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What Causes Happiness ?

Happy Nati

At one level, money, success, relationships, a sunny day and such like can be said to be what causes happiness for many people. However, I see those kinds of things as only a part of what makes us happy.

Including things like those just mentioned, there are in fact three levels of what causes happiness:

The level of happenings or experiences in one's life:
things, events, experiences that trigger inner happiness to flow

The level of physiological biochemicals in the body:
a subtle substance known as OJAS

The non-physical level at the source of life:
the nature of life itself is what causes happiness to want to flow and expand

I'll discuss these three levels briefly.

Level 1: Happenings or experiences in one's life

There are many happiness triggers in life, and each person has a different set of triggers that make him or her feel happy.

These may be a special relationship, creating wealth, work achievement, success, power, popularity, status, physical beauty, career positions, social status, a neat home environment, possessions and the like.

For some folks, a good meal brings happiness, or a party, or watching TV on a cold night, all cuddled up in front of a fire.

Want to tell other site visitors what makes YOU happy?

It's good, however, to have a broader perspective on happiness, or we can end up unfulfilled and unhappy. By that I mean, if we mistake these triggers of happiness as actually being what causes happiness, we will never find true happiness.

That is like being happy when you receive a thousand dollars, but when there is an underlying debt of $100,000, that cash inflow soon pales into insignificance.

Happiness triggers are transient: they come and go. Sure, they enliven the flow of happiness. And that is absolutely vital in the expansion of happiness. But the happiness derived from such triggers will be short-lived and will soon turn into disappointments and even unhappiness -- unless there is a constant flow of new triggers.

The way to avoid disappointments and unhappiness when a trigger is no longer triggering happiness, is to establish a stable underlying sense of contentment and peace. Those happiness triggers then become a means to unlock that inner happiness so that it flows faster.

In this way we can ride the joyful waves of expanding happiness while still remaining 'grounded' in our underlying contentment. This is what some call authentic happiness.

Then, when the trigger comes to an end, we don't find ourselves falling to a depth of disappointment and loss. We simply attract the next trigger and ride the next wave of joy, anchored in our stable base of contented happiness.

Next: >> Page 2 of 3 - Level 2