Happiness and Religious Beliefs

Happiness is a state of existence that Americans have perused since the founding of this great country. It’s such an important part of American life that “The pursuit of Happiness” is even “laid out in our nation’s Declaration of Independence” (McMahon 783). Happiness is something that may come from many aspects of life: one’s children, employment, financial wellbeing, sports, hobbies, and many other things. Ruth Whippman tells us that "Americans as a whole invest more time and money and emotional energy in the explicit pursuit of happiness than any other nation on earth". Are Americans happier today than they were three centuries ago? Does modern technology, social economic status, religious freedoms, and/or the

Dalai Lama explain the only way we could pursuit happiness is religion because there are millions different religion to find the right one for each person to help them find what happiness is. John Ciardi's last paragraph tells how happiness is never more than partial and no pure states of mankind. Aristotle tells how to get happiness is through physically and mentally The last person is from a the Church of Jesus Christ of the Latter Day-Saint name Jack H. Goaslind explain what is happiness and how we the people get that feeling.

Beginning with Greek philosophers, mankind has constantly pondered the meaning of happiness. Questions of how to attain joy, and how to keep it have been debated for centuries. Various religions provide roadmaps to achieve contentment: Christians preach the Ten Commandments and Heaven, and Buddhists prize the idea of karma and reincarnation. Yet others seek a more material form of satisfaction; especially in the United States, increasing emphasis is placed upon personal wealth.

The third route to increasing happiness comes through meaning which is comprised mainly of the four basic values of faith, family, community, and work. (The NY Times) This avenue boosts happiness through a sense of being part of a higher thing that ourselves.

If an individual asked many different people from around the world what they thought the meaning of life is, this individual is destined to receive numerous answers that would vary from living a happy life to bringing about happiness to others. However, the most recurrent response would likely be something to the extent of “living a happy, healthy life.” Very few ever accomplish what McCandless achieved, an actual state of happiness and contentedness within one’s life. “ many people live within unhappy circumstances and yet will not take the initiative to change their situation because they are conditioned to a life of security, conformity, and conservatism, all of which may appear to give one peace of mind…”(Chris McCandless, Into the Wild) McCandless had the naive idea that if one wants to find serinity within oneself, the individual must have the courage to venture out of one’s habitual lifestyle and mold to unaccustomed experiences. McCandless also infers that finding meaning in your life is not only accomplished by experiencing unorthodox mannerisms but by taking life lessons from these experiences and applying it to better yourself in the future. When ordinary needs have been fulfilled, an individual tends to seek more. Some take up religion or even drugs but others, such as McCandless, strive for personal fulfillment or

Furthermore, religion and spirituality positively affect psychological aspects of health. George et al. (2000) declared that religious involvement is associated with positive mental health outcomes such as a lower prevalence of anxiety and depression. Other research similarly presents religion as a protective factor against depression, anxiety, and suicide (Chiswick & Mirtcheva, 2013; Koenig, 2009; Lee & Newberg, 2005). In addition to deterring mental health issues, religion and spirituality facilitate positive mental orientations such as happiness, increased self-esteem, and improved life satisfaction (Lee & Newberg, 2005; Marks, 2005). There are many benefits of religion and spirituality for psychological health.

Happiness is something very abstract and it differs from individual to individual. I always feel that a poor man will always be thankful to the almighty even if he is provided with two square meals a day but at least he can sleep happily with no stress; on the other hand a rich man will always be unhappy throughout his life either in the pursuit of creating wealth or in the tension of safeguarding his wealth. Accumulating wealth is extremely time consuming and time once lost cannot be regained; moreover, not all have the potential and skills of earning which is always coupled with hard work and

We are using local colleges for this study, because this sample is achievable with our available resources. One factor that we focus on in the study is to see if religious affiliation has an impact on happiness. Abilene, Texas is predominately Christian affiliated; therefore, the significance of the universities chosen will help us obtain reoccurring result. Hardin-Simmons University is predominately Baptist, Abilene Christian University is Church of Christ, McMurry University is Methodist, and Cisco Community College is nondenominational. Apart from Cisco; Hardin-Simmons, Abilene Christian, and McMurry are all denominations of Christianity. Having different denominations, the interest of the study rises. The interest rises because they all fall under one affiliation. There are very little current studies done on differences of denominations and happiness. For this study, we will be building from current resources and sample subjects that we can obtain. The age range that will be used in the experiment is eighteen to twenty-six. Demographic questions will be asked in a survey prior to the happiness inventory questionnaire. The purpose of this is seeing if different race and ethnicity, and different religion affiliations can be grouped properly. Having different groupings, we should be able to get a more accurate rating on happiness levels and its’ factors to perform a

Based on Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi “Happiness Revisited” People have many different points of view about how to achieve happiness, it can be based on the type of life one is having, an experience, a way of living, culture, and religion. Happiness can be defined in many ways but happiness is not something we find or get just by magic. In “Happiness Revisited” by Csikszentmihalyi, the author emphasizes that “It is by being fully involved with every detail of our lives, whether good or bad, that we find happiness, not by trying to look for it directly.” And just as he stays that happiness is when someone is involved in everything that happens in live either good or bad, one example that I think Csikszentmihalyi will describe as an optimal experience

Its 5:00 p.m. on a Saturday evening and I’m patiently waiting at DiCicco’s, an Italian restaurant in Kingsburg California near CVS for my special guesses to arrive. As I patiently waited with a glass of water I saw Dalai Lama, C.S. Lewis, Gretchen Rubin, Daniel M. Haybron and Thomas Jefferson as the representative of the Founding Fathers walk through the door. We all gather at the dining table and we each got a glass of water, except for Mr. Thomas Jefferson he had a cup of tea. Few minutes later our dinner was served. I personally had Ruby salad, Dalai Lama had Giovanni’s Pasta, C.S. Lewis had Manicotti, Gretchen Rubin had the Italian green mixed salad, Daniel M. Haybron had Arianna’s Bella Pasta, and lastly Mr. Thomas Jefferson had Charbroiled Chicken Breast.

Christian leaders should generate their decisions in the image of God’s word. Luke 6:31 New International Version (NIV) states “do to others as you would have them do to you.” Therefore, it is imperative that leader’s decisions refrain from manipulating, lying, cheating or stealing.

There are many different ways people can achieve true joy and happiness in this world. In his in his book The Tree of World Religions, author John Bellaimey describes one of these ways. In Buddhism, there is a correlation between living a simplistic life and living a joyous one, and how the latter is dependent on the former. Followers of true Buddhism live a life free from the desires and temptations of the world. Although in life we often attribute getting new material goods or partaking in exhilarating experiences as the pathway to happiness, this cannot be achieved by everyone. Buddhism provides a path for joy to anyone and everyone. People throughout the world associate getting more with living a better life, as it is our natural instinct

At first glance, happiness is a state of mind that many, if not all people aspire to achieve in their lifetime. What exactly is that state of mind is up for debate among the east and the west, and varies between different cultures, traditions, and religions. In the west, happiness is mostly associated with success, wealth, fame and power. In the east, happiness can be viewed as freedom from mundane occurrences such as the occupation of western powers from within a country, the end of war, poverty and famine, and liberation of the false self. In contemporary times, and with the arrival of eastern philosophy, religions, and traditions in the west, many are turning inwards and using a tool believed to have more power than an atomic bomb, the human mind. In China, India and various other Asian countries, the mind has long been a powerful tool used to liberate one from suffering, the cyclic cycle of life, as well as a means to reach enlightenment and immortality. However, the mind is only a tool, and not the way per se.

Human flourishing can be defined as the concept of members of society growing to become the best person they can be. In religion, human flourishing occurs when everyone is searching for everlasting happiness and they achieve it with the only way possible: through God (Religion lecture, Oct. 23, 2015). In order to flourish, everyone must do what they ought to do, and do what they want to do (Zuberbueler, 2015). However, these should either be the same thing or very similar, and will reflect the intentions or desires of God and his word. In addition, flourishing cannot occur without forgiveness. In regards to human flourishing in society and religion, challenges arise when members come together; specifically, certain aspects of life and culture can compromise human flourishing.

I also believe that to some people religion does play a large part of their lives and how they might live it according to how their religion tells them to. Subjectively, if someone lives by the book or the belief of their religion it will make them happier to know that they accomplished what their “god” has set for them to do with their life, and ultimately letting them into the “afterlife” (or heaven) of their religion. Besides the factors that a person can control in their life to make it good, there are also many things in play that one cannot control such as health. Being healthy can be considered one of the most valuable aspects of a person’s life. It can also be one of those aspects that can control the probability if someone getting a job, earning an adequate income, and a person’s range of active activities. According to an OECD study, people with good health have always shown to be happier in most aspects but have a huge increase in happiness when it comes to marriages and relationships. During the duration of my life I have met many people that go through or have someone close to them that have had some type serious sickness, and what I have always noticed is that during those times they look like the most miserable people on the planet. Whenever I try to put myself in their position it’s really hard for me to imagine myself being in