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Here we stand, at the start of another year, facing a world teetering on the brink of despair, ravaged by ongoing plague, the climate crisis, political uncertainty; a world racked with divisiveness, violence and anxiety about an unpredictable future.
Inevitably, we ponder: What is true happiness? Who are the happiest people? Will we ever succeed in maximising this desirable state?
Various definitions suggest happiness involves feeling good, experiencing optimism, gratitude, even intense joy. Clearly, not simply the self-centred desire to do whatever one chooses regardless of the distress or harm caused to others.
Happiness is generally linked to balancing positive and negative emotions; experiencing more positive than negative feelings; a sense of life satisfaction; contentment with relationships, work, achievements and other important aspects of one’s being – what the Buddha called “upeksha”, equanimity.
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The concept of “wellbeing” contributes to understanding happiness associated with wellness, vitality; what one most values; promoting a sense of purpose in life; wholeness; flourishing; being in harmony with the music of the spheres.
SOME HISTORICAL VIEWS ON HAPPINESS
The US Declaration of Independence affirms the pursuit of happiness as an inalienable right of all citizens.
Greek philosopher Aristotle (384-322 BCE) regarded happiness as the meaning and purpose of life, distinguishing two kinds of happiness – “hedonia”, pleasurable feelings of satisfaction from fulfilling one’s basic desires; and “eudaimonia”, derived from seeking virtue and value, investing in long-term goals and concern for others. He pronounced that “educating the mind without educating the heart is no education at all”.
During the fourth and third centuries BCE, the healing sanctuary of Asclepius, the god of medicine, at Epidavros, first advocated approaching human wellbeing holistically, combining therapeutic participation in athletics; exposure to beauty and nature; and the sublime cathartic potency of drama, poetry and architecture – promoting physical, psychological and spiritual thriving.
Hindu wisdom, too, envisages cosmic law – dharma – willing the happiness of all creatures.
Pioneering father of yoga in the West, Paramahansa Yogananda says:
At the start of the 19th century, utilitarianism, developed by British philosopher John Stuart Mill, claimed that the universal human desire for happiness demands regarding the ethical pursuit of pleasure and the elimination of pain as the highest good and the ultimate goal of life. Mill maintained that an action is ethical if it is useful in promoting the greatest happiness for the greatest number. Actions inimical to the promotion of happiness are morally wrong.
So happiness is:
Experience suggests that the “vanity” of material wealth and possessions does not guarantee lasting contentment.
RELIGIOUS AND HUMANIST RESPONSES TO HAPPINESS
Through the ages, religious traditions have pointed to the path of supreme fulfilment, but few follow it. Today, more and more unhappy people are attracted by certain prophets and pastors preaching a so-called prosperity gospel – that God will reward faith with wealth, health and happiness; assurances epitomised by Paula White, Donald Trump’s “God whisperer”.
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With a net worth of $6 million (R94 million) in 2021, dressed like a participant in a fashion extravaganza, the performing televangelist of the show Paula Today entreats:
... An appeal echoed by Shepherd Bushiri, pastor of the Enlightened Christian Gathering. Despite being accused of rape and money laundering, he is continually flanked by six bodyguards, leading a personality cult of many thousands, idolised by fawning devotees crying: “Thank you, Papa … Just to know you are around makes us happy, even if we don’t see you.”
Such lifestyles hardly inspire confidence in vacuous promises of instant eternal elation, each dependent on grabbing the greatest immediate personal thrill, oblivious of the wellbeing or self-fulfilment of others, even close relatives.
Fallacious, harmful claims, ostensibly divinely inspired, understandably lead to condemnation of the moral void too frequently created in the name of religion.
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Cognitive psychologist Steven Pinker maintains:
British author and humanist Stephen Fry concurs:
Humanism, relying on scientific method and critical reason, shuns theism and all supernatural explanations of life on this planet, affirming our ability and responsibility to make ethical, empathetic choices for our own and humanity’s lasting wellbeing. Acknowledging the essential worth and dignity of every individual, humanists strive towards a more humane, just, compassionate and democratic world, expressing concern for the flourishing of the natural world.
Goals akin to Pinker’s call for education to develop the kind of maturity which recognises that although there is much beauty and joy on this unique planet, leading responsible, public-spirited lives requires effort, often accompanied by stress and anxiety. Learning to cope with hardship and challenge builds resilience and determination, constructing a robust, thriving society and fostering tolerance of difference; whereas accumulation of material wealth and promotion of middle-class acquisitiveness frequently fails to produce the expected euphoria.
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The Greater Good Science Center at the University of California in Berkeley, US, sponsors research into emotional and social wellbeing. Drawing on psychology, sociology, education and neuroscience, it describes happiness as attempting to capture “the fleeting positive emotions that come with happiness, along with a deeper sense of meaning and purpose in life…”
COUNTRIES HEADING THE HAPPINESS INDEX
Research on 10 contemporary countries regarded as promoting the greatest happiness reveals that Scandinavian states Finland, Denmark, Norway, Iceland and Sweden, despite their long, cold, dark winters, rate highest. Contributing factors are quoted as good educational facilities, excellent healthcare insurance, long life expectancy, outdoor activities promoting physical and mental health, and maintenance of close familial and social relationships establishing a strong communal spirit.
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Below these nations are the Netherlands, which shares most of the same characteristics and has strong liberal values; Switzerland, recording a strong sense of security and wellbeing, and providing many cultural and recreational activities and natural beauty; New Zealand with low corruption and crime levels, promoting exquisite natural amenities such as beaches, mountains, rivers, lakes; and Canada and Austria, acclaimed for economic and social wellbeing, and for retaining strong family bonds.
Pinker observes:
Significantly, Finland, Denmark, Sweden, Iceland and New Zealand currently all have women prime ministers. Leading the world in the global gender gap index, almost 50% of their government positions are held by women.
CONTEMPORARY VIEWS OF HAPPINESS IN OUR FRACTURED WORLD
Despite innumerable attempts at defining happiness, it remains an unstable concept, seesawing between self-centred grasping for superficial satiation of material desires and responsible promotion of values maximising societal wellbeing.
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Contemporary South Africa reveals other complex negative factors demanding consideration in our ability to recognise and foster happiness. Clinical psychologist and associate professor at the University of Cape Town, Wahbie Long draws attention to our urgent need to confront the “political unconsciousness” wreaking havoc with our sense of wellbeing, creating devastating alienation destroying any genuine, widespread sense of belonging – of our shared humanity, manifesting a kind of post-traumatic stress disorder in the wake of the trauma of apartheid.
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Long’s book Nation on the Couch unmasks the malevolent nature of poverty, so widespread throughout the country, generating dark emotional forces manifested in resentment, envy and shame at the impotence and exclusion created by the seemingly total inability of the many to improve life’s circumstances. The widening gap of inequality and impoverishment results in a tendency of whites to retreat into white enclaves and of many blacks being increasingly overwhelmed by meaninglessness and hopelessness – selves so damaged by bigotry, racism and xenophobia they are incapable of acting in their own self-interest. It culminates in them destroying the very things they most wish for – burning libraries, schools and health clinics, trashing democratic processes, brutalising those they profess to love. Such fragmentation renders us incapable of establishing meaningful relationships with other human beings and non-human creatures, unable to promote redemptive change.
Long draws on religious commentator Karen Armstrong who reveals the ancient threads of religious traditions where, whether referring to divinity as God, Brahman, Krishna, Elohim, Allah, the Almighty, Great Spirit or Confucian wisdom, true spirituality revolves round the axis of the golden rule: “Always treat others as you would wish to be treated yourself” – recognising that our emotional health and happiness is inextricably bound to the wellbeing of all we come in contact with.
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Armstrong’s 2009 Charter for Compassion calls for all people of goodwill to look into their own hearts, identify what causes them most pain and refrain from all acts which cause such pain in others. It calls for acknowledging that religion is not merely warm fuzzy feelings created by entering a mosque, temple, synagogue, church or any other place of worship. Religion should not merely make us feel good, but make us feel unhappy, distressed by all the suffering we see and hear about in the world, motivating us towards putting compassion into action, honouring the inviolable sanctity of every human being.
Empathy has the power to alleviate the agony of our fellow creatures, thwarting the voices of extremism, intolerance, distrust and hatred; transforming lives, revitalising the spirit of loving kindness, initiating forces of harmony, healing wounds.
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Religious expression in all traditions has lost touch with its compassionate heart – the essential sacredness of life – increasing the sum of human misery in the name of religion.
We must strive, as Long pleads, to dismantle barriers by treating the Other with absolute justice, respect and dignity, excising the fear that creates destructive misunderstanding and alienation.
Long endorses monistic Upanishadic teaching that Brahman (the supreme reality of the universe) and Atman (the individual human essence) are essentially one. What we perceive as other is not really other, but another manifestation of the Great One in whom we are all ultimately united.
Putting this into practice demands constant mindfulness in the present moment, constantly cultivating what promotes the good life – empathy, impartiality, openheartedness, altruism ... all fundamental in the reconstruction our essential interconnectedness.
Armstrong and Long believe this goal is within the capacity of most compassionate, responsible people. As Armstrong says:
This, surely, is the crucible of true happiness.
Diesel has a PhD in religious studies from the University of Natal, where she taught religious and gender studies
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