Can Happiness Be Bought?
/EINPresswire.com/ Happiness is of many kinds; depending on the fulfillment of hungers of the various elements of the compound self.
This is the state of our understanding of our emotional intelligence: we have still not figured out the true nature of happiness.
Our American constitution guarantees us the pursuit of happiness and it is amazing that we have still not figured out what is happiness. The creators of our constitution were wise enough to guarantee us just the pursuit of happiness and not happiness. They were wise to realize that they could not guarantee happiness as happiness is a shifty and unfigured emotion.
Let us first define what is happiness. To understand the very nature of happiness we will need to understand all the factors that generate happiness.
1) The fundamental nature of happiness is that happiness is an emotion that is the result of a biochemical process that takes place in the brain.
2) Happiness is an emotional expression of the self. In order to understand all the various factors that contribute to happiness we will first have to understand the true nature of the self. The self is a complex mixture/compound of self images that are generated by:
a) The generic human nature of man.
I have my own hypothesis on the cause of human nature. Man's human nature is the way it is because of the first long impression on the brain/mind during the fetus stage of life. Man gets used to a life of constant security, warmth and love in the womb. Having got used to a life of security, warmth and love man expects and wants an extension of womb life. So even in adult life man wants and seeks happiness through constant security, warmth and love.
i) In today's world security means financial security. So financial security means happiness. The more secure financially one is the more happy one is. (Of course some get their money through hook or by crook, while others by edging out others so there is a guilt complex that waters down the happiness. But those who earn their money by fair means get plenty of happiness with their financial success/security). So money does buy happiness to fulfill this particular need of security for the self.
ii) Today warmth translates into comfort and luxury. The more comfortable one is the more happy one becomes. So money does buy happiness to fulfill the need for comfort.
iii) Love translates into being loved by one's family, friends and neighbors. It extends into becoming popular and having more and more fans. Happiness comes from excelling in life for one's family and for one's group and country. Finding pride and entertainment, and jobs etc. for others, bringing sports trophies for one's country etc. fulfills this basic human nature condition for happiness. So excelling in sports or entertainment, or serving others through charity or through inventions etc. fulfills this desire to be loved; and so this brings love and thus happiness. So even love that is bought through creative efforts creates happiness.
b) The body.
The body has physical needs for happiness. When the body is healthy it is happy. When the body is rested it is happy. When the body is appreciated and admired by others then the body is happy. Even the concept of beauty has an effect on happiness. Healthy eating and healthy living creates happiness. The security of assured food and even the capacity to buy the best food and be able to have others do all the hard work contributes to happiness.
The body also generates sex hormones, the release of these also generates happiness.
c) The subconscious brain.
Depending on the emotional maturity of the brain the brain has its own hunger for happiness. I have divided the emotional maturity of the brain into the following four stages:
1) Premature mind of a new born child quantified with a value of negative 2.
Some 15% people get emotionally stuck at this brain level. They have an extremely over blown sense of self importance. No amount of happiness is enough for them as no amount of love, warmth and security is enough for them. Some at this level are genetically disposed towards happiness (Mentally sick people can be happy with -2 behavior; Genghis Khan's greatest happiness was watching the faces of his opponents when their relatives were being tortured.) theirs is an innate happiness but happiness none the less. People born rich but at this brain level still are confused at best about happiness. Happiness at this level can be bought.
2) Immature mind of a teenager quantified with a value of negative 1.
Some 40% people get emotionally stuck at this level. These people too feel they deserve the world and they think they are entitled to love, warmth and security by hook or by crook. So they are sometimes happy and sometimes sad depending on their achievements. This level happiness is guilt ridden. Happiness at this level can be bought.
3) Mature mind of an adult quantified with a value of positive 1.
Most well educated Americans, 30% of us are at this level. We have a trophy self image suffering from 'I am the best syndrome'. So this level brain is looking for trophy time to feel happy. We go from baseball games to rock concerts for our happiness. We feel more and more happy by acquiring more and more trophies. Happiness at this level is real. Happiness at this level is mostly bought.
4) Super mature mind of a master quantified with a value of positive 2.
At this level the self is pure and pure happiness is a function of this level self. This level of happiness is the equivalent of eternal guilt free happiness which is enjoyed by about 15% of America. When we say that happiness cannot be bought what we are referring to is this super mature level happiness. This is almost an innate kind of pure happiness that lasts moment to moment 24/7. This is the effortless happiness that we are all wired for but unfortunately most do not develop their minds/brains to this level.
Yet it is amazing that even this level happiness can be bought! Pure happiness is an integral part of wisdom and when one behaves wisely one experiences pure happiness. For example when one donates to charity or volunteers for selfless work to help the poor. When one gives and receives selfless love and attention for one's pet one experiences pure happiness. When a negative 2 mind gangster builds a hospital for the poor thus acting wisely he experiences pure happiness. The Americans even from the lower brain levels who donate selflessly their time and money for the needy experience this level happiness.
d) The situational reality of the individual.
Happiness is also affected when one is unemployed or if the country has any kind of instability like war or economic depression. A sound job creates happiness. Born rich creates happiness. Born poor and struggling with hunger creates the opposite of happiness.
e) The conscious mind.
Through experience the mind becomes more and more closer to +2 and so controls the brain from indulging in lower levels of happiness.
As happiness is a biochemical process introducing bio-chemicals into the brain also produces happiness. At the beginning drugs create happiness but as the body gets used to the drug it creates side effects and gradually creates hunger for more and more quantity of the drug. Thus the brain gets addicted.
Thus each one of the above compound self factors have their own emotional and physical means of happiness.
Thus happiness is of many kinds; depending on the fulfillment of hungers of the various elements of the compound self.
To explain all the factors involved in happiness will need a whole book but in short one can say that happiness depends on the generic human nature of man and as any given individual can have a -2, -1, +1 or +2 brain/mind the individuals happiness will also be -2 (totally self centered), -1 (corrupt), +1 (trophy time directed) or +2 (selfless/pure). However a -2 person when indulging in +2 behavior will experience +2 happiness; as when a -2 person behaves selflessly towards his family.
Thus happiness is a compound made up happiness/sadness feedback from multiple sources of the compound self.
Happiness also springs from individual acts of behavior.
Ultimately to understand happiness one must understand all the elements of human nature and emotional intelligence. So it is important to understand the demands of human nature as well as consciousness, mind, brain, self image, pure self, I etc.
Happiness consists of four basic purities depending on the four levels of the brain/mind. And even though pure happiness can be bought there is nothing to compare or even explain the pure joy and ecstasy of living life in the now with a +2 brain and mind 24/7.
Pure happiness is a litmus test of the pure self. If you do not have pure happiness then you do not have a pure self. Pure happiness is a symptom of your pure self.
Trying to create pure happiness is the same as trying to create a pure life, a wise life. Pure happiness is an innate expression of the pure self. Learning to become wise boils down to learning to become happy. Selflessness being the key to wisdom means that selflessness is the key to pure happiness. Learning to become selfless is learning to become wise which generates wise behavior which produces pure happiness.
So happiness can be bought with money as well as with behavior. However the best way to acquire happiness is to re-educate and retool the brain into becoming +2 super mature.
This is the state of our understanding of our emotional intelligence: we have still not figured out the true nature of happiness.
Our American constitution guarantees us the pursuit of happiness and it is amazing that we have still not figured out what is happiness. The creators of our constitution were wise enough to guarantee us just the pursuit of happiness and not happiness. They were wise to realize that they could not guarantee happiness as happiness is a shifty and unfigured emotion.
Let us first define what is happiness. To understand the very nature of happiness we will need to understand all the factors that generate happiness.
1) The fundamental nature of happiness is that happiness is an emotion that is the result of a biochemical process that takes place in the brain.
2) Happiness is an emotional expression of the self. In order to understand all the various factors that contribute to happiness we will first have to understand the true nature of the self. The self is a complex mixture/compound of self images that are generated by:
a) The generic human nature of man.
I have my own hypothesis on the cause of human nature. Man's human nature is the way it is because of the first long impression on the brain/mind during the fetus stage of life. Man gets used to a life of constant security, warmth and love in the womb. Having got used to a life of security, warmth and love man expects and wants an extension of womb life. So even in adult life man wants and seeks happiness through constant security, warmth and love.
i) In today's world security means financial security. So financial security means happiness. The more secure financially one is the more happy one is. (Of course some get their money through hook or by crook, while others by edging out others so there is a guilt complex that waters down the happiness. But those who earn their money by fair means get plenty of happiness with their financial success/security). So money does buy happiness to fulfill this particular need of security for the self.
ii) Today warmth translates into comfort and luxury. The more comfortable one is the more happy one becomes. So money does buy happiness to fulfill the need for comfort.
iii) Love translates into being loved by one's family, friends and neighbors. It extends into becoming popular and having more and more fans. Happiness comes from excelling in life for one's family and for one's group and country. Finding pride and entertainment, and jobs etc. for others, bringing sports trophies for one's country etc. fulfills this basic human nature condition for happiness. So excelling in sports or entertainment, or serving others through charity or through inventions etc. fulfills this desire to be loved; and so this brings love and thus happiness. So even love that is bought through creative efforts creates happiness.
b) The body.
The body has physical needs for happiness. When the body is healthy it is happy. When the body is rested it is happy. When the body is appreciated and admired by others then the body is happy. Even the concept of beauty has an effect on happiness. Healthy eating and healthy living creates happiness. The security of assured food and even the capacity to buy the best food and be able to have others do all the hard work contributes to happiness.
The body also generates sex hormones, the release of these also generates happiness.
c) The subconscious brain.
Depending on the emotional maturity of the brain the brain has its own hunger for happiness. I have divided the emotional maturity of the brain into the following four stages:
1) Premature mind of a new born child quantified with a value of negative 2.
Some 15% people get emotionally stuck at this brain level. They have an extremely over blown sense of self importance. No amount of happiness is enough for them as no amount of love, warmth and security is enough for them. Some at this level are genetically disposed towards happiness (Mentally sick people can be happy with -2 behavior; Genghis Khan's greatest happiness was watching the faces of his opponents when their relatives were being tortured.) theirs is an innate happiness but happiness none the less. People born rich but at this brain level still are confused at best about happiness. Happiness at this level can be bought.
2) Immature mind of a teenager quantified with a value of negative 1.
Some 40% people get emotionally stuck at this level. These people too feel they deserve the world and they think they are entitled to love, warmth and security by hook or by crook. So they are sometimes happy and sometimes sad depending on their achievements. This level happiness is guilt ridden. Happiness at this level can be bought.
3) Mature mind of an adult quantified with a value of positive 1.
Most well educated Americans, 30% of us are at this level. We have a trophy self image suffering from 'I am the best syndrome'. So this level brain is looking for trophy time to feel happy. We go from baseball games to rock concerts for our happiness. We feel more and more happy by acquiring more and more trophies. Happiness at this level is real. Happiness at this level is mostly bought.
4) Super mature mind of a master quantified with a value of positive 2.
At this level the self is pure and pure happiness is a function of this level self. This level of happiness is the equivalent of eternal guilt free happiness which is enjoyed by about 15% of America. When we say that happiness cannot be bought what we are referring to is this super mature level happiness. This is almost an innate kind of pure happiness that lasts moment to moment 24/7. This is the effortless happiness that we are all wired for but unfortunately most do not develop their minds/brains to this level.
Yet it is amazing that even this level happiness can be bought! Pure happiness is an integral part of wisdom and when one behaves wisely one experiences pure happiness. For example when one donates to charity or volunteers for selfless work to help the poor. When one gives and receives selfless love and attention for one's pet one experiences pure happiness. When a negative 2 mind gangster builds a hospital for the poor thus acting wisely he experiences pure happiness. The Americans even from the lower brain levels who donate selflessly their time and money for the needy experience this level happiness.
d) The situational reality of the individual.
Happiness is also affected when one is unemployed or if the country has any kind of instability like war or economic depression. A sound job creates happiness. Born rich creates happiness. Born poor and struggling with hunger creates the opposite of happiness.
e) The conscious mind.
Through experience the mind becomes more and more closer to +2 and so controls the brain from indulging in lower levels of happiness.
As happiness is a biochemical process introducing bio-chemicals into the brain also produces happiness. At the beginning drugs create happiness but as the body gets used to the drug it creates side effects and gradually creates hunger for more and more quantity of the drug. Thus the brain gets addicted.
Thus each one of the above compound self factors have their own emotional and physical means of happiness.
Thus happiness is of many kinds; depending on the fulfillment of hungers of the various elements of the compound self.
To explain all the factors involved in happiness will need a whole book but in short one can say that happiness depends on the generic human nature of man and as any given individual can have a -2, -1, +1 or +2 brain/mind the individuals happiness will also be -2 (totally self centered), -1 (corrupt), +1 (trophy time directed) or +2 (selfless/pure). However a -2 person when indulging in +2 behavior will experience +2 happiness; as when a -2 person behaves selflessly towards his family.
Thus happiness is a compound made up happiness/sadness feedback from multiple sources of the compound self.
Happiness also springs from individual acts of behavior.
Ultimately to understand happiness one must understand all the elements of human nature and emotional intelligence. So it is important to understand the demands of human nature as well as consciousness, mind, brain, self image, pure self, I etc.
Happiness consists of four basic purities depending on the four levels of the brain/mind. And even though pure happiness can be bought there is nothing to compare or even explain the pure joy and ecstasy of living life in the now with a +2 brain and mind 24/7.
Pure happiness is a litmus test of the pure self. If you do not have pure happiness then you do not have a pure self. Pure happiness is a symptom of your pure self.
Trying to create pure happiness is the same as trying to create a pure life, a wise life. Pure happiness is an innate expression of the pure self. Learning to become wise boils down to learning to become happy. Selflessness being the key to wisdom means that selflessness is the key to pure happiness. Learning to become selfless is learning to become wise which generates wise behavior which produces pure happiness.
So happiness can be bought with money as well as with behavior. However the best way to acquire happiness is to re-educate and retool the brain into becoming +2 super mature.