Discourse on Happiness 1: The Real Questions
David Ketchum
January 8, 2023
Watch the video HERE
Looking back through 2022's headlines is not easy: the continued challenges of COVID-19, the Russian invasion of Ukraine, monkeypox outbreaks, so many mass shootings, the overturning of Roe v. Wade, the January 6th Committee hearings, and continuous natural disasters filled our headlines, just to name a few. We typically spend our weeks and months bringing these challenges into our awareness, because we want to act and live intentionally. We commit to continually working together to know how to respond with both wisdom and compassion to the urgent needs we face, and to take care not to harm one another or the earth. The new year is a natural time to recommit to this, to name our resolutions and aspirations. In the sermon Roger shared last week, we remembered:
“If we want a healthy society that doesn't abuse the poor, always fall back into warfare, while killing the planet, and taking away basic human rights from minorities, then we have to choose to be responsible, informed, thinking, moral people. The whole business of New Year's resolutions can be like spitting into the wind if you don't take into your very soul the factual realization that you can change who you are through your own conscious choice.”
So we continue to face head-on the suffering in the world, because honestly engaging with that suffering is essential to change. But this emphasis alone can also be disheartening and exhausting. Our aspirations need to be grounded in our personal and collective wellbeing. If we are going to have the energy to carry us through, to keep working together to help birth a beautiful, caring, and just world, then we must be equally committed to cultivating our wellbeing in the present moment. At the very least, we need glimpses of a world where justice and joy are what is normal, otherwise it is easy to burn out and give up. So we try to also hold these aspirations in mind.
In my own reflections, I’ve been returning to a Buddhist text called the Discourse on Happiness. It's been described as "a gentle reminder of the common human values and endeavours that are often forgotten in daily life, and reminds readers of the happiness derived from simple things." That seemed like just the thing that would be good for me to think about, so I'm spending my sermons in January and February reflecting on topics inspired by this discourse. I hope it can help us explore ways we can encourage each other to cultivate happiness and wellbeing right now, even as we continue to engage with and transform the injustice and cruelty of the world.
The discourse begins in a garden, when a deva sought out the Buddha and made a request:
“This is what I have heard. At one time the Blessed One was staying at Sāvatthī in the Jeta Grove, Anāthapiṇḍika’s Monastery. On that occasion, as the night was coming to an end, a certain god of great beauty approached the Blessed One while illuminating the whole Jeta Grove. After bowing to the Blessed One, they stood to one side and spoke a verse:In Buddhist cosmology, the devas include several varieties of celestial beings that live in what we might generally describe as blissful states or heavens. Oversimplifying a little bit, we could say that the devas have it all. And yet, a deva was still seeking advice from the Buddha. The fact that they were still seeking good fortune and happiness is telling. Not even living in a celestial realm, characterized by pleasant experiences, had brought about a complete end to suffering.
‘Many gods and humans,
Desiring well-being,
Are seekers of good fortune:
Please tell me the greatest good fortune.’”
(tr. by Bhikkhu Brahmali)
Similarly, many of us hold on to the idea that getting everything that we want, having everything go just so, would mean an end to suffering. There is some important truth in this, especially when it comes to looking at poverty and injustice. We need our needs to be met, and meeting our needs is generally pleasant. Chronically unmet needs undermine our happiness and wellbeing. Oppressive systems (that systematically exploit and marginalize people) undermine our happiness and wellbeing. The unhealed trauma these systems so efficiently produce undermines our happiness and wellbeing. The happiness we are trying to cultivate does not turn away from this suffering or accommodate injustice. The happiness that springs from wisdom and compassion heals those wounds and makes true community possible.
But the deva reminds us of something simple and important. The devas, who had it all, were still seeking some certainty when it came to good fortune. How much more, then, for us humans? Life, even the very best and most pleasant life, includes pain and disappointment. For us, even the most pain-free of lives will include sickness, old age, and death. We’ll experience separation from those we love, and we’ll have to spend time with people we dislike and would prefer to avoid. Rather than getting lost in either the pleasant or unpleasant, the pull or push of desire, the Buddha taught another way, transforming our relationship with what we experience. Looking at the deva, we are reminded that even having everything pleasant all the time does not mean we no longer have any suffering. Pleasant things inevitably come to an end, and we can get swept away in our fear of those endings and our determination to hold on to impermanent things. If we do not come to terms with this reality, we are much more likely to get caught up in greed, hatred, and delusion, than we are to know happiness and peace.
But how we come to terms with this reality is also important. The name of this discourse is the Maha Mangala Sutta, often translated as the greatest or highest (maha) fortune or happiness (mangala). As Dr. R.L. Soni has pointed out, a mangala in popular usage often referred to a lucky charm, an omen, or a protective blessing. In the face of all the uncertainties of life, the mind can crave some assurance that things are going to turn out the way we want them to turn out, giving rise to what Soni called a superstitious and selfish “pattern of mind which interprets objective and subjective happenings in life as forebodings of personal weal and woe.” He wrote that, “In Indian society in the Buddha's time (as in our own), people were addicted to superstitions about omens of good and bad luck,” but were “divided on their nature and implications”. We can understand why, even if we also understand why that impulse may not meet our long-term needs. Our happiness and wellbeing is not something we want to be wrong about. We seek omens in an attempt to find some certainty in the face of uncertainty.
So humans and devas sought that certainty in the form of a blessing from the Buddha. In popular usage, you might think of it like asking for a lucky charm. A mangala offered protection, something to rely on, especially when the world felt unreliable. Today, it is common to think about a blessing like this as merely superstitious and, for many, to dismiss it with a laugh. But it is important to not so quickly deride the impulse before reflecting on how it remains alive in us today. What we might call superstitious was, in the past, often considered the best knowledge that was available. Framing it in this way invites us to reflect on our own longing for certainty. What is it that we have come to rely on and consider protective, the sure path to happiness and good fortune?
All of us have our unique experiences of this, but our broader cultural context has some common features. To take one example, most of us are trained our whole lives to believe that we can consume our way to happiness. Psychological research has demonstrated that this kind of materialism is bad news for most people. If you have less money than you want, conflicting desires commonly leads to unhappiness. And even the very wealthy are not typically happier than nonmaterialists; their wealth just allows them to stockpile pleasant experiences and catch up with the happiness of the nonmaterialists. As a society, we carry that dissatisfaction with us, even as we carry the constant craving for more. Tori DeAngelis observed,
“As with all things psychological, the relationship between mental state and materialism is complex: Indeed, researchers are still trying to ascertain whether materialism stokes unhappiness, unhappiness fuels materialism, or both. ... In simple terms, a strong consumerist bent--what William Wordsworth in 1807 called ‘getting and spending’--can promote unhappiness because it takes time away from the things that can nurture happiness, including relationships with family and friends, … .”
Yet it is still easy to fall into that trap. And while it may not be the sort of thing we are used to calling superstitious, our consumer obsessions operate in much the same way. An unjustified confidence in consumption as a pathway to happiness keeps us from connecting with the real causes of happiness, while unwittingly fueling social disparities and ecological devastation.
In contrast, the Buddha emphasized that it is our spiritual and reflective practices, and the resulting habits, that actually protect us and make happiness and wellbeing possible. This was the Buddha’s response to a question that was often answered with amulets and good luck charms. Dr. Soni wrote that the Buddha
“was opposed to anything that fettered the healthy growth of the human mind he raised his voice against such superstitions. He denounced ‘luck’ or ‘fortune’ or ‘auspiciousness’ and proclaimed instead human behavior, associations and activities as the real origins of ‘fortune’ or ‘misfortune.’ Thus the emphasis was shifted … to individual responsibility, rational thinking, social obligations and self-confidence. This had far-reaching effects in improving both human relationships and the efficiency of the human mind.”
This emphasis on practice can be empowering. It can free us from passivity, waiting for someone or thing to make everything okay, and invite us to consider what we can do in this very moment to make wellbeing and happiness possible. As Ajahn Chah taught,
"It’s like this: you study with a spiritual teacher and he tells you to give up greed and anger. He tells you they are harmful and that you need to get rid of them. Then you may practise and do that. But getting rid of greed and anger didn’t come about just because he taught you; you had to actually practise and do that. Through practice you came to realize something for yourself. You see greed in your mind and give it up. You see anger in your mind and give it up. The teacher doesn’t get rid of them for you. He tells you about getting rid of them, but it doesn’t happen just because he tells you. You do the practice and come to realization. You understand these things for yourself." (Everything is Teaching Us)
This is what the Discourse on Happiness is all about. In each stanza, the Buddha shares a practice or commitment that helps us minimize suffering and harm, and that makes wellbeing, joy, and peace more possible. The practices themselves make a space for happiness to become something real. They offer a measure of protection, too, both for ourselves and others. These protective factors arise because we are actively finding ways to live together thats is founded in generosity, kindness, and wisdom, instead of fueled by greed, hatred, and delusion. When we practice this kind of happiness, we are less likely to harm others. We are also less likely to be set off balance by the vicissitudes of life, chasing after pleasure, praise, fame, and gain, while running away from pain, blame, disgrace, and loss. We don’t have to chase anymore, because our happiness is already something real. We don’t have to run away anymore, because we know how to handle our suffering.
This is something we can do right now, without having to wait for the world to get everything right. We do not have to postpone our happiness. Instead, we can learn to practice in whatever ways are possible in the present moment. We don’t try to skip ahead. We don’t try to pretend there is no pain, no injustice, no grief. But we also do not get lost. We practice here, in whatever conditions we are in, and make a space for wellbeing to arise. Gradually, we find the compassion and wisdom suffusing our life, creating opportunities for Awakening.
This is where all this happiness ultimately leads us. The poem ends with a vision of what human life can hold:
“A mind that remains unshakenWe’ll spend the next weeks reflecting on how we can help make wellbeing and happiness possible inside and around us, always with this focus on what we can do. As I mentioned earlier, our aspirations need to be grounded in our personal and collective wellbeing. If we are going to have the energy to carry us through, to keep working together to help birth a beautiful, caring, and just world, then we must be equally committed to cultivating our wellbeing in the present moment. At the very least, we need glimpses of a world where justice and joy are what is normal, otherwise it is easy to burn out and give up. So instead of escaping the ups and downs of the world, we learn to navigate them. It's work, but it can be joyful work. As Ajahn Chah put it, "The real questions for those who want to know the truth, are questions about how to practise." (Everything is Teaching Us)
By the ups and the downs of the world,
Sorrowless, stainless and safe:
This is the greatest good fortune.
“Having performed these things,
Nowhere can they be conquered—
They are secure wherever they go.
This is their greatest good fortune.”
(tr. by Bhikkhu Brahmali)
