August 2007

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THE PURSUIT OF HAPPINESS

An oft-used term, the title of a popular motion picture, and a contradiction in terms. Can Happiness be pursued, is it an end, of a journey ? Or is it a state of mind caused by satisfactions, and contentment at having achieved some goals, of comfort, well-being, health, and an absence of want.

The absence or conquest of want must be the key goal as the continuance of ‘wanting’ for better terms from life, of wealth, status or social recognition, is at the root of much unhappiness. Happiness cannot be pursued through the acquisition of objects of desire per se, in a permanent sense, for the satisfactions achieved through those acquisitions are at best fleeting – and the pleasure disappears with the acquisition and the passage of time.

Therefore we could make a case for contentment, for the absence of want, or being contented with what one already has, and to avoid seeking further ‘satisfactions’. If one is not satisfied with three meals (a lot as it is already) the addition of a fourth is not going to increase one’s satisfaction. The analogy can be expanded to include so many other objects of desire – money, cars, mobiles, music systems mistresses or whatever. To quote Schopenhauer “Wealth is like sea water; the more we drink, the thirstier we become, and the same is true of fame”.

Hence, the good man, and the practising Mason if you like, is one who is aware of his level of contentment, works hard to achieve it, and rests on achieving that level, and hopefully extends his hand to help others in achieving similar levels of satisfaction. Such is the source of Charity for one cannot with an open hand be giving and grasping at the same time.

In a sense, by the act of giving one can perhaps pursue happiness, for it blesses the giver with positive feelings, and re-inforces his feelings of happiness. However, it also presumes that the giving is not motivated by any other agenda than a genuine spirit of generosity and Brotherhood – and an awareness in the face of adversity in another, that there, but for the grace of God, go I.

Happiness is a state of mind, not in itself the result of a pursuit, except for such inward examination which will determine one’s own level of contentment with the various objects of one’s desire. Happiness also derives from the absence of negative emotions such as greed, envy, fear, self-pity and so on. Happiness perhaps is best derived from the pursuit of the knowledge of oneself, as our lessons in Masonry advise us to limit one’s desires within the compass of one’s attainments.