A lovely talk show on television a few days back, of which I could just get a few glimpses, inspired me to share these thoughts.
Is happiness same as pleasure?
A few sources of pleasure:
*Shopping
*Partying
*Going on a holiday
*Visit to a spa
*Watching movies
*Physical enjoyment of any nature
Some people derive great joy from such activities and attach happiness to the same. Are these really a source of happiness? Not really. They can surely provide some or a great deal of pleasure, relaxation, change but not happiness per se. Happiness cannot be derived from acts that have a short term effect or a mere gratifying effect. Then where does happiness come from? It comes from:
*Act of giving back
*Making someone’s life worthwhile
*Letting go & forgiving easily
*Helping someone & oneself attain self actualization
*Being with someone in their hour of need
*Enriching relationships
*Performing one’s duty as worship
*Sacrifice of ego & selfishness
Is it possible to use acts of pleasure to create happiness? Yes. How? When we try to bring pleasure into someone’s life, we end up making ourselves & the other person happy. I remember having noticed an American devotee of Sai Baba bringing street children into his air conditioned hotel room where he was staying in Puttaparthy, feeding them with delicacies, putting on cartoon channels on the television for them and playing with them. The gleaming faces of those children radiated everlasting bliss. So, little pleasures can be source of happiness when used for others.
