, alien, demonic spirit inside. How do you know what is guiding you? Have you questioned its motive? Is it guiding you for it's own best interest rather than for your own best interest. Can you really trust it? Just look at GSD on the outside who you have put full trust in as he looks the part of a saint , yet he in reality is a FRAUDSTER . Can you really trust an image that is projected, a spell, to manipulate you on the outside? So how can you discern entities on the inside? Isnt it time to start waking up from your sleep.

[Spence Tepper]

Hi Uchit
You wrote
"You are encouraging people to giving their power away to a higher entity, alien, demonic spirit inside. How do you know what is guiding you?"

No, that is your projection. I wrote
"We each must find our own deepest nature and the symbols that resonate within us. And believe in that."

Find that power within you. That is built into you. It is part of you, and you are part of it. What resonates within you.

You wrote
"So how can you discern entities on the inside?"

First, whatever you experience within is part of you. It's not something foreign from you. Could be good impressions or bad impressions. It's you. Face it, own in, integrate with it and become whole. Don't reject any part of yourself. Try to understand it. Be a good student of that immense power called Reality that gives you life.

Whatever impressions are in you, that's you now. And there are other things there built in, the very force of life that made and sustains your biology. That force, which may come to you in the symbols you yourself create to represent and communicat with it, has all the wisdom of millions of years of evolution. Inside you!

[Jen]

My practice nowadays is living in the present moment with mindfulness as well as I can, also acceptance works for me ....

“The art of living… is neither careless drifting on the one hand nor fearful clinging to the past on the other. It consists in being sensitive to each moment, in regarding it as utterly new and unique, in having the mind open and wholly receptive.” - Alan Watts

[Uchit]

@First, whatever you experience within is part of you. It's not something foreign from you. Could be good impressions or bad impressions. It's you. Face it, own in, integrate with it and become whole. Don't reject any part of yourself. Try to understand it. Be a good student of that immense power called Reality that gives you life.

So lets put this in perspective of the physical as this is where our conciousness mainly operates. Are you saying that if your guru is a sociopath/ narsasist , you dont need to worry, as he is part of you and you should integrate with it, and accept it??? So if your being abused lied to, manipulated by another, you should just remain a door mat and integrate with it and put up with the abuse. What a load of bull. You can't blame yourself and say the abuser is part of me? Thats an open door to be totally taken advantage of. The philosophy that entity is teaching you is dangerous Spensor, challenge it, wake up and stop being so gullible.

[swami umami]

Evil entities posing as humans post comments here pretty regularly. After a while it's no big deal.

[Spence Tepper]

Hi Uchit
You wrote
"So lets put this in perspective of the physical as this is where our conciousness mainly operates. Are you saying that if your guru is a sociopath/ narsasist , you dont need to worry, as he is part of you and you should integrate with it, and accept it??"

Hm, I can see this is a bit tough for you. Let's try this again.

I wrote
" Whatever impressions are in you, that's you now. And there are other things there built in, the very force of life that made and sustains your biology. That force, which may come to you in the symbols you yourself create to represent and communicat with it, has all the wisdom of millions of years of evolution. Inside you!"

This has zero to do with anyone else, Uchit. This is all about what is inside you, which, physically, is you. And psychologically, it's all you, too, whether you own it or not. So don't worry about anyone else. Learn about the good, the bad, the ugly and the magnificent within you. Be a student of that. Find that source of bliss within yourself. The symbols you see, the characters you see, the brain can create these. It is doing its function. But what is its source material? Not anything outside at all. It is Impressions you carry. The impressions you carry, even those you don't remember. But being a good student of your inner life you may come to learn more about them, because now they are a part of you. That's always healthy, because when you understand who you really are, then all sorts of things you attributed to others, you now see are really inside you, and you have power over that. You can let go of anger because you were never angry at anyone. You were angry at your impression of them. You were angry at the impression your own mind created and curated. What impressions, beautiful and ugly, are you attending to? And feeding your brain's work at curating those impressions? What do you get from that? What are you feeding yourself?

Did you love anyone? You loved your idea or ideal impression of someone. You can grow greater knowing more of who you really are and how your brain symbolizes impressions, and then even why it did so. You can strengthen those you attend to, and gently melt away those you choose not to attend to. Bliss isn't anywhere else. And it is no one else's fault nor responsibility. It's all in you.

[Spence Tepper]

"The only home you will ever live in is the one inside yourself."
Marcus Aurelius

[Dungeness]

@ The symbols you see, the characters you see, the brain can create these. It is doing its function. But what is @ its source material? Not anything outside at all. It is Impressions you carry. The impressions you carry, even
@ those you don't remember. But being a good student of your inner life you may come to learn more about
@ them, because now they are a part of you.

Beautiful answer.

In practical terms, that's why a path of mindfulness is needed in my
opinion. Whatever they are -negative or uplifting- those impressions
are inside and must be carefully examined there. All of them. 24x7.

One path may resonate more than others. The mystics gently tell a
student to pick one and start. Don't wait. Each moment is precious.
The workshop, the passion, each unfolding discovery will be found
inside. Hints about what's there may come from outside but the real
destination is within.

[Tim Rimmer]

I hear you Jen. I think you’re right on the money re ‘being in the present moment’. A very simple and powerful approach to living with/in the world, and in my view an approach that’s implicit in quite a number of spiritual pathways walked by truth seekers. It seems to me to be the outcome of awakenings after both long and shorter struggles with our minds and associated thoughts about who we are and what things are about. Being as present as possible, fully showing up to life’s events with the compassion, courage, clear thinking and fearlessness that stems from awareness reflects an evolved human, where heart and head are integrated (and of course easier said than done!)
I like what Jack Kornfield says in his book After the Ecstasy, the Laundry, (p.129): ‘Only the heart can contain both our perfection and our humanity’. A little further on he quotes Suzuki Roshi’s view of enlightenment:

‘Strictly speaking, there are no enlightened people, there is only enlightened activity.’…. ‘What we are speaking about is moment-to-moment enlightenment, one enlightenment after another.’

There’s much wisdom here IMO.

[Uchit]

@sponser
By your method you stay happy with acceptance of the status quo, live happy in your misery; if there is evil, ( just open your eyes and heart and look around the world) and you do nothing about them and you choose to brush your suffering aside as your impressions and take the action of and letting go, you would be a massive door mat for evil intended gurus, for example, to trample over you. Doesn't passive people create an environment and fertile ground for evil forces to thrive; a passive individual that always blames himself always lives in pain, and may be given a false bliss inside as an adrenaline hit. It takes physical action, to change people, you always have this choice, this world is suffering purely because of evil influence over people that take advantage of others through subtle manipulation, mind control...etc. You call them impressions, I call it demonic forces taking advantage to cause suffering in your life. The only action is protection, and courage and strength, not being a passive humble person that gets trodden over and love. If we do nothing to expose this evil, they will rule laughingly for more eternities. We need to expose DIRTY babas, of beas, aka GSD and make him face his karma.