Pursuit of Happyness

“(…) We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the PURSUIT OF HAPPINESS”. (The American Declaration of Independence)

I watched this weekend the wonderful Will Smith film – “Pursuit of Happyness”. (By the way, the wrong spelling is intentional). Will Smith’s character says this at some point in the film, “It was right then that I started thinking about Thomas Jefferson on the Declaration of Independence and the part about our right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. And I remember thinking how did he know to put the pursuit part in there? That maybe happiness is something that we can only pursue and maybe we can actually never have it. No matter what. How did he know that?”

Happiness means different things to most of us. We all have our equations for it…
Good education = happiness
More money = happiness
Bigger house = happiness
Nicer car = happiness

The equations are endless… But are they correct?

People living in lesser developed countries tend to be happier than those living in the developed world. Why? Maybe less is more. Or simply because material things do not bring happiness. Not necessarily.

Think of Maslow’s pyramid. At the bottom is the man who just about manages to fulfil his basic needs of food, clothing and shelter. As he climbs up the social ladder, he tries to attain a comfortable standard of living. Once all his bodily needs are satisfied he longs for mental satisfaction, social recognition and happiness. So that’s when things get complicated… The more you have, the more you want! And the more you want, the more unhappy you are! As simple as that!

Gautam Buddha said that the root cause of suffering was ‘trishna’ or thirst. If we learnt to control our thirst or desire, we’d be a lot happier, he said.

Now, that brings me to another question: if we didn’t long for anything, what purpose would we give to our lives? Would it be wrong to be ambitious? Aren’t all great things a result of some longing, of some want? The answer I guess lies in finding a balance. As the Bhagvad Gita says, “do your ‘karma’ (i.e. whatever it is that you have to do) and don’t expect anything in return.” Now that is difficult, or rather impossible for mere mortals like us. The least we can do is not to let failure deter us from our pursuit of happiness…