International Day of Happiness: Occasion Not to Celebrate only, But also to Promote the True Concept of Happiness (PART 3)
It is true that while celebrating festivals we forget or ignore all our worries for some time as we are busy at that time with celebrations. In this sense, they can be considered as stress relievers, but for the time being. But they do not provide any permanent solution for our worries and unhappiness in life. When people are brought together in a friendly mood our frictions and mental worries may get reduced. So the participation in celebrations should be seen in this spirit. The happiness and well-being experts from various disciplines who participate in these festivals should try to know how many of them could sustain their happiness in their life thereafter. All these celebrations, no doubt, give us opportunities for temporary enjoyment or sensual pleasures, but not any lasting happiness. Festivals and celebrations provide only this momentary happiness which is not sustainable. We need to look elsewhere for a comprehensive understanding of the ways and means of realizing lasting happiness. A spiritual approach is basically what is to be followed for this. In fact, it was this idea that led the Bhutan King in investigating into and suggesting a concept of ‘Gross National Happiness’ around 1972. Further, the Centre for Bhutan Studies has released for the first time its Gross National Happiness (GNH) Index, the first quantitative measure of happiness based on a survey data from 12 of the 20 Districts of Bhutan, on 26 November, 2008.
Bhutan has suggested the Gross National Happiness (GNH) index as an aggregate comprehensive measure of a country's development, compared to Gross Domestic Product. It is a measure of the sum total not only of economic output, but also of net environmental impacts, the spiritual and cultural growth of citizens, mental and physical health and the strength of the corporate and political systems. The third GNH report, ‘Compass Towards a Just and Harmonious Society’, prepared by the Center for Bhutan Studies & GNH Research, was released in 2015. In this report different aspects of well-being like mental well-being, physical health, youth literacy, participation in community events countered by increases in working hours, satisfaction with government performance, sense of belonging etc., are included. No doubt, happiness is an important factor of a person’s well being. Each and every person in the world strives to be happy. The first UN High Level Meeting on "Happiness and Well-Being: Defining a New Economic Paradigm," which was chaired by Prime Minister Jigme Thinley of Bhutan was held on April 2, 2012. Bhutan is the first and so far the only country to have officially adopted GNH (Gross National Happiness) instead of GDP (Gross Domestic product) as their main development indicator. The first World Happiness Report was released on April 1, 2012.
Personal income is only one factor of personal happiness and well-being (Diener, Tay & Oishi, 2013). Other happiness factors include, but are not limited to, personal relationships, economic freedom, political freedom, health, education, and income distribution (Ovaska & Takashima, 2006). These factors, of course, vary between individuals and across cultures. Several countries have started to measure happiness in addition to or in lieu of GDP (Musikanski & Polley, 2016). According to Socrates, virtue and happiness go hand in hand. Plato, the disciple of Socrates, maintained that man’s goal is a virtuous life. According to Aristotle, what a good man aims at is happiness. He says that man’s happiness lies not only in possessing knowledge, but also in its application. An individual’s happiness depends upon his virtuous achievements. He also finds room for some secondary elements like pleasure and presence of certain external items. A concept fundamental to Aristotle’s ethical philosophy is that God and Nature create nothing in vain, that everything in the Universe is created with a purpose and is designed to perform a type of activity for realizing this purpose. In the case of man the goal of actions is happiness. Virtue for him means application of one’s intelligence to practical situations and concrete action (Chapter 32, Greek Concept of Happiness, Parsh D. Bhatt in Turning Point, Enlightening essays on Life, Part I, Swaminarayan Aksharpith). According to Swaminarayanan, if our actions are in line with the scriptures, then happiness is ours too. “He who abides by the codes prescribed in the scriptures will find happiness here (on earth) and hereafter (in heaven)’ (Shikshapatri 8). The formula that would help all towards a better life, as Swminarayanan said “Develop a good character yourself and help develop a character-rich society”.
Happiness is the basic urge of every creature in this world. Everyone, particularly the human beings always seeks for it. In fact, there is, therefore, no need of reminding people about happiness by devoting a Day for it. What is needed is to help or teach and train each one to realize or experience happiness and enjoy life. A pre-requisite for getting happiness is cutting down all vices and cultivating virtues instead. One should avoid arrogance and accept humility in all actions. Contentment brings Peace and Peace leads to Happiness. Contentment and Peace are pre-requisites for Happiness. In fact, they form one Trio. Contentment can be realized by avoiding greed. Therefore, keep away from greed and try to meet your need. Enmity and jealousy make one greedy. So avoid them to get free from greed and thereby to get contentment. .
“Happy are the people whose God is the LORD”, says Bible. People have a common goal in life, to find happiness. Everyone wants to be happy in their relationships, with their jobs, and just in general. But obstacles can sometimes get in the way and prevent you from finding that happiness that you crave so much. You might try finding joy in less conventional ways and forget that you can only find true happiness in one person: God. With these Bible verses about happiness, you’ll be able to open your heart to the joy that God brings into your life with His presence and His blessings. There are many Bible verses about happiness which the Christians are asked to recite every morning to set your day’s intention to find happiness in everyday miracles. One can also recite them at the end of the day to express one’s gratitude towards God for granting another happy day. The Bible tells that one can find happiness only with the help of God. Here are some of those verses in the Bible about happiness. “The less you’re concerned about your happiness and the more you’re concerned about him (God), the happier you get”. True happiness is never found in external circumstances. It is a byproduct of seeking God’s kingdom and his righteousness. (Bible and Happiness).
------ To be continued