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Happiness

admin — Tue, 16 Oct 2007 09:55:32 +0000

Happiness is a positive psychological state of being that has been debated hotly for centuries.
There are religious, psychological and mechanical views on its state of being.

Mystical views of happiness

In mystical traditions, especially in advanced spiritual techniques, happiness is related to inner energy lines.
They are called something different, depending on the religion.

For example, in Catholicism, ultimate existence of happiness is witnessed as felicity or “blessed happiness”. Happiness also forms the central theme of Buddhist teachings and the eightfold path that will lead the practitioner to Nirvana or everlasting peace. It is achieved by overcoming all forms of desire.

See also

Psychology of Happiness

admin — Tue, 16 Oct 2007 09:55:07 +0000

The psychological views on happiness began with Gautama Buddha.
He discussed the role of the mind in the pursuit of happiness. According to Buddha, the mind is the forerunner of states of existence, no matter what those states are. In Buddhism, the third of the Four Noble Truths states “to eliminate suffering, eliminate craving” this achieving happiness as being beyond material and emotional possession.

In Positive Psychology, happiness is described as being both a positive emotion and positive activities. The positive activities are absorption and engagement and the three categories of positive emotion are past, present and future. The positive emotions relating to the past include contentment, pride, satisfaction and serenity. The positive emotions relating to the future are optimism, trust and hope. The positive emotions of the present include aspects of pleasure and gratification.

Mechanistic view of Happiness

admin — Tue, 16 Oct 2007 09:54:55 +0000

According to the mechanistic view, a person’s happiness is objectively measurable.
Is also has a real physiological component related to the neurotransmitter dopamine. Its presence in the mesolimbic pathway is involved in desire and pleasure. Pleasure can be induced artificially with drugs, most likely with opiates and morphine. There are neural opioid systems that produce and release the brain’s own opioids. There are tests of the brain that can measure happiness.

In humans, goals are no longer short term satisfaction of basic drives. There still remains a strong relationship between goal fulfillment and happiness, even if the goals themselves are long term, complex, cerebral or less selfish than non-human goals. In fact, short term gratification, while briefly generating happiness, often requires a trade off with unhappiness or other negative repercussions in the long run. Certain types of philosophy believe that true happiness only exists if there are no long term detrimental effects.