Psychology compared with spiritual definition of True Happiness. (PART1)

Joy is our nature. However, we do not experience it. But there are times we do! Have you observed deep enough when and why! Happiness as defined by modern Psychology can be equated to Pleasure, Engagement and Meaning. They can be elaborated as follows:

• Pleasure: It is the result of the tendency that drives us to seek momentary pleasures of life. For example: Attending parties, Having delicious food, Watching a movie, Wearing a new dress, etc.

• Engagement: It is the result of the decisions taken by an orderly mind. For Example: The happiness we experience after physical exercise, Mental work, like solving a mathematics problem, Joy we experience after publishing the article we worked on for a long period of time, etc.

• Meaning: It is the joy of serving others. It is synonymous to selflessness. For example: Serving food for impoverished children, Educating the underprivileged children, etc.

On delving deeper into each form of happiness given above, we can conclude as follows:

• Pleasure: It is very momentary.
• It is habit forming.
• Leads to overuse, leading to dissatisfaction and sadness.
• Makes us dependent on it. In other words, crave for it.

This means that eventually pleasure turns into sorrow. When pleasure turns into sorrow, it no longer remains a form of happiness. It is exhaustible as soon as we tend to make it an integral part of our lives. Thus, it is not permanent. Then where can we find permanent happiness, as pleasure has become miserable? Modern Psychology takes us to the next step, that is MEANING.

To be continued