Happiness is not the absence of pain. It is the presence of pleasure. Happiness is a state of mind in which the mind is at peace with itself and with the world around it. This is what the Buddha taught. He taught that happiness can be found in any situation and that there is no such thing as a situation that is “better” or “worse” than any other situation. In other words, there are no “good” and “bad” situations. There are only situations that are “happier” in the sense that they are more pleasant than others. The Buddha’s teaching is that we can find happiness in almost any circumstance, whether it be in our own lives or other people’s lives. We just have to be willing to look for it and be open to the possibility that it may be there.
The Buddha said that when we are happy, we don’t need to worry about what others think of us, or what they think we should be doing. When we find ourselves in a position of happiness, it doesn’t matter what we do or how we behave, because we have found a way to live in harmony with ourselves and our environment. If we want to find the happiness we seek, all we need do is look around and see what is going on around us. As long as we see that things are going well, then we will be happy. And if things aren’t going as well as they could be, well then, that’s just the way it is. But if we look at it from a different perspective, from the perspective of the other person or the environment, the situation may not be as good as it could have been, but we still have a chance to make it better. That’s what happiness is all about, isn’t it? It’s the ability to see things from another person’s point of view, rather than from one’s own. So when you find yourself in situations where you feel like you’re not getting what you want out of life, you can take a step back and ask yourself, “What am I doing wrong?” And then take the necessary steps to change the situation and make things better for yourself and the people around you. Once you’ve done that, happiness will come to you and you won’t even know it’s there until you see it with your own eyes. You’ll just know that something is happening, even though you may have no idea why.