Back to Basics - Relative and Absolute Happiness

The fundament goal of anyone is to become happy. There are however, two kinds of happiness. Relative and Absolute.

Relative happiness is what results from acquiring material gain or possessions of fulfilling mundane desires. These are triggered by getting a bonus, winning a lottery, doing well in school examinations or even finding out that a guy or girl you have a crush on actually likes you back.

But relative happiness depends on external circumstances beyond our immediate control and can be easily jeopardized. Moreover, human desires are limitless. We will always desire for more and more endlessly. Just happiness are temporarily when a desire is fulfilled and do not last very long.

Absolute happiness, on the other hand, is a state of life in which people continue to experience joy in living and creating the greatest value in their lives. This happened when we developed an indomitable character that never gives up trying and is fearless. It is unconditional.

As long as we are alive, we will encounter various hardships be it financial problems, health problems, or relationship problems. For those who have established the life condition of absolute happiness, however, life’s vicissitudes become opportunities to develop inner strength and to experience profound fulfillment every day.

Regardless of what happens, people with this kind of spiritual fortitude regard every hardship as a springboard for their further development, and they overcome each challenge with composure. It is analogous to a marathon.

If we are trained to run 1,000 meters everyday, we will have no problem entering a race for 100 meters. But if we only run 100 meters, we will struggle when we run a 1,000 meters race.

For those who have developed the life-force and wisdom to overcome any difficulty, the constant ebb and flow of life are motivation for the creation of value rather than reasons for suffering and despair.

Ultimately, relative happiness, which is dependent on external circumstances, ends at the moment of death.

But the state of absolute happiness, also know as the life-state of Buddhahood, having been firmly established in this lifetime, will remain indestructible transcending even death.

Attaining Buddhahood means to develop such a life-state overflowing with wisdom, courage and compassion.

Adapted from Creative Life (March 2008)