Hitech Khadi. In Search of Happiness (2)

Similar documents
Hitech Khadi. Padmasambhava: The Lotus Born (2)

HITECH KHADI. Science is Buddhistic!: How and Why. Assistant Prof. Dr. Pornchai Pacharin-tanakun

Happiness and the Economy

Ethical Principles and Economic Transformation. A Buddhist Approach. Laszlo Zsolnai

CHAPTER TWELVE. Health and Healing

From the World Wisdom online library: A WISH FOR HARMONY* His Holiness the Dalai Lama

Teaching Technique Quotations

Finding Peace in a Troubled World

Comparative Development

The Golden Pathway. The path that leads to personal and planetary transformation

Cambodian Buddhist Education (Challenges and Opportunities) By Ven. Suy Sovann 1

Catholic Religious Vocations and Rational Choice: Some Evidence

Tough Choices. Luke 8: Preached by Dr. Robert F. Browning, Pastor. First Baptist Church. Frankfort, Kentucky. June 29, 2016

News English.com Ready-to-use ESL / EFL Lessons

ANCIENT SOUNDS - MODERN HEALING BY JILL MATTSON DOWNLOAD EBOOK : ANCIENT SOUNDS - MODERN HEALING BY JILL MATTSON PDF

cetovimutti - Christina Garbe 1

Lecture 1 Zazen Retreat 1995

PAGLORY COLLEGE OF EDUCATION

by scientists in social choices and in the dialogue leading to decision-making.

AM: Sounds like a panic measure.

Buddhist Ethics and Mental Development

From The Collected Works of Milton Friedman, compiled and edited by Robert Leeson and Charles G. Palm.

Cultural Hurdles, Religious & Spiritual Education, Countering Violent Extremism

PERCEPTION TOWARD ISLAMIC AND CONVENTIONAL BANKING AMONG EDUCATED PEOPLE IN MUSLIM COMMUNITY: A STUDY BASED AKKARAIPATTU DIVISION IN AMPARA DISTRICT

UPUL NISHANTHA GAMAGE

Dalai Lama (Tibet - contemporary)

Buddha Images in Mudras Representing Days of a Week: Tactile Texture Design for the Blind

Gross National Happiness in the Classroom: A Teacher s Thoughts

Investigating Nature Course Survey Spring 2010 (2104) Rankings Pre Post (1-5) (mean) (mean)

Sahaja Online: Corporate Workshops

THE MAN OF PURE YOGA

Module Who am I? Who are you? Lesson 5 Tutorial - Beliefs

My First Half-Century in the Iron Game

Glasgow Unitarian Church 15 April 2012 Barbara Clifford

CHAPTER TEN MINDFULNESS IN DAILY LIFE

A Framework for Thinking Ethically

Interview with Paul Martin, Canada s Minister of Finance and Chair of the G20. CTP: Could you tell us a little bit more about what you actually did?

Health Tourism. Lecture 2 Contemporary definitions (health tourism, medical and wellness tourism)

SAT Essay Prompts (October June 2007 )

Spiritual Enlightenment Truths, Distortions, And Paths

Interview. with Ravi Ravindra. Can science help us know the nature of God through his creation?

Workshops and lectures being offered by Ven. Ani Pema in. Bangalore / Mumbai / Pune / Nashik (March April 2018)


The Path of Meditation

COPYRIGHTED MATERIAL..ONLY FOR PRIVATE STUDY

Chapter 8 Contribution to the Development of Mongolian Buddhism by the Association of Mongolian Devotees

Buddhism and Society - Aspects of the Four Noble Truths and Spiritual Friendship

World Jewish Population

Chapter 5: Religion and Society

The more the people of Earth will. join in search of an image of the. future - a multipolar common house, the more and stronger the energy

Whole Person Caring: A New Paradigm for Healing and Wellness

Kamma in Buddhism from Wat Suan Mokkh

Perception of Individual Consumers toward Islamic Banking Products and Services in Pakistan

Michael Dukakis lost the 1988 presidential election because he failed to campaign vigorously after the Democratic National Convention.

Writing a Strong Thesis Statement (Claim)

PRESENTS. 5/30/2013 Bates Staff Retreat 1

Right Livelihood. The Fifth Factor in the Noble Eightfold Path

Testimony of a Dutch donor, with related fourfold recipient. José Rutten and André Bek. Brussel, 18 october 2011.

Shared Values and Guidelines of the Rigpa Community

What must I do? Give most of your possessions to the poor

Creating the Future World on Spaceship Earth

How to use the Buddhist education concepts in making a university level curriculum

Buddhism. Ancient India and China Section 3. Preview

Learning to live out of wonder

Is Religion A Force For Good In The World? Combined Population of 23 Major Nations Evenly Divided in Advance of Blair, Hitchens Debate.

ARAB BAROMETER SURVEY PROJECT YEMEN REPORT

Ecclesiastes. by Ross Callaghan. Author. Type. Date. Theme.

Twenty Subtle Causes of Suffering Introduction to a Series of Twenty Teachings

The Power to be Healed II Kings 5:1-10. July 1, 2001 Dr. J. Howard Olds

My Evolving Views on Drugs and Human Consciousness. By Julian Cooney American University Washington, DC April 19, 2005

Haslingden High School RE HOMEWORK BOOKLET Year 8

Year 1900 (1 1/billion) mid-2002 (over 6 billion) 2020 (over 8 billion) Megacities 1900: 20 (over 1 million) 2020: (420 over 1 million)

Living the Truth: Constructing a Road to Peace and Harmony --- The Realization of Non-duality. Sookyung Hwang (Doctoral candidate, Dongguk

Analyzing the activities of visitors of the Leiden Ranking website

Retirement in Canada (Issues in Canada)

UNDERSTANDING. Suicide WARNING SIGNS AND PREVENTION

Nowadays the world is active with the global project of sustainable. Virtue Training: Buddhist Response to Sustainable Development and Social Change

The Journey, a powerful tool of self-healing

WHAT ARE MASTER-PIECES AND WHY ARE THERE SO FEW OF THEM?(1936)

Markers of Comprehensive Health Ministry Programs

Tibetan Singing Bowls The ancient brain entrainment methodology for healing and meditation

THE PURSUIT OF GENEROSITY

Thought Forms. Copyright 2003 by David Whalen ph. (780)

Vivekananda Vidyapith Youth Day Celebration: January 8, Swami Atmajnanananda s speech: Competition and Cooperation

Congregational Survey Results 2016

When we think deeply of the Qur an verses we find that it emphasizes on this issue. Why? Let us look at the facts from the Qur an and science.

Interpretation of the questionnaire results

Customer Satisfaction Level of Islamic Bank and Conventional Bank in Pakistan

ARAB BAROMETER SURVEY PROJECT ALGERIA REPORT

Question 1: How can I become more attuned to the Father s Will?

VROT TALK TO TEENAGERS MARCH 4, l988 DDZ Halifax. Transcribed by Zeb Zuckerburg

The World Church Strategic Plan

The United Church of Canada/L Église Unie du Canada Annual Report Dear friends in Christ,

Perspectives: An Open Invitation to Cultural Anthropology

Heat in the Melting Pot and Cracks in the Mosaic

End of Year Global Report on Religion

The New Age Conspiracy Program No SPEAKER: JOHN BRADSHAW

Q & A with author David Christian and publisher Karen. This Fleeting World: A Short History of Humanity by David Christian

News English.com Ready-to-use ESL / EFL Lessons

CRITICAL REASONING DAY : 04 BOLD-FACED QUESTIONS

Transcription:

Hitech Khadi Assistant Prof. Dr. Pornchai Pacharin-tanakun http://drpornchai.com พรช ย พ ชร นทร ตนะก ล http://www.facebook.com/pornchai.pacharintanakun Freelance Academic Guest Lecturer at Chulalongkorn Univ., Mahamakut Univ. and Mahachulalongkorn Univ. In Search of Happiness (2) (Continuing from last issue.) Experience everything as it is, be it happiness or suffering or else. Happiness is the best thing every human wants to grab on and keep. But if we want only to find happiness, we will miss something because other emotions are as important. All emotions are integral parts of the universe. Every single emotion has its role. Even sadness, despair, depression, etc. might be resource and inspiration for the creation of great works such as scientific theories, paintings, poetry and music. And sometimes sadness can stimulate the development of special kinds of genius. Perhaps, too much happiness or too much good stimulations of the senses may become repetitive and boring. Besides happiness, man needs something more profound and challenging such as religions, morality and even stimulating dangers. Man also needs freedom to think, speak and act according to his imagination regardless of getting happiness or suffering as a result. In fact, suffering is a normal phenomenon of being human though nowadays psychiatry likes to teach that suffering is a kind of mental depression. Depressive suffering should be regarded as a disease in which the patient is unlikely to do anything. He just sits or lies down depressively still. In contrast, every-day and normal suffering is only an uneasiness resulting from hard works, difficult situations and stress. It is not depression. But the present discipline of psychiatry likes to categorize normal sadness and normal anxiety Page 1 of 8

as mental illness, maybe because of the drug manufacturing companies so much influence on psychiatrists. It is well known that as we classify more normalities as abnormalities, especially mental abnormalities which are hard to investigate, then prescription writing and drug usage will increase along with the increase of commercial transaction and profit for the drug corporations. Corporate researchers and marketing experts control a subtle mechanism which can lure and command us into believing that we never have happiness and all we have is suffering in order for us to consume whatever drugs the company wants to sell! According to research at the University of Virginia and Michigan State University, it is found that too much happiness can lead to negative effects. When we reach a certain level of happiness but still want to be more happy then bad things happen, such as, income may decrease, work performance dives down, educational advancement goes backward, political participation declines, etc. That is because too much happiness brings us disincentive to want to develop anything. If we have suffering mixed with happiness then the suffering will stimulate us to develop ourselves and our environment. This can even lead to the development of the welfare of our neighbors and our communities. Happiness is a human emotion that relates to other emotions and values. To be happy is not to be 100 per cent out of suffering, that is impossible. Therefore, we have to accept suffering as well as happiness into our lives and live comfortably regardless of happiness or suffering. It is said that a wise man should happily accept suffering. When we understand our different emotions and know how to manage those emotions then we will have confidence in living our lives and continuing living them progressively. Happiness is not the goal of life but is a process for achieving another better thing. That thing is the meaning of life. We have to strive to find the meaning of life, not happiness. The measuring of happiness. Man has a natural right to seek happiness as well as to be alive and to be free. But in order to know who is happy and how much happy he is we have to have a way to measure happiness. Unfortunately, we can t yet measure an individual s happiness but we should be able to easily measure it as an average of a group such as the happiness measure of any particular country. For example, in 2003, Pew Research Center found that the happiest men Page 2 of 8

lived in Canada and United States while the most suffered men or the least life-satisfied men lived in eastern Europe and parts of Africa. But according to another research published in 2008, it was found that happiness level in the United States had not changed in the 60 year period from 1946 to 2006. Moreover, World Health Organization and Harvard Medical School found in 2011 that the United States had the greatest number of depressive patients. It can be seen that a study can disagree with one or more of others. A particular country, say United States, can be the happiest country or a country with long-sustaining happiness or the most suffered one, depending on when and by whom the study was conducted. Nevertheless, scientists in general agree that people in most countries today are happier than in the past. Data from 1981 through 2007 indicate that the happiness index of 90 percent of the world s population had increased. The increase of happiness worldwide is the result of economic development, democratic development in politics and social development in more tolerance towards different opinions and life styles. At any rate, that an average man s present happiness has increased or decreased from the past is still debatable. But what is clear in these studies is that the research has not covered an important part of the population, that is the children. In 2007 UNICEF published a report on child welfare in the world s most economically advanced countries. The so-called child welfare is determined by six main criteria: (1) Material welfare. (2) Health and safety. (3) Educational welfare. (4) Relationship with family members and friends. (5) Child s behavior and risk. And (6) happiness perception of the child. The report reveals that the Netherlands, Sweden and Denmark are the best in taking care of children and their children are happiest, while United States and United Kingdom are the worst in taking care of children and their children suffer the most. This UNICEF report is not the final word and has to be constantly revised. Nevertheless, the report emphasizes that we must take better care of our children s welfare and have to treat child welfare as the most urgent matter if we want to develop the global community towards a happier one. A happy child today will be a happy man tomorrow. Gross National Happiness A child s happiness is a matter so urgent that a small country, that is Bhutan, takes it as an important component in its policy of Gross National Happiness or GNH. Bhutan s Page 3 of 8

prime minister, Jigme Thinley, said that it s wrong to believe that material production and growth are boundless in a world of limited resource. Boundless material development is impossible and this believe (in boundless development) is creating an injustice towards our children s and grand children s future when there will not be enough material to consume because consumable resource is bound to be used up someday. The business of material production is not as important as the business of happiness production. Bhutan s policy of Gross National Happiness is the country s unique identity and this policy is famous the world over. The policy is based on the Buddhist teaching of santutthi (Satisfaction with one s possession.) and has been effective since 1972. The policy shows that real development is not only economic or material but also spiritual. The Gross National Happiness policy transforms practically into 4 principles: (1) Promotion of sustainable economic and social development for all social classes. (Children s happiness development is included here.) (2) Preservation and promotion of cultural values. (3) Preservation of the environment. And (4) good governance. The fourth principle or good governance is the basis for Bhutan to be more democratic now and the whole policy is leading to so good and progressive development that many countries are interested in Bhutan s concept. Now the like of Gross National Happiness has been adopted and applied in Brazil, India, Haiti and even France, one of the developed countries. Do not look only at oneself, look outside too. One factor comprising our real and sustainable happiness which so far has not been mentioned is the relationship between man and the environment. (This is the 3 rd principle of Bhutan s policy of Gross National Happiness.) Man cannot live in the built environment only, he has to have contact with the natural environment. When our thought and action are separated from the natural system, the energy within us will be out of balance and decline resulting in our suffering. Scientists have been studying green area s influence on human living and found that one who lives in an apartment with a view of a lawn completed with trees and flower garden will be able to better concentrate his mind and better manage life s difficulties than one who lives in a closed room without outside view or with a view of others wall or windows. The research shows that planting trees helps lives in the cities. Page 4 of 8

Another scientific study found that natural environment can and do increase our mental capabilities. For example, one who often likes to walk in the park and browse photographs of nature is likely to have a better memory and mental concentration than one who likes to walk in downtown and browse photos of city lives. Contact with nature can inspire awe in human. Awe is one form of happiness which can uplift our minds. When experiencing nature, some of us will feel as if living in another exotic world. The naturalist John Muir said that we enter the mountain and the mountain enters us, stimulating our excitement and vibrating our nerves. The mountain exists in every single hair and cell of ours. Our skin, flesh and bones are transparent like glass and melt into nature inseparably. An experience of awe makes us realize that the right place for us is in nature since nature reduces our selfishness and makes us think about others happiness. Awe transforms our feeling of separation into a feeling of integration with all our friends on earth. Loving kindness meditation In the present world we need to expand our happiness to include our co residents everywhere. The world is in crises of economy, society and environment in all levels: personal, social and global. Men have to cooperate for everybody s happiness so that the world can survive. Human s desperation and dejection can be overcome by our cooperation. Man must be kind and helpful to each other. Therefore, to aim good will towards all other beings is a must. This is what Buddhists have been doing for thousands of years and it is called the meditation of loving kindness. Scientists should pay attention in the study of loving kindness meditation seriously in order to create happiness in the world with scientific basis. Science based loving kindness meditation will bring the public all over the world to the practice. Every race and religion can practice loving kindness since loving kindness makes the world better regardless of the practitioners religions. Buddhism has not copyrighted the meditation. You can believe in any religion or even no religion. But when you meditate on loving kindness, the ones who benefit are you and the whole world. You and the world are bound to be happier. Page 5 of 8

If we want to be happy we should meditate on loving kindness. If we want others to be happy we still should meditate on loving kindness. In the chant of loving kindness there is no word referring to the Buddhist faith. Men of every nation, every religion and every language should be able to chant thus: Every being on earth who is my friend and who co-lives with me in birth, old age, diseases and death, please do not hate one another, do not hurt one another and do not take revenge on one another. May you not have physical and mental suffering. May you be happy in body and mind. And may you save yourself from all fear and suffering. (In the chant there might be words like birth, old age, diseases and death. But those are just jargons. They are not any teaching of Buddhism since it is a fact that we all have to be born, get old, have diseases and die. The meaning of the chant is only that we all face birth, old age, diseases and death so let us suffer together and let us not hurt and take revenge on one another. Let us be happy, not be suffered and not be fearful. That s all there is to it!) (The end.) %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% Page 6 of 8

Page 7 of 8

Loving kindness spiritually supports the world. The Buddha image is representative of the Buddha who was full of loving kindness. This image is situated near the Belum cave in Andhara Pradesh, India. %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% มงคลม ต ไฮเทคคด \In Search of Happiness (2) Page 8 of 8