[Buddha-l] Happiest countries in the world

[[DPD Web] Shen Shi'an]

On the ironies of "the Pursuit of Happyness" in Samsara:
http://www.buddhistchannel.tv/index.php?id=12,3821,0,0,1,0 :

... Throughout the story, Chris muses upon his pursuit of happiness -
"And it was at that time that I thought about Thomas Jefferson writing
that Declaration of Independence. Him saying that we have the right to
life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. And I thought about how he
knew to put the 'pursuit' in there, like no one can actually have
happiness. We can only pursue it." Interesting. Most of us pursue
happiness in its varied guises and assumed embodiments. But do we really
get "it"? We see Chris physically running a lot in the film, as he
rushes to makes ends meet, banging into one obstacle after another. He
must have felt like he was chasing an elusive phantom carrot dangling on
a stick before him. Here is the paradox - there is no need to run to
grab the carrot. Just be still and hold it here and now. Unenlightened,
happiness is a state of mind, conditioned but not determined by the
material, but we trick ourselves into thinking otherwise.

"True Happiness" contrasts with worldly happiness. The first is truly
lasting, while the latter always fleeting. When we pursue worldly
happiness, they will at best come... only to pass in due time. Mountains
of wealth cannot buy True Happiness. Fantastic sex is just a brief high.
Fame is always at the mercy of blame. Sumptuous meals can only be taken
so much... You get the idea. Because worldly happiness is conditioned,
it fades away when its conditions fall away. Because True Happiness is
unconditioned, it requires nothing in particular to sustain it - though
we need to cultivate our spirituality by perfecting our compassion and
wisdom to attain it once and for all....

-----Original Message-----
From: Weng-Fai Wong [mailto:wongwf at comp.nus.edu.sg] 
Sent: Wednesday, 12 November, 2008 3:04 PM
To: 'Buddhist discussion forum'
Subject: Re: [Buddha-l] Happiest countries in the world

IMHO, happiness is an over-sold commodity. The pursuit of happiness is
just
too stressful.

W.F. Wong


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