How to acquire eternal Happiness

K.D. Buddhima Hansinie Subasinghe,
Sambodhi Vihara
English Dhamma School.

�Happiness� said life,
is a wayward prize,
To be won by men
with patient striving
Half the race you have won,
now please arise
And push on the goal
is at the turning�

Do you want to acquire eternal happiness? Well, if I happened to ask this question from you, I�m sure you will answer this simple question with a very big �Yes�. Of course, we all want to have happiness and all of us love to live peacefully, but the idea of what constitutes happiness is quite different and how it can be fully achieved is not that easy.

Some say a person needs just three things to be truly happy in this world; and that is someone to love, something to do and something to hope for. While some say happiness as seen by most people in this world is sought for destination or regarded as something to be or become; but to this unfortunate crowd, happiness can be described as the end of a rainbow in which they have to spend their whole lifetime on chasing and eventually might start off chasing their own shadows as they shall never find in the external that which only resides within.

All living beings crave for happiness working hard... day and night. Although people put on great efforts to be happy in this world they are often far away than closer to what they have tried for so far. This is the very reason as to why we need to find what real happiness is. When looking at the society, a person with noble aspirations is usually happy, a person who does good and never harms others is blessed with happiness, a person who allows others to live peacefully and lives peacefully without disturbing the others is happy, a person who contributes something good to make this world a better place to live is happy and a person who loves love is always happy and contended. In today�s world, just think the struggle we do to gain financial rewards, comfort and luxury, but actually this method of living that we practise today does not bring about inner happiness within oneself but increases the worries and brings about a mental stress. Therefore, we should understand that materialistic attainment is of a very little value when compared to the spiritual joy that one can get by the detachment of worldly pleasures.

A rich person may be unhappy with his life; whereas a poor person might be very happy with the things he is gifted with. Therefore, we should always remember that the wealth is always a blessing for people who gain and use it righteously. Sometimes even though one is rich he would never be able to be happy as long as he thinks about all what he has not got or what he couldn�t do or achieve. This is due to clinging on to the wealth as they would always dream of bigger and set up much higher goals to posses more and more.

So we should always learn to be happy and live with what we have. Buddhism teaches how to gain happiness in the right way. In one of His discourses regarding the four kinds of happiness. The Buddha mentioned clearly that a man must work hard to acquire wealth to lead a prosperous life with peace and harmony. The two main ingredients for happiness as explained in Buddhism are compassion and wisdom and always a good life is inspired by love and guided by knowledge. Compassion is loving kindness concerning all that live and wisdom is seeing things as they are. Therefore �Happiness� is a mental state which can be attained through culture of the mind.

In one incident, there was a girl named Laura who always wished to be happy and contended in every moment of her life. She too was taught in her early days that happiness is a state of mind and money can never buy it but only could be cultivated within one�s own self but it�s only through her own experience she realised that even with all the money in the world and cannot buy a single grain of happiness and it can never be measured from material possessions but should come from within.

This little girl while walking from home to school, although tired to concentrate on what she thought, her mind was always attracted towards the ladies dressed in their most charming suits with the most attractive handbags, jewellery, make up etc:, and the men in their tailored suits getting out of their vehicles engaging in their work.

Laura, from a poor family and her parents never had the chance to provide her with all the comfort and luxury which she admired most. She was always worried about her clothes and her belongings because they were old and worn out, and there were times that she was left out when her friends did all types of modern fashions. She could therefore hardly fit in with her friends. So, what do you think was her ultimate wish? She thought that she�ll be able to hand around with her friend only if she had new clothes, a luxurious home, and all other material possessions.

Laura had the feeling that she should work hard and try to achieve the �things�, which would make her happy. Laura successfully completed her studies and started to work in a company with just one determination. For all the hard work she did, she was able to reach her goal but she wasted all her money on all what she wanted and it was too late when she realised it was a waste.

She understood what happened to her. She realised that she admired in other people was to what they had in their possession but the self-confidence and other qualities. Laura was surprised when she realised the way they carried out their lives and started to work to make herself happy. Then she realised that it�s the same person inside.

When considering deeply into the Buddha�s teachings the analytical doctrine of mental faculties and elements which help us understand what supreme bliss is and how it can really be achieved is what we call as �Abhidhamma� or the highest teaching of the Buddha which helps us in overcoming our troubles and develop moral conduct to lead a life which is peaceful, respectable and noble.

Therefore, by studying the Abhidhamma a person can understand the true nature of the mind, analyse the different attitudes of the mind which cause all living beings to commit mistakes and realise the direction of the eternal bliss.

Abhidhamma teaches the concepts such as �I� or �You� does not really exist but deals with two main kinds of realities or truths which can be described as fine elements of phenomena. The Buddha has taught four types of ultimate truths or Paramatta Dhammas which are Chitta, Chetasika, Rupa, and Nibbana

Citta is the mind or consciousness, Chetasika is the mental factors which arise with consciousness, Rupa are the material forms and Nibbana is the highest bliss or Supramandane state of eternal happiness. Nibbana cannot be experienced by satisfying the senses but always by calming them. So a person with a wound which has just started to heal would start to scratch and the scratching action would bring temporary relief within him but the consequence would be enhancing of the wound making it spread all over the body. So I think you will understand the happiness that a person can acquire is far ahead from the temporary relief that the person acquired from scratching, so similarly the longing for sensual pleasures only brings about temporary joy thus extending the life in Samsara.

The Buddha explained that the only cure for this samsaric disease is �Nibbana�, which is the end of suffering. So, what I would like to tell you is to practise the Buddha�s valuable teachings as it would certainly help us purify ourselves and realise the absolute happiness. In order to obtain this Supramandane state of eternal happiness we should lead our lives with a good conduct and practise meditation to purify our minds, and then we can certainly attain the most blissful state of Nibbana. May all beings be well and happy!

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The Five Precepts

Pooja Dissanayake
Dharma Vijaya Buddhist Vihara,
Los Angeles USA

There is no success or happiness outside the Buddha�s teachings. If we do not follow the Pancha Sila which is a Pali-Sanskrit word for the five precepts (morality) our lives will not be completed.

No matter how clever or how good you are at understanding things, one cannot call yourself a true follower of the Buddha, if you don�t follow the five precepts which are not don�ts but are undertakings to observe.

A true Buddhist will not have anything to do with false speech, spirituous drinks, killing, stealing or engaging in sexual misconduct. The five precepts which we undertake to follow are, as follows. The first is to refrain from taking life. When you take life you deny another life which he loves most as much as you love your self. And, remember, you have to show compassion to all beings.

The second precept is to refrain from stealing. That means taking whatever which is not yours or not given to you. Stealing another person�s properties can put one in trouble, and how do you feel if someone steals what belongs to you. The third precept is to refrain from lying. If you lie whether it is big or small your friends and others will begin to lose trust in you and you will start to think about it and will not stop until you realise the truth. And,if you tell a lie to hide the truth you have to tell more lies, and get into trouble. To prevent lying you got to stop at some point.

The fourth precept is to abstain from sexual misconduct. Going against sexual misconduct can be very dangerous. The fifth precept is to refrain from taking intoxicating drinks and drugs which can be very harmful to your body. If you are a true Buddhist you should refrain from taking drinks and drugs that will poison and hurt your mind. It will also destroys your thinking ability.

If you follow the five precepts you will not go in the wrong direction, and succeed in life. Observing the five precepts make you strong and conscious.

These are the five precepts the Buddha taught. So follow the five precepts correctly.

I bet you will have a good future. A true Buddhist will never give up and always listen and follow the five precepts and lead a successful life. Last but not least, always remember to follow the five precepts and lead a happy life.