The Buddha teaches us that we have the power within ourselves, not only to gain happiness but also to keep it. We don’t need other people or things or circumstances in order to be happy; we just need our own awareness and integrity of mind. That’s why he didn’t go around preaching goodness and altruism or expecting others to do good deeds. Instead, he taught us how we can realize our own potential for goodness and happiness by practicing compassion, loving-kindness, truthfulness and so on in our daily lives.
The Buddha teaches us that there is no need for a separate god in order to create a world full of peace and harmony; all that we need is our own awareness and integrity of mind so that we can work together as brothers and sisters with all living beings towards achieving true happiness for ourselves as well as for all beings in this universe.
Compassion: The Buddha's Path to Happiness
The Buddha’s teaching instructs us to cultivate the qualities of loving-kindness, compassion and altruism.
The Buddha taught that we should cultivate these virtues because they help us to be happy. This is because when we act in a compassionate way towards others it changes our own attitude towards ourselves and others. As a result, we think better of ourselves, which makes us feel better. We also begin to see that people are not as bad as we thought they were, so we can feel less threatened by them.[1]
This is why it is important for us to develop these virtues – because they help us to be happy!
Diving Deep Into Buddhist Views on Happiness
The Buddha teaches us that happiness is the natural state of being. It is the end of suffering and the origin of peace, joy, and freedom. It is possible to attain this state by following the Eightfold Path, which is a way of life that leads to enlightenment.
The Eightfold Path takes us from ignorance through suffering to nirvana, or enlightenment. It consists of eight steps:
- Right understanding,
- Right thought,
- Right speech,
- Right action (or conduct),
- Right livelihood,
- Right effort,
- Right mindfulness and
- Concentration and finally wisdom.
The Buddha taught that we can use these eight steps as a path toward awakening. The first four steps focus on understanding our own mind so that we can understand others better; the next three focus on our relationships with others so that we can live in harmony with them; while the final step focuses on cultivating wisdom so that we can see things clearly without illusion or misunderstanding.
We all know what it feels like to be happy or sad — either way it would be nice if we could just feel good all day long.
The Takeaway: How We Can Be Happy
The Buddha’s path to happiness is to live in the present moment of awareness. The Buddha teaches that we can only be happy if we are aware of what is happening around us and within us. We can only be happy if we learn how to be content with what we have, without wanting more or feeling frustrated by what we do not currently have.