Psychology Archives - Mindful Happiness

December 6, 2017 By Admin

Profile on Characteristics of Happiness – Post 2

Happiness Characteristics – Post #2

Below I will note a few key characteristics of experiences and attitudes associated with happiness. Do your best to experience some of these each day – as much as is possible. Here is the first list.

Being Fully Alive to Experiences – Do your best to be fully involved in mind-body ways in any and all positive experiences you encounter. No matter how small or short-lasting, be the experience. This means we should savor each moment as a precious moment, a precious moment that may never come again (Omar Khayyam). Emily Dickinson suggests that is what makes human life so sweet. Arnold Toynbee noted that when possible we should make work into play. Ellen Degeneres suggests that we should pretend to be butterflies, with a lifespan of about two weeks. If you had only two week to live would you be able to find joy in the moments? Use all your senses when you encounter any form of joy.
Bliss Consciousness is Part of it – Joseph Campbell advised us to follow our personal bliss. This type of experience may awaken us to higher consciousness. Be the bliss, and experience it in your true self. Deepak Chopra tells us that nothing is more important than connecting with your inner bliss Guru Nanak recommended that we meditate in our solitude as a means to attain pure bliss, and Swami Sivananda notes that blissful meditation brings us to intense inner joy. William Wordsworth suggested that bliss of solitude brings deep pleasure to the heart.
Contentment is the Recognition of Pleasant Joy – To Osho, perhaps the core of contentment is experiencing the serenity of satisfaction about what is right now. Henry Ward Beecher suggested that happy contentment is an ability to find happiness in very common things and experiences. Oprah Winfrey noted that having gratitude for what you have now opens up the way to have even more. The way we live each day ends up to be the way we spend our life (Annie Dillard).
Delight is a Part of Happiness – We feel delight when our hearts and souls are are light and gladdened. Kahlil Gibran noted that the joy of delight can be found when we look deeply into our own hearts. Take delight in the wonders of nature and life – it always changes (The Buddha and Marcus Aurelius). Go with the flow of the changing.
Enlightenment may be End-Stage Happiness – Huston Smith informed us that intense, lasting suffering led The Buddha to enlightenment, which was an understanding of how the mind works and how to discipline it. Such awareness may lead to compassion and inner peace. Denis Waitley noted that happiness is purely spiritual and related to love, gratitude, grace and wisdom. Japanese Zen Master Dogen suggested that sincere practice leads to enlightenment. Like The Buddha, Albert Einstein advised that happiness and enlightenment require liberation from the self.

Here you have the first five characteristics of happiness as presented by Louise Baxter Harmon (2015). Happiness a-z: The Gleeful Guide to Finding and Following Your Bliss. New York: MJF Books, pp. 1-37.

December 2, 2017 By Admin

Forms of Happiness from Buddhist Psychology

Given the season “to be jolly” I plan to write several posts on the topic of happiness. The following information notes five stages or levels of happiness. Read them over and see what stage/level may be appropriate for you at this time in your practice. Note that some meditation leaders do their best to separate out happiness from the goals of Buddhist meditation; in fact, some imply you should simply give up trying to become a happier person. Others imply that eventual progress in meditation practice applied to life will allow us to experience more happiness via various changes and practices. Some indicators include generosity, gratitude, compassionate practices, impermanence, no-self, dependent origination, and ultimate emptiness. Here are the levels – or stages as some people prefer.

Minor Happiness – This may be a slight sense of awe in the present moment of experience. It arises and falls quickly, but you know you have experienced it. You may perceive a subtle sense of lightness and inner joy.
Momentary Happiness – This experience comes into consciousness in a flash; it may be quite intense and short-lived. You again experience lightness and joy but with a bit more awareness.
Showering Happiness – This is a stronger experience via sensation and emotion. You perceive it as being longer in duration. You may feel happiness flowing inside and outside of your body. This is the form of happiness that we learn to crave and desire. We want more and more of this in our emotions and sensations. If we are not careful, our too strong pursuit may end up in dissatisfaction, thus more suffering. “You can’t alway get what you want.”
Uplifting Happiness – This experience may be so strong that we may perceive our body being lifted up. It is energetic and longer lasting. This may be a form of higher consciousness, experienced as “happiness consciousness.” We tend to like this experience a great deal.
Pervading Happiness – This is an experience of deep inner serenity and calmness, and is registered as sublime happiness. This form of happiness is an experience on stable tranquility and joy. Such experiences support our long path toward liberation from Samsara. This experience implies we have learned and practiced Buddhist Meditation and Wisdom well.

For more information refer to Fryba, M. (1989). The Art of Happiness. Boston, MA: Shambhala Publications, pp. 77-110.

Anthony R. Quintiliani, PhD., LADC

From the Eleanor R. Liebman Center for Secular Meditation in Monkton, Vermont

Author of Mindful Happiness

New Edition of Mindful Happiness in Production…Coming soon!

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