Nang Mwe Kham(Happiness)

Ways to happiness in religions Nang Mwe Kham English for communication, Faculty of Humanities Mahamakut Buddhist University, Mahapajapati Buddhist College, Thailand Abstract The reason that I am doing this research report is to find real happiness in life from the top five religions of the world. We always look for happiness every minute of the day. It does not matter what religions you are, you can achieve the aim of happiness. Every religion has been teaching about good morals and ethnic. I have done this research reporting papersby reading and collecting about happiness from five different religions such as Christianity, Islam, Hindunism, Buddhism, and Confucinism. Introduction What is happiness? Why do we need to be happy in life? How is it important in our life? Happiness is the positive mind or positive feeling. The feeling that we are in a good mood, a good life is called happiness. If you are not happy, you cannot be healthy. Even if you are wealthy with a billion money, if you are not happy and healthy, life is invaluable. The moments of happiness that man experiences with everyday smiles and joy are worth living. Psychological studies indicate that people who benefit from greater physical and mental health report higher life satisfaction. There is no limit to how happy you can become, and it will not cost you a thing.

Christianity Christians believe that happiness occurs with the surrounding things and living things. And they also believe that everyone can achieve the aim to have a happy life. The mechanical method of measuring the amount of happiness is comparing yourself to others. Secretly to the happiness in Christianism is the fear through the lord. Christians believe that the bible is the secret to a happy life through the fear of the lord, then they will find the blessing of God. God has created the world, human beings, and everything, human is a good creation of God. The happiness in the biblical secret is reached through a spirit of gratefulness. A grateful person is a happy person. The psychologist said that a grateful person has a higher level of positive emotions. You have to decide to improve your spirit of gratitude, so you will get unlimited happiness. When you recognize and notice the goodness of God or others have done for you, then you will have a spirit of gratefulness. In the Proverbs 15:13 (NKJV), it says, “A merry heart makes a cheerful countenance.” And Proverbs 17: 32 (NKJV) “A merry heart does good, like medicine, but a broken spirit dries the bones.” Find more humor and laugh for good health. Christian believes that people get Christ’s heart and mind through salvation during his thirty-three years on the planet. Jesus was grateful to God and everyone. You just allow the gratefulness of Jesus to well up inside of you and you will be the happiest person on earth. A grateful heart makes a happy face. A grateful heart does good like a medicine. Christian believes that happiness is with the creator of God. Everything from God is good. If you follow him, you will have the highest happiness. You will be a happy person if you truly believe and follow God. Christian talk more about joy than happiness does. Happiness changes every time by the emotions of people. So, you should “Seek your happiness in the right place-in God himself.” Then where you can find true happiness, it all depends on your desire. Why can you have a desire for happiness because you are the creator of God? He made and wanted to make you happy. But you must

understand that both happiness and sadness are happening in the world. Even Christ himself had faced several kinds of happiness, joy, sadness and sorrow in his life. Everything is come and gone by time, we just should not attach with it. Islam Islamic believes that happiness is the final end. Happiness in the Quran is the happiness of this world and the next world. Happiness in the Quran is the permanent and everlasting. Happiness is a positive state of mind and having positive feelings. We do experience happiness frequently almost every day, but we do not remember since we do not pay them attention. First, you should know that you are better than others. Everything is happening by the divine decrease. Allah (God) created everything; you must be thankful to him. You can find happiness by remembering Allah (god). You should know that you are better than others as long as you believe in Allah. Where is Allah? Above up to the highest seventh heaven, it is close to Allah. And where is the hell? The lowest and farthest from Allah. So, the nearest to Allah you are, the happiest people you are. How to be close to Allah? You must lower yourself down, and recall the hadith, “He who humbles himself to Allah, Allah raises him; raises him in honor, raises him to the place of true happiness!” Then, “The closest a servant ever is to His Lord, is when he is prostrating in sujood.” and think what you have done through the year. You may remember that your body is down firm to the ground, but your spirits are rising and near to the creator, Allah. You must perform sujood in Salad. “Truly in remembering Allah SWT (God) do hearts find rest.” (The Noble Quran 13:48)

In hadith, there are lots of teachings and explanations about happiness. One good example is “When you are in the evening, do not expect to see the morning, and when you are in the morning, do not expect to see the evening.” (Sahih Hadith Bukhari & Muslim) Your thoughts must stay in the present and don’t imagine or think about the future, if you want to feel real happiness. You must forget the past and focus on the present. Be balanced in your life from the past, present, and future. “The great secret of true happiness and success is to ask for no return, the perfectly unselfish person, is the most successful.” by Swami Vivekananda. Happiness in the Quran, Hadith, and Ulama. Researcher told that happiness happens because of the self-such as knowledge, and good character, the body such as health, and external things such as wealth, things. In Islam teaching, you will be happy if you can stay away from stress, the desire of things. Happiness is a pleasure which is one of the activities we do and we desire to get it. Happiness is your activity; it is up to you if you desire to get it. Sometimes, people pretend to forget or not to believe what will happen after death. But Islamic believes that there is another life after the life of this world, it is continually happening. So, you can have fake happiness. There are four groups of means in happiness such as 1. The goods of the soul, 2. The bodily goods, 3. The external goods and 4. The goods of divine grace.

1, The goods of the soul are faith and good character. Faith is the knowledge of practical religion. The good act of faith can purify the soul. This helps a man to be happier in life. A good character is a praiseworthy soul. Islamic beliefs that these two are the nearest way to attain happiness. 2, The bodily goods are health, strength, long life, and beauty. As a human being, those things are necessary to be happy. Without physical health and strength, the knowledge and action of the soul cannot be found to be healthy. 3, The external goods are wealth, influence, family, and noble birth. Those things also support men to gain a happy life. 4, The goods of divine grace; The things are happening by divine grace such as divine guidance, divine direction, divine leadership, etc. So, these four means can lead men to gain happiness in their life. Hinduism “I follow many great religions. My body is my temple. Love is my religion. Peace is my religion. Happiness is my religion.” by Debasish Mridha, M.D. According to Hinduism, happiness happens from one’s actions, past life karma, actions of gods and others, and the grace of God. There are three main types of happiness in Hinduism. They are 1) Physical (bhautika) which arises from bodily pleasures and enjoyment. 2) Mental (manasika) happiness, which arises from having no worries or stress. 3) Spiritual happiness (adhyamitka), free from the cycle of births and deaths, and union with self. In Hinduism, Mukta is the highest heaven, where your soul will get the happiness and peace which you cannot gain on earth. You can gain that happiness by doing good karma and it will last longer than on earth. But it is impermanent happiness, your soul must come back to earth when your good karma is gone. There are four important goals to achieve in life, called “Purushartha”. They help human beings to gain happiness. They are Dharma (religious, social, moral duty), Artha (wealth), Kama (conjugal bliss), and Moksha (liberation). Dharma; You will be happy if you follow and practice Dharma. You will have a good moral, enjoy and respect in society. Artha; You are wealthy, rich, and comfortable in life. Kama; You have a good relationship, family life, having children. Moksha; You will gain the ultimate happiness of being free from obligation. It is the highest goal of Hinduism. These four aims are the way to happiness.

Hinduism also clearly talks about the suffering that is inherent to earthly life and traces its root cause to desire only. Everything is impermanent, but human beings have an attachment to these things and cannot easily escape from it. Being unhappy because things are impermanence, no one is free from suffering. Everyone will have a sickness, aging, decay, death, etc. Being separated from a loved one or union with an unlike one also makes you unhappy. Being attracted to the objects that we like or dislike is also unhappy. When you get or be with those that you like, you will feel temporary happiness. According to researchers, there are eleven ways to be happy in life. They are- 1. The time you do what you love most. 2. The time you have a goal in life. 3. The time you are having pleasure with yourself or others 4. The time your dreams or desires are fulfilled 5. The time you learn to adapt yourself from the difficult life 6. The time you help others 7. The time you are recognized, rewarded, and appreciated 8. The time you are loved and cared for 9. The time you are being safe and strong 10. The time you are in control of a situation 11. The time you are gathering with people you love most. First, you must develop self-love to gain happiness. You have to value your life and take care of your health both physically and mentally. Learn to accept and forgive yourself and others.

You have to recognize and respect other people’s right to happiness. Learn to be thankful every day. It has a very simple and powerful effect on your emotions. You have many reasons to be grateful for every day. If you have a habit of being thankful, your life will be full of color and happiness every day. Buddhism In Buddhism, there are three truths and faith such as “Buddha, Dhamma, Sangha “ But Buddhism isn’t a blind faith!! It is a religion of experience and exploration. Buddha said, “ Come and See” .Rather than saying “this is true because the Buddha said so”, he encouraged his followers to learn from their own experience so that they could say this is true because I have found it to be so. When practicing to be a happier person, we can learn about three truths and follow. Happiness happened from the desire for things. Happiness is the state of mind. Real happiness is the realization of the mind. In Buddhism, there are two kinds of happiness. They are general or sensual happiness and Spiritual happiness. General happiness is worldly happiness which is caused by our five senses such as form, sound, odor, taste and touch. This general happiness can cause attachment and new sins. Spiritual happiness is the peace of mind. Our mind is calm and peaceful with no desire or ignorance. Buddha taught to let things go, then share happiness and compassion. Buddha said that happiness is our true nature. To understand happiness, we must understand what is suffering first. Buddha taught about how to be happy by teaching four noble truths. The four noble truths are- 1. The truth of suffering 2. The truth of the cause of suffering 3. The truth of the end of suffering

4. The truth of the path that leads to the end of suffering After learning and practicing the four noble truths, we will understand the art of suffering and overcome it. Moreover, we can practice the teaching of Buddha about the eightfold noble path. The eightfold noble paths are- right view, right intention, right speech, right action, right livelihood, right effort, right concentration, right mindfulness. Confucianism Happiness doesn’t mean that you have zero suffering. The art of happiness is also the art of knowing how to suffer as well. We can gain happiness by understanding and seeing our suffering. In Confucianism, we will learn that there is no realm with only happiness without suffering. So, we can understand that when there is suffering, there is happiness too. “One of the most difficult things for us to accept is that there is no realm where there’s only happiness and there’s no suffering. This doesn’t mean that we should despair. Suffering can be transformed.” Most of the time, we try to cover up our suffering. We will not get happiness without facing suffering. Confucius said that “The more we learn about the art of suffering well, the less suffering there will be in the world.” And “Happiness is not at the top of a mountain, but in how to claim it.” Happiness is not at the end of the journey, but the path going to somewhere is happiness.

These are some teachings of Confucius to gain happiness in life. 1. Take care of others 2. Have a good network with society, friends, etc. 3. Being successful and wealth 4. Have fun! 5. Live healthy 6. Being individualistic 7. School yourself 1. Take care of others; Love and share to the others, because you cannot be poor by sharing. 2. Have a good network with society; a good relationship between wife and husband, younger and older, friends and friends, etc. 3. Being successful and wealth; hard work, don’t give up on the difficult will lead you successful and happy. 4. Have fun; relax and make jokes while working. Always find something fun to do. 5. Live healthy; eat healthy food and do exercise. 6. Being individualistic; learn to be alone, be independent. 7. School yourself; never stop learning, always educate yourself to gain knowledge and happiness. Conclusion In conclusion, happiness is not searching but making by ourselves. If you have a desire to be happy and healthy, you can do our own happiness. Christianity taught if you want to get a happier life, you have to love, be grateful and have faith in God. Islam taught to have faith on Allah, and practice Salah to gain the real happiness. Then , you must stay in the present moment and balance your life. Hinduism taught to build self-love, value yourself and others, and to be a grateful person. Buddhism taught about suffering to understand suffering and gain the peaceful of mind. The last religion, Confucius taught about suffering to gain happiness. So, I hope that you will gain happiness and a peaceful mind from reading my research reports.

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