The purpose of our existence is to seek happiness.
The modern mind is quite sceptical about this statement, however commonsensical it may seem. Some feel, it’s not attainable. Others suggest, it might turn one into a self-centered maniac. Dalai Lama, the Tibetan spiritual leader, denies both these claims. In his book The Art of Happiness, co-authored by Howard C. Cutler, he makes a case for seeking happiness as our ultimate goal and guides us towards that path.
Where does happiness come from?
That’s a very interesting question and also the starting point of the book. Dalai Lama suggests that our feelings of contentment are strongly influenced by our tendency to compare. When we compare our situation to our past and find that we’re better off, we feel happy. The idea of happiness doesn’t work in absolute terms. That is, if you gain X amount of money or things, you’d be happy – that never happens. It’s a subjective phenomenon. This suggests that we have enough control on shaping or even determining our own happiness levels.
What do we need to be happy?
Surely, we have some basic needs. But beyond them, we don’t need more money, we don’t need greater success or fame, we don’t need the perfect body or even the perfect mate – right now, at this very moment, we have a mind, which is all the basic equipment we need to achieve happiness. That sounds pretty simple, isn’t it? Of course, one must add that we need certain training or teachings in order to guide our mind towards happiness. Otherwise, we all have a mind, but are we all happy?
How do you train the mind?
It has to start with mental discipline, Dalai Lama suggests. Just like you work on your physical body through exercising and following a daily routine, your mind too needs a consistent approach where you work on cultivating the positive mental states. When you set some daily goals for yourself (which you think would improve your life) and you complete them, it makes you happy. This means, you can train your mind to be happy in the simplest of tasks you do every single day. And that’s what the practice of mindfulness meditation essentially is. You stay mindful in whatever you do.
The systematic training of the mind – the cultivation of happiness, the genuine inner transformation by deliberately selecting and focusing on positive mental states, is possible because of the very structure and function of the brain. We are born with brains that are genetically hard wired with certain instinctual behaviour patterns; we are predisposed mentally, emotionally, and physically to respond to our environment in ways that enable us to survive. But the wiring in our brains is not static, not irrevocably fixed. Our brains are also adaptable. And that’s the whole point of Dalai Lama’s emphasis on happiness training. That we can learn to transform our mental states, get rid of negative emotions, and be happy. Isn’t that wonderful?
Kalampedia 