The Buddhist understanding of happiness is deeper than most of us can imagine — but that’s not a problem.
I don’t know about you, but it’s hard for me to bring to mind a living, breathing image of the Buddha. The impressions I have are based mostly on statues of him sitting placidly in meditation — calm, cool, equanimous, detached. Not much personality. Perhaps fitting for someone who emphasized the concept of “not self.”
Thus it came as news to me when, a few years back, I was introduced to the fact that in his time the Buddha was known as the “Happy One.” People remarked on how he and his followers seemed so joyful, radiant, and alive. This was a contrast to some of the more dour spiritual teachers — some of them naked, ash-covered, and ill-fed — who were circulating in northern India at that time.
This would explain why so many people from all walks of life followed his advice and why his teachings continued to flourish after his death, even into the present day: He demonstrated that his formula for happiness actually worked.
But what is happiness, actually? There has been a great deal of research done into this subject since the mid-twentieth century and it’s led to all kinds of theories. Attempts have even been made to measure happiness in populations. For the record, Finland was the happiest country in the 2020 World Happiness Report, while Canada ranked No. 11. Generally, happiness is seen as being mostly related to external conditions, like safety, trust, material comfort, freedom, health, and so on. Take those conditions away and happiness disappears, so the thinking goes.
There is also a theory about happiness — defined as a subjective sense of well-being — which suggests that it is set by heredity and personality traits and doesn’t change much throughout life. In this scenario, a lottery winner might be over the moon for a while but will eventually return to their pre-windfall default happiness setting.
Buddhism has a different perspective on happiness. According to the Buddha, happiness is of three kinds.
Ordinary Happiness
The first is the happiness of sense pleasure — that is, favourable conditions. This will be familiar to most of us. It’s about having food in our bellies, a roof over our heads, physical safety, financial security, good health, someone to love, enjoyable experiences, stimulating pastimes, fulfilling work, a pleasant environment — things like that. The stuff of happiness surveys.
As pleasant as favourable conditions can be, in Buddhism it is considered the lowest form of happiness. But just because it’s a low form doesn’t mean it’s a bad form. Knowing that most people would only be capable of this kind of happiness, the Buddha encouraged them to pursue it in a skillful way. For instance: Try to get along with each other; save money, but don’t hoard it; take care of your body, but don’t worship or despise it.
Higher Happiness
The middle kind of happiness is the happiness of renunciation — or letting go. We are encouraged to let go of unskillful habits and take on skillful ones. What is a skillful habit? Anything that leads towards happiness. An unskillful habit? Anything that leads away from happiness.
First on the list is generosity. Ever notice how giving with an open heart makes you feel all warm inside? Even just thinking about giving can make a person happy. Ditto thinking about it afterwards. Doesn’t matter what we give — time, effort, undivided attention, money, food, creativity, wise counsel, healing — or how much, the simple act of giving is a temporary release from clinging. When we let go of clinging, we let go of suffering.
Higher than the release of things is the letting go of psychic irritants. This is the kind of happiness that naturally arises when we work to let go of anger, attachment, jealousy, desire, pride, confusion and other irritants. This is a big part of the work of meditation practice.
The absence — albeit temporary — of psychic irritants clears the way for high states of concentration. These supremely blissful states are known as jhanas. But like everything else, they too are temporary. The function of the jhanas is to prepare our minds for deepening insight into the nature of reality.
The Highest Happiness
Deepening levels of insight take us to the third and highest kind of happiness — the stages of enlightenment. According to Bhante Gunaratana, the Sri Lankan monk and scholar, “with each stage, our load in life is lightened, and we feel greater happiness and freedom. The final stage of enlightenment, permanent freedom from all negative states of mind, brings uninterrupted, sublime happiness. The Buddha recommended we let go of our attachment to the lower forms of happiness and focus all of our efforts upon finding the very highest form of happiness, enlightenment.”
That said, enlightenment — or awakening, as it is often called these days — can seem a long way off for most of us. Not to worry. The Buddha urged people to maximize their happiness at whatever level they can by following the Eightfold Path. The path is for everyone — from regular folk to those who devote their entire life to practice. Says Bhante Gunaratana: “Whichever kind of happiness we are seeking, we make use of the steps of the Eightfold Path.”
The Eightfold Path includes:
Non-harming conduct through Right Speech, Right Action, and Right Livelihood.
Mental discipline thorugh Right Effort, Right Mindfulness, and Right Concentration.
Wisdom through Right View and Right Understanding.
—Nelle Oosterom