What is Happiness and how to achieve it ?(下）

Firstly, we must realize that the world does not and cannot function as per our whims and fancies. We are too insignificant in the scheme of the existence. We can have control only over our desires and not on the factors necessary to fulfill them. During winter, we may desire that the sun shines a bit more in the sky but sun has no obligation to behave as per our desires. We may desire that every other human being around us acts in such a way that his acts do not hurt us at all and only make us happy, but the other person has his own desires and compulsions and he will act accordingly. We may desire that whenever we ask for something we get it, but the person or the force who has the power to grant our wishes may not wish to do so or may not be able to do so because of his or its own compulsions. Are we ourselves always willing or able to fulfill the demands of others around us? If not, then how can we hope that our demands must always be fulfilled. In fact if we pause to consider it carefully then it will become obvious that there always is more probability of our desires not getting fulfilled. Then why keep desiring constantly and exposing ourselves to unhappiness?

首先，我們必須認識到，世界沒有也不可能按照我們的想法和幻想運轉。在生存的計劃中，我們太微不足道了。我們只能控制自己的欲望，而不能控制實現(xiàn)欲望的必要因素。在冬天，我們可能希望太陽在天空中照得多一點，但是太陽沒有義務按照我們的愿望行事。我們可能希望我們周圍的每一個人都能這樣做，他的行為不會傷害我們，只會讓我們快樂，但另一個人有他自己的愿望和強迫，他會相應地采取行動。我們可能希望，無論何時我們要求什么，我們都能得到它，但有能力實現(xiàn)我們愿望的人或力量可能不希望這樣做，或可能無法這樣做，因為他或他自己的強迫。我們自己總是愿意或能夠滿足我們周圍的人的要求嗎?如果不能，我們又怎能希望我們的要求總是得到滿足呢?事實上，如果我們停下來仔細考慮一下，很明顯，我們的愿望得不到實現(xiàn)的可能性更大。那么，為什么要不斷地渴望，并把自己暴露在不快樂之中呢?

Secondly, it is a blunder on our part that we consider happiness and pleasure to be the same. They are not same. Pleasure is there all around us for the taking. Since we have become obsessed with our desires we have ceased to notice sources of pleasure and as a consequence fail to grab it when it is available. Pleasure is the essence which we extract from things we have. We may desire to visit the most beautiful sea beach in the world. When we are finally able to make it to that beach we feel happy. This happiness is the consequence of the fulfillment of our desire. But when we look at the waves rushing towards us, at the golden sand spread over a large area, the wind on our faces, the riot of colours in the sky while sun is setting or rising, the feel of sea water on our skin, what we feel is pleasure. To derive pleasure it is not at all necessary to desire. When we pass along the green fields while traveling, we do feel pleasure looking at them though we had not specifically "desired" to see them. When we look at anything beautiful we feel pleasure. Pleasure is always around us without our asking for it. It is not a consequence of our ambitions and endeavors. It is simply waiting all around for us to pause and pay attention. It is only that we are always so obsessed with our desires and wishes and the struggle to fulfill them that we have forgotten how to pleasure ourselves. Almost all of the time we live inside our minds, either making plans to fulfill our present desires or ruing the desires which could not be fulfilled and in this process miss out all the pleasures lying all around us.

其次，我們錯誤地認為幸福和快樂是一樣的。它們不一樣?？鞓肪驮谖覀兩磉叺却覀?nèi)カ@取。由于我們沉迷于自己的欲望，我們就不再注意到快樂的來源，因此，當它可以得到的時候，我們就不能抓住它。快樂是我們從擁有的事物中提取出來的精華。我們可能會渴望參觀世界上最美麗的海灘。當我們終于能夠到達那個海灘時，我們感到很高興。這種快樂是我們欲望得到滿足的結果。但是，當我們看到海浪向我們沖來，看到大片的金色沙灘，風吹在我們的臉上，看到太陽落山或升起時天空五彩繽紛，看到海水拍打在我們皮膚上的感覺，我們感到的是快樂。要獲得快樂，根本不需要有欲望。當我們沿著綠色的田野旅行時，我們確實感到高興，雖然我們沒有特別“渴望”看到他們。當我們看到任何美麗的事物時，我們會感到快樂。快樂總是在我們身邊，無需我們主動要求。這不是我們的野心和努力的結果。它只是在周圍等待我們停下來集中注意力。只是我們總是被我們的欲望和愿望所困擾，努力去實現(xiàn)它們，以至于我們忘記了如何讓自己快樂。幾乎所有的時間我們都生活在我們的大腦里，要么制定計劃來滿足我們現(xiàn)在的欲望，要么懊悔那些無法實現(xiàn)的欲望，在這個過程中錯過了我們周圍所有的快樂。

Thirdly, We do derive pleasure when our desires are fulfilled but for every desire fulfilled there are numerous others that remain unfulfilled. We have to consider carefully whether we are not paying too high a price, in terms of all the frustrations we experience as a result of failures, for a few fulfilled desires. If the answer is yes, then the conclusion is obvious.

Actually, happiness and unhappiness are two sides of the same coin. They are part of the same package. If one asks for one he leaves him susceptible to the other. The desire for happiness is like asking only for the light and not for darkness. But there is not much difference between light and darkness. It is matter of degree only. We choose and therefore get disappointed. What we should do is only look for the pleasures all around us. Whatever comes our way we should try to extract all the pleasure possible from it.

第三，當我們的欲望得到滿足時，我們確實會得到快樂，但每一個欲望得到滿足，就會有許多其他的欲望沒有得到滿足。我們必須仔細考慮，我們是否付出了過高的代價，在所有的挫折，我們經(jīng)歷的失敗，為一些滿足的愿望。如果答案是肯定的，那么結論是顯而易見的。事實上，快樂和不快樂是同一枚硬幣的兩面。它們是同一包的一部分。如果一個人想要一個，他就會讓他容易受到另一個人的影響。對幸福的渴望就像只要求光明而不要求黑暗。但是光明和黑暗之間并沒有太大的區(qū)別。這只是程度的問題。我們選擇了，也因此感到失望。我們應該做的只是尋找我們周圍的快樂。無論遇到什么，我們都應該盡力從中獲得所有可能的快樂

If we delve still deeper, we will realize that it is not really happiness which we should seek. We should try to avoid unhappiness. When we achieve something, the payoff is not as great as the pain we suffer if we fail to achieve it. It is this pain of failure, pain of frustrated desires which is of greater significance to us. It is actually like good health. One can only define health as an absence of diseases. In order to have good health we strive to avoid diseases. You cannot purchase or achieve good health directly. You have to take steps which keep your body free of diseases. Then only the organs of body keep functioning properly and you experience good health. Similarly, when one destroys the root cause of unhappiness the problems are over. And the root cause of all our unhappiness is DESIRE.

如果我們再深入探究，就會發(fā)現(xiàn)我們應該追求的并不是真正的幸福。我們應該設法避免不幸。當我們實現(xiàn)了某件事，其回報不如我們沒有實現(xiàn)它所遭受的痛苦那么大。正是這種失敗的痛苦，欲望受挫的痛苦對我們來說更重要。它實際上就像健康。人們只能把健康定義為沒有疾病。為了有良好的健康，我們努力避免疾病。你不能直接購買或獲得良好的健康。你必須采取措施使你的身體遠離疾病。只有身體各器官正常運作，你才能體驗到健康。同樣地，當一個人破壞了不快樂的根源時，問題就結束了。而我們所有不快樂的根源是欲望。

If one can stop desiring, if one can take life as it comes, Then only one can be free of unhappiness.

如果一個人能停止欲望，如果一個人能接受生活的到來，那么只有一個人能擺脫不幸。