Spiritual, The: Journal of Natural Spirituality - Inner Voice

"I don't know why we are here, but I'm pretty sure that it is not in order to enjoy ourselves" - Ludwig Wittgenstein

SPAIN'S Abdul Er-Rahman -- a charismatic leader of the Middle Ages -- was philosophical about happiness.

"I have now reigned about 50 years in victory or peace, beloved by my subjects, dreaded by my enemies and respected by my allies," he wrote.

"Riches and honours, power and pleasure, have waited on my call, nor does any earthly blessing appear to have been wanting to my felicity.

"In this situation, I have diligently numbered the days of pure and genuine happiness which have fallen to my lot. They amount to 14."

We are a pleasure-seeking, pain-avoiding society, yet deep happiness is elusive.

Several serious tomes have been published recently on happiness. One book theorised it was selfish to try to increase our happiness levels while much of the world suffered from poverty and inequality.

The surveys tell us that families, pets and socialising might make us happy, but money can not. And neither can intelligence. Levels of happiness may even be genetic -- identical twins are apparently equally happy or grumpy.

Though most people rate themselves as happy, there is evidence that negative thinking is deeply ingrained in the human psyche. Studies show we remember our failures more vividly than our successes.

We dwell on what went badly. There is more bad news.

The happiness of our imaginations -- the Shangri-la promised by many self-help gurus -- does not exist.

It is no more real than the god of our imaginations -- the one who ensures that children never cry and that justice always prevails on the Earth; the god who never lets love end in disappointment, or innocent people die. That god doesn't exist.

Brennan Manning, in his book The Importance Of Being Foolish, says many of us are preoccupied with finding security in pleasure.

We make choices based on what we think will bring happiness.

So we change jobs, cares, wives and husbands in the pursuit of it.

We pursue God only when we see him as an agent for happiness.

"We settle for a roller-coaster ride of exhilarating peaks and vertiginous valleys, interspersed with long periods of driving, pushing and suffering in various degrees," he said.

What we really should be seeking is joy. Jesus talked not of happiness, but of joy that comes from knowing that God's grace can sustain believers through even the most difficult times.

It's that joy that helps us choose love over personal happiness, fidelity over self-fulfilment and service to others over serving ourselves.

And whatever we doubt and fear, we will know that there are some joys our hearts cannot deny.

Albert Schweitzer said happiness was nothing more than good health and a bad memory. He also said the only ones who could be happy for more than mere moments were those who "sought and found how to serve others".

Author J. D. Salinger described happiness as a solid and joy as a liquid. Furthermore, he said joy was not a state to arrive at, but a manner of travelling.

Pleasurable experiences can give us momentary feelings of happiness, but do not last long because they depend on external events and experiences.

Happiness is transitory. Joy, if based on spiritual realities, can be a holy fire.

Peace activist Elise Boulding said the difference between happiness and joy was that one was grounded in this world and the other in eternity. She said joy was a gift from God.

"Happiness cannot encompass suffering and evil, but joy can," she said.

"Happiness depends on the present.

"Joy leaps into the future and triumphantly creates a new present out of it.

"It enables man to travel to the very gates of heaven and to the depths of hell, and never cease rejoicing.

"Jesus probably never knew happiness, for the shadows lay upon him early, but he knew joy."

The joyful people in this world don't seem to worry too much about whether life is fair or not. They just get on with it.

They make a conscious effort to live useful lives.

Their happiness is a sense of inner peace that comes when they are making a difference for good in the world.

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