Mindful happiness

One of the homework tasks I set in week 6 of my 8-week course in mindfulness is to write down, each day, 10 things that you're grateful for. It can include the same things or different things, little or big things, people, events, material things, thoughts or emotions. It's a lovely practice! Some people find it hard, some easy, but the point is to become more aware of all that we can be happy and grateful for.

So when I came across the 100 Happy Days Challenge a month or two ago, I signed up immediately! The idea is for 100 days straight you post a picture (or many pictures) of the people, things or events that make you happy to Instagram, Twitter or Facebook with the hashtag "#100HappyDays". I'm currently on day 42 (you can follow me on Instagram @westmoquette).

What is happiness? What is it to you? Just have a think right now...

Wikipedia has a nice definition: "Happiness is a mental or emotional state of well-being characterized by positive or pleasant emotions ranging from contentment to intense joy." It's one of those value judgements (like "good" or "holy") that vary from person-to-person, moment-to-moment, and culture-to-culture.

The majority of the European words for "happy" originated from the meaning "lucky", "prosperous", "very glad", or "blithe", but one exception is Welsh, where the word used first meant "wise". "Wise" implies a deeper meaning that's perhaps closer to what religion means by happiness.

Christians might say that happiness is "the grace of loving and being loved by Jesus who gave his life for me." In Catholicism, the end of life is said to consist of a "blessed happiness", or, as described by the 13th-century philosopher-theologian Thomas Aquinas, as a "beatific vision of God's essence".

In Buddhism, the path to happiness starts from an understanding of the root causes of what makes us unhappy – what the Buddha termed "dukkha", which translates as something like suffering, anxiety, discontent, unsatisfactoriness. It arises very naturally due to the events of birth, growing up, growing old, sickness and death, and it arises when we try to hold onto things that are actually constantly changing. Suffering originates from either wanting things we don't have, wanting to get rid of things we do have, or being confused or deluded.

The Buddha taught that we can free ourselves from this dukkha, and the way to do that is through studying ourselves and our place in the world through meditation. As he put it, our way out of this mess is to practice right view/understanding, right intention, right speech, right action, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness, and right concentration (the 8-fold path). What "right" means, is of course a matter to contemplate! Each of us must find our own version of "right". In this context, another word for "right" is "wholesome".

All that we are is the result of what we have thought. It is founded on our thoughts. It is made up of our thoughts. 
If one speaks or acts with an unwholesome thought, pain follows, as the wheel follows the foot of the ox that draws the wagon.
If one speaks or acts with a wholesome thought, happiness follows, like a shadow that never leaves.
(Dhammapada 1-2)

So in Buddhism, happiness comes from dis-identifying ourselves with our passions, needs and wants. That's not to say we don't enjoy them just the same – in fact if we can let go of wanting things to be any different from what they are right now, then we can enjoy things even more. Being 100% in the moment without any aversion, greed or delusion. This is the practice of mindfulness.

“Happiness is not something ready made. It comes from your own actions.” – Dalai Lama

So why don't you join me in taking up the http://100happydays.com challenge?! Let me know if you sign up and I'll follow you!