What is Happiness?

[Princess Arabia]

Just now, Jehovah increases said:

I am not human

No because there is no I am. 

[Jehovah increases]

Just now, Princess Arabia said:

No because there is no I am. 

Thats what I just said

[Princess Arabia]

4 minutes ago, Jehovah increases said:

Thats what I just said

"I am not human", isn't saying there's no I am. It is saying there is an I am, but it's not human.

Edited Friday at 06:38 PM by Princess Arabia

[Jehovah increases]

Yes, God is both. By saying I am not human, how does it I am come into it?

Edited Friday at 06:44 PM by Jehovah increases

[Princess Arabia]

1 minute ago, Jehovah increases said:

Yes, God is both

God isn't anything. "It" is nothing. All energy. It's everything and nothing. The everything isn't really there but only to an observer. We won't go through that again. God isn't both simultaneously. Go to sleep God emerges, wake up, the you emerges. God doesn't actually emerge. It is always there. The you is what seems to mask it. 

[Jehovah increases]

It's everything and nothing.God isn't both simultaneously?  Waking up means you are God, and the you is  also God

Edited Friday at 07:35 PM by Jehovah increases

[Someone here]

8 hours ago, gettoefl said:

Seeking happiness is a form of ignorance. You think you are lacking, something is wrong with your life, but your own simple beingness needs nothing, it is completely at ease and content as is. Get to know it, relax. ~ Nisargadatta

What happiness yall talking about in a world that doesn't believe in anything other than money and bread ?

 

[UnbornTao]

13 hours ago, Princess Arabia said:

These days I don't put anything pass anything much anymore. There could be somebody out there now who is naturally happy regardless of circumstances. I don't mean they were taught that or even does it consciously. I mean their momma died, their cat died, they got in a car accident, stuff like that and their smiling and carrying on happily ever after and saying, oh well, life goes on. I mean it's their natural state or even a disease just as depression can be. You know how some people are always sad no matter what, just the opposite. I've heard of a woman with no mind so anything is possible, Lots of things I haven't heard of so, you're right, never know. 

Sure. Even then, it can be examined more deeply - not as pleasure, gratification, relief, or 'winning.' If it exists independent of experience and is not a state, then this notion of happiness departs from common usage. In that sense, we don't really know what it is.

For example, wanting happiness appears to be an assessment of unhappiness. In doing so, we place happiness outside ourselves, making it unreachable. Moreover, when we speak of 'being happy,' we're often making an assessment based on survival rather than freedom - which might be something entirely different. Notice that such assessment is almost always conditional. Real happiness would be a bit like breathing - to put it poetically - instead of fulfilling a desire or similar.

By 'mind,' did you mean internal dialogue? She will likely 'have' a mind insofar as that distinction is operative for her. But mind doesn't seem to be an objective reality one can possess, like having or lacking lungs. It's the "place" in our experience where we say domains of thought occur.  Otherwise, it's already non-existent. Perhaps.

Some random considerations.

[UnbornTao]

For instance, there are stories of Ramana being in bliss while insects bit his body. He also lived in a cave, barely eating or moving. This may suggest a different view of this condition.

Perhaps it is more aligned with Being, already complete and not separate from you. Who knows?

[Princess Arabia]

22 minutes ago, UnbornTao said:

By 'mind,' did you mean internal dialogue?

Yes, that's what I mean. I tried to find the yt video but couldn't. Someone here had brought this up about a year or so ago and posted the video. I forget the exact circumstances.

[UnbornTao]

1 minute ago, Princess Arabia said:

Yes, that's what I mean. I tried to find the yt video but couldn't. Someone here had brought this up about a year or so ago and posted the video. I forget the exact circumstances.

Okay, thanks!

[Sugarcoat]

56 minutes ago, UnbornTao said:

For instance, there are stories of Ramana being in bliss while insects bit his body. He also lived in a cave, barely eating or moving. This may suggest a different view of this condition.

Perhaps it is more aligned with Being, already complete and not separate from you. Who knows?

I can be happy and unbothered meanwhile mosquitos sting me, does that mean im enlightened?

Edited Friday at 08:32 PM by Sugarcoat

[UnbornTao]

On 9/12/2025 at 9:30 PM, Sugarcoat said:

I can be happy and unbothered meanwhile mosquitos sting me, does that mean im enlightened?

Partially enlightened. How many mosquitoes?

The main question is: Are you conscious of your nature?

The "bliss" might be a side effect of that consciousness - though it's probably still a mystery for us (for now). I suspect it wasn't really an emotion or a state for him, but something closer to freedom from everything: a transcendence of self and existence.

That said, day-to-day happiness matters, too - things like being healthy, doing functional stuff, controlling one's mind, meditating, and being complete right now.

Unasked advice, but there you go.

Edited 11 hours ago by UnbornTao

[UnbornTao]

8 hours ago, Eskilon said:

What's the difference between happiness and orgasm? 

If you could make one infinite, which one would it be？

Real happiness is different from pleasure, gratification, and relief. It doesn't seem to be a feeling or the result of getting one's needs and desires met either. Notice that pain underlies both the search for pleasure and the act of desiring. That's about survival. Nothing wrong with it, but it's a process aimed at persistence, not happiness. A mouse running on its wheel, chasing a piece of cheese that is never meant to be reached — it's just there to keep the mouse running.

Happiness, on the other hand, could be seen as being happy with, and independent of, your experience. There's an aspect of it that makes it "independent of self." This is more related to Being, whatever that is.

Edited Friday at 09:28 PM by UnbornTao

[UnbornTao]

[Eskilon]

1 hour ago, UnbornTao said:

Real happiness is different from pleasure, gratification, and relief. It doesn't seem to be a feeling or the result of getting one's needs and desires met either. Notice that pain underlies both the search for pleasure and the act of desiring. That's about survival. Nothing wrong with it, but it's a process aimed at persistence, not happiness. A mouse running on its wheel, chasing a piece of cheese that is never meant to be reached — it's just there to keep the mouse running.

Happiness, on the other hand, could be seen as being happy with, and independent of, your experience. There's an aspect of it that makes it "independent of self." This is more related to Being, whatever that is.

I think real happiness is a state one reach eventually on the path. It is bound by experience, like everything else, but it is not an ordinary feeling I think. Don't know though just my thoughts.

Orgasm isnt a feeling per se. The energy of orgarsm is whitin you, and if we go by the teachings you can make that energy go up the spine and achieve mind orgarsm, which might well be related to real happiness.

Edited Friday at 11:01 PM by Eskilon

[UnbornTao]

1 hour ago, Eskilon said:

I think real happiness is a state one reach eventually on the path. It is bound by experience, like everything else, but it is not an ordinary feeling I think. Don't know though just my thoughts.

Orgasm isnt a feeling per se. The energy of orgarsm is whitin you, and if we go by the teachings you can make that energy go up the spine and achieve mind orgarsm, which might well be related to real happiness.

A pleasurable sensation is fleeting and physiologically based. If happiness were like that, it would be limited to a temporary sensation or "high," similar to what one might feel after eating a piece of chocolate cake. That is pleasure.

"Bliss" is a new distinction to make here. Consider Ramana once again: from our perspective, his experience may have seemed lacking or poor, and yet he was said to be quite happy regardless. It may sound fantastical, but it gives us a sense of what that condition might have been like.

[Sugarcoat]

15 hours ago, UnbornTao said:

Partially enlightened.

How many mosquitoes?

The main question is: Are you conscious of your nature?

The "bliss" might be a side effect of that consciousness - though it's probably still a mystery for us (for now). I suspect it wasn't really an emotion or a state for him, but something closer to freedom from everything: a transcendence of self and existence.

That said, day-to-day happiness matters, too - things like being healthy, doing functional stuff, controlling one's mind, meditating, and being complete right now.

Unasked advice, but there you go.

It’s funny this summer was first time I was stung by wasp I’ve always been curious how it feels (not bad) so it was kinda fun experience. Shows how you can reframe things in your mind 

I am conscious of myself, of form, thoughts, a world etc. I am aware of a reality, but it doesn’t say much about the nature of it. Because I’m a little crazy like that, I believe we can’t even prove there’s a real reality at all. I could say that, there is something that has the ability to “appear as if” there is a real reality, but that something could as well be “nothing”. If I wanna go deeper into this (I’m not so focused on awakening in this current phase of my life honestly ) then it would be reasonable to investigate existence, in particular ourself

We can sometimes think of happiness like a “wave” of pleasant feeling that comes, but then it passes. But as you say it might be possible to access a more long lasting, “static” happiness . And as you say that’s maybe impossible to fully access when you’re identified as the human self because you’re limited to human psychology 

I agree, while a human (as the ego) might not be able access that “enlightened bliss”, we can access every day life happiness that can be supported by good habits…

 

Edited 20 hours ago by Sugarcoat

[Sugarcoat]

20 hours ago, Princess Arabia said:

This is not what I'm suggesting. This is still on the hunt for happiness. I'm suggesting there's no happiness to be found by any approach. It's either it is or it isn't. Someone could knock on your door right now and bring you a nice surprise that makes you feel happy. Did you go looking for that. Did you reduce any suffering there, say you were suffering right before that. No. It happened all on it's own. Even the person didn't cause that we just think it was the circumstance, but it's not. When happiness emerges, you are not there, it's just happiness present. It's all encompassing.

Well there is happiness to be found through different approaches. People do it all the time it’s just that it isn’t endless, or permanent, and a lot of the time not very long term either. 
 

And the self can be present during happiness (sense of self) in particular when it’s happiness related to the self image, like someone feeling good because they made themselves look attractive 

[Princess Arabia]

5 minutes ago, Sugarcoat said:

Well there is happiness to be found through different approaches. People do it all the time it’s just that it isn’t endless, or permanent, and a lot of the time not very long term either. 

Is there envy to be found through different approaches. Is there shame to be found through different approaches. Is there sadness to be found through different approaches. Answer that.