What is Happiness?

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What is Happiness?

What is well being? When do you really feel well in your life? When do you truly feel well? When you’re really happy, you’re well. Even if you’re physically ill you’re still well. Even if you’re medically diagnosed as ill you’re really happy right now, you’re feeling well. Isn’t it? Fundamentally, well being means a certain level of joyfulness, a certain exuberance of life. What is happiness? We can say happiness is this, that, but in terms of life, your life energies are happening in a more exuberant way than it normally happens. Depression means your life energies have become very low in state. Happiness means your life energies are exuberant.

There are many ways of describing happiness, but only those who are happy know what it means to be happy. There is nobody who has not been happy. Everybody’s been happy, but the problem is they’re not able to maintain it, that’s all. Isn’t it? Everybody’s been happy. In the last 24 hours how moments of joy have you known? One, two, three, how many? Maybe you can count on your fingers. Many people have nothing to count. When you are 5 years of age, a child, how many moments of joy did you know in 24 hours?

Lots and lots.

Lots of them. Somebody had to make you unhappy. Now, somebody has to make you happy, isn’t it. The whole equation has gotten reversed somehow. All this effort of life. Everything that you did, education, career, business, family, whatever you did, everything was in pursuit of happiness. Is it so? Everything that humanity has done on this planet is in pursuit of happiness. Is it so? In the last 100 years we have done too much on this planet.

With the use of science and technology we have changed the very face of this planet. Today we have the kind of comforts and conveniences that no other generation could ever even imagine. Yes? What royalty could not afford 100 years ago today average citizens have. Isn’t it so? Aren’t most of you are driving chariots with 100, 200 horses? Yes? Even kings could not afford this. Are we any happier? We are definitely the most comfortable generation ever on this planet. Isn’t it so, physically? Are we also the most joyful generation? It’s not worked.

Science and technology has brought enormous amount of comfort and convenience to our lives, things that we could not imagine just 25 years ago are just a living reality today. Isn’t it? Are we any more joyful? No. All these comforts and conveniences have not come easy. They’ve come at a tremendous cost to every other life on this planet. Yes? Every creature from plant, to animal, to everything, including human beings, have paid an enormous price to create these comforts and conveniences, and we are not even happy. What is the point?

We are literally making a bonfire of this planet. If you are ecstatic, okay, burn the planet. It’s all right. We are not even happy. I think it’s time to really look at it, isn’t it? Why are we burning it up if we are not even happy?