How do I become happy?
If you lived
in a palace where you could enjoy everything – beauty, health, money and power
would you consider leaving behind such a ‘happy’ life? I probably would not.
But one man did more than two millennia ago in
his quest for genuine happiness. Shakyamuni’s story still encourages millions
around the globe to seek the meaning of suffering behind pain and the meaning
of happiness beyond pleasure.
Shakyamuni’s
quest for genuine happiness paved the way for Nichiren Daishomin to reveal the
essential law of life as Nam myoho renge kyo. Based on this truth, Nichiren
Buddhism explains some key attitudes for building true happiness. The following
five points though by no means complete provide us with an outline from which
each person may begin painting a clearer picture of authentic happiness.
The First Key: Happiness begins with a vow
Do you have
a despotic boss who is unhappy no matter what you do? The reason why most tyrants
are unhappy is that they are waiting for someone else to please them while they
themselves do nothing but make demands. Happiness served on a silver platter
turns sour after a few bites. Nichiren Buddhism explains that we begin and
continue the quest for happiness of oneself and others by making a personal vow
and renewing it every day. Each person must create his or her own happiness. Waiting
for happiness is a formula for unhappiness. Happiness is born of action.
The Second Key: Happiness is overcoming unhappiness
Happiness is not an absence of
problems and the presence of problems does not mean unhappiness. Nichiren Buddhism explains that
genuine happiness lies in overcoming difficulties. The important things is to
learn how to face our problems not how to avoid them. Through the practice of
Nichiren Buddhism, we can transform meaningless sufferings into meaningful
challenges.
The Third Key: The Solution to your problem lies within
It is always tempting to blame our
environment for our suffering, but Nichiren Buddhism explains that we cause our
own suffering through our delusions and that we can overcome our suffering by
manifesting our innate Buddha nature.
It is a common myth that we will become happy when we acquire pleasurable
things or meet someone wonderful. But the truth is that when we are happy, we
can truly enjoy the niceties of life simply, we are the cause and the solution
to our problems and genuine happiness must be created from within. To realise
this is to free ourselves from being a victim of circumstances. Being a victim
is easy, but it doesn’t make us happy.
The Fourth Key: Don’t compare yourself with others
We are
trained by society to compare ourselves with others, to see our lives through
the eyes of others. Over the years, we’ve learned to feel superior to the less
fortunate and disparage ourselves when we are with the more fortunate –
restlessly vacillating between arrogance and self- disparagement depending on our
circumstances. Nichiren Buddhism, however teaches us how to build a
stronger self that need not seek the reference of it’s worth outside. Nichiren
Buddhism encourages us to bring forth our unique quality that cannot be
compared with anything else. Each person has a unique set of karmic
circumstances and by challenging them, can make unique contributions to the
world.
Our karmic
suffering can be transformed into our precious mission in life. With this
awareness, we can change arrogance into appreciation, self-disparagement into
true confidence.
The Fifth Key: Be in the here and now
We sometimes
dwell in resentment and regret about our past: ’Because that horrible thing
happened to me, I cannot be happy.’ At other times, we are preoccupied with
worries about our future:’
What if my relationship doesn’t work out?’ Nichiren
Buddhism teaches that the present moment contains all the past and future. In
other words, by challenging our present state of existence, we can transform
resentment and regret into appreciation for our past. Of course, we cannot undo
our past, but by developing a strong state of life NOW, we can change the
meaning our past holds for us and change worries into hopes.
Nichiren Buddhism also teaches that
we cannot create happiness simply by moving from one place to another. What’s
most important is to change our inner state of being where we are. Put simply, Nichiren Buddhism shows us how to create
happiness in the past (appreciation), in the present (fulfilment) and in the
future (hope) by challenging our lives in the here and now.
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