Happiness – schooled?
The Greek philosophers defined “happiness” as “the consequence of a deed and they drew two conclusions from this insight:
- first: if happiness consists of the fulfilling of human possibilities then there must be broadly applicable rules for attaining it.
- second: in this case we can “learn happiness” by following these rules.
They stressed rather the process and not one or the other event. A happy life meant for them a contented life a life lived in harmony with their values and tastes. The core elements of happiness were:
- inner peace and freedom (in the sense of not being disturbed by passions)
- physical and psychological independence
How did they achieve this state?
The ancient Greeks strongly believed in practice: “everything is practice” – they used to say. Philosophers ran in fact “happiness schools” to train the mind of their students. They believed that insight helped only when people were trained to apply it. Their goal was to form the student’s character so that he would live a happier and more balanced life. The key was the purposeful repetition of certain experiences.
The central thought of classical philosophy about happiness is today still valid and corroborated by modern science, especially neurobiology: positive feelings are not a matter of destiny. We can and must strive for them.
Do not confuse this concept of happiness with the modern – and unrealistic – idea interpreting it as a pleasure without a history and without costs.
You can find the results of modern scientific research on happiness in Stefan Klein’s book: The science of happiness. http://www.stefanklein.info/en/index_en.html
See also: http://www.gluecksformel.de/links.html – lots of relevant links, most of them in German but some also in English
integrating the happiness ingredients
Having reached stress-freedom the guidees are ready and prepared to integrate the happiness ingredients identified by scientific research into their own individual lives.
800 years of continuous Epicurean communal life in friendship furnished the stress-freedom seekers with the ingredients for happiness as identified by 20th and 21st century scientific research:
In “The formula for Happiness” Stefan Klein resumes the results of scientific research as follows
Happiness ingredients
1. Quality of relationship with partner
2. sex/exercise/sport/dance
3. friendship
4. self-determination, autonomy, FREEDOM
5. civic sense, responsibility
6. social equality
7. voluntary work for others
Epicurean learning communities furnished their members with the social environment necessary for the creation and perfection of the happiness ingredients they needed. At the same time they learned to use the think-tools of reflection and the communication-improvement-tool of giving and receiving feedback to be able to eliminate the happiness blockers as identified by Epicurus and reconfirmed by scientific research: stress based on fears resulting from self-deception, false expectations, competition, envy, jealousy, the rat race.
At this stage the guidees are encouraged to develop communities based on identical intentions, value systems and strategies. By this time they are equipped with the necessary tools to shape the synergic satisfiers described by Max-Neef that will enable them and empower them to lead authentically happy lives with like-minded friends.
if you want to get happy: practice it!
“Melete to pan” “μελέτη τὸ πᾶν” — “Pains and industry effect every thing” spoken 2600 years ago, by Periander one of the seven wise men of Greece meaning: Persevering industry can achieve all things that are not utterly impossible.
If you want to get good at football: you have to practice.
If you want to get good at stress-FREEDOM: you have to practice.
If you want to get good at happiness: you have to practice.
Epicurus knew this 2300 years ago:
Practice these teachings daily and nightly. Study them on your own or in the company of a like-minded friend, and you shall not be disturbed while awake or asleep. You shall live like a god among men, because one whose life is fortified by immortal blessings in no way resembles a mortal being. (From ‘Letter to Menoeceus’ by Epicurus)
His followers kept on practicing stress-FREEDOM in their circles of friends for 800 years!
Modern science has proved they were right:
“To live wisely requires the ability to perceive, guide and foresee our emotions. Feelings of happiness aren’t a coincidence but the consequence of right thoughts and actions–a concept which modern neuroscience, ancient philosophy, and Buddhism…all agree.
We in the West typically emphasize the value of the correct decision: if only we were to make the right choice at this or that fork in the road, everything would improve. But according to the traditions of Buddhism and the philosophies of ancient Greece and Rome, it is more important to anchor ourselves in good habits, because these form the mind. We should want to change ourselves rather than our circumstances. The rest will come, because with a mind that is prepared for happiness, we will automatically seek out those situations that make us happy.
The importance each of us gives to the conscious choice is in the end a matter of faith. But two things are certain. First, our sense of happiness depends much more on the ways in which the brain perceives than on external circumstances; and second, occasional efforts aren’t sufficient to change our ways of perceiving. If the brain is to be rewired, repetition and habit are indispensible. And they, in turn, depend on a willingness to make an effort.
People are willing to go to great lengths when it concerns status, career, or their children’s development. But when it concerns happiness in everyday life, they can be oddly stingy with their energy. And yet, the way to happiness is quite straight forward: ‘The actual secrets of the path to happiness are determination, effort, and time,’ explains the Dalai Lama.
To this science can only assent.”
(From ‘The Science of Happiness’ by Stefan Klein)
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