Humor And Pleasant Traits ( Kusala / Akusalamula )

The texts, “High incomes don’t bring you Happiness” and “You can buy Happiness, if it’s an Experience”, completes the idea that monetary value does not bring true joy. In the passage, “High incomes don’t bring you Happiness”, the author states that bringing in an over excessive amount of money will not make one happy. The author said that an overall income of around $75,000 will complete one’s emotional well being, while anything over that will complete a life evaluation. Life evaluation is the idea that if one was to look at themselves while they’re in their deathbed, how would they rate their lifestyle. This is also supported through different statements within the passage, “You can buy Happiness, if it’s an Experience”. Within this study, it was proven that people enjoyed money, but often spent it on materialistic items which leaves them with a temporary feeling of satisfaction, while when they are given a fully paid trip to the Bahamas, the feeling of peace and joy lasts far longer than when they were to purchase an item of materialistic value. This

Here Siddhartha is demonstrating that he is the only one that matters when it comes to thoughts of who he is, and only his opinion of himself matters. Acceptance and the ability to look into himself will lead to that road of happiness. Also, to be minimalistic as to if there is nothing to be needed then it is not. This is something many people should take into consideration as to stay away from being materialistic.

According to Buddha, the key to happiness and fulfillment is to detach yourself from all worldly goods and desires.

People over consume and are never satisfied with what they already have but rather aim for more and bigger things. Under the treadmill of consumption people become very competitive as well as greedy and have the need to over consume in order to feel happier or more gratified. Studies have shown just the opposite that by over consuming does not lead to happiness but rather to the contrary. As people accrue more and more material goods they usually do not become happy or content but rather raise the ladder for more consumption. One day they will realize that all their means have

Benjamin Franklin, American humanists, inventor, and writer during the Age of Reason, wrote in his autobiography that, “[He] knew…what was right and wrong …[and] concluded that the mere speculative conviction that it was [everyone’s] interest to be completely virtuous,” (Franklin 69). Franklin portrays the importance of virtues, and that doing good will help one’s life become a success. Franklin wishes the populous to do good so that everyone’s life will benefit from outstanding accomplishments. People do good deeds everyday to benefit the world around them. Buddhists, for example, believe in practicing the Five Precepts, which are the basic code of ethics: (1) one should not kill another living being, (2) one should not take anything that is not given or offered, (3) one should not commit adultery, (4) one should not tell fibs, and (5) one should not drink alcohol or intoxicate him or herself in any way (“Basic Buddhism Guide”). By practicing these Precepts, Buddhists serve their fellow beings by honoring their rights. Buddhists wish to better the world by undertaking such ambitious duties. Unlike the Puritans, Buddhists do not believe there is a god, so when one sabotages a Precept, he or she must reflect on the misdeed, and analyze how the treachery can be avoided in the future.

Buddha believes that our senses and conditioning are the problem as we are deceived that these are bad things. He says that the senses can be tricked and that we have been conditioned to believe things that could be false. That is why is has his four noble truths. First he believes that life is suffering. This could be shown through the fact that we grow old an die. This is just a part of our life that we can not control. That is why suffering has to be just part of life. The second noble truth is that cravings are the source of suffering. That is that if it wasn’t for us wanting something then it would have no effect on us if we didn’t get it. This includes what people think of us. We have a craving for people to like and accept us, and when

He instead wanted people to focus on God because true treasure lies him and in heaven. Buddha also shared this belief; he encouraged the annihilation of worldly desire and renunciation of material wealth (Fiero 193). Since he believed that desire causes pain and the only way to eliminate pain is to cease desiring, the belief that one should not care for wealth fits into that noble truth. The reason for this is that if there is no desire for wealth or other possessions, there will be no

"We the unhating live happily midst the haters"(Dhammapada). The Buddha defines "happiness" as "being unaffected by the hate around him. Health’s the greatest gain, contentment, best of wealth, trusting’s best of kin, Nirvana bliss supreme"(Dhammapada). In this excerpt of the Dhammapada, the Buddha believes that health is the ultimate form of satisfaction. It is better than financial wealth and is the best relationship one can have. He values good health, both mentally and physically over personal greed because it is simply more important. This hints the importance of the eight-fold path. The eight-fold path helps one live a healthy lifestyle, free of craving. I agree with him because I also believe that health is more important than money.

If we can regulate our physical being and our mental being by aiding our fellow beings, rather than doing wrong, as well as producing knowledge of our own, we defeat our personal evil. In the text titled, ‘The Word’, Buddha has created the standard for the eightfold path. The first standard that Buddha has created is correct thought, this is interpreted as not wishing bad to happen to those with different views than yourself. This seems overall to be a value found in most religions as well as cultures.

I totally agree with this expression from chapter 8. “Money cannot buy happiness.” I think this term alone from chapter 8 can help me destress. I have watched news where people with abundant well “complain” about being lonely or don’t feel loved. So, it sounds that no matter what fancy cars, homes, or clothes, etc., a person own/ have, without love they are baseless. Therefore, I will continue to follow my passion, which is lending a helping hand to ALL people. As stated by George Simmel, “If every grateful action were suddenly eliminated, society would crumble.” Consequently, I do my part to make this world a better place.

Buddhist texts constantly express that a person’s moral and spiritual practices contribute greatly to economic success being that wealth is a karmic result. While discussing economic ethics, Peter Harvey stated, “in Buddhism, moral virtue is seen to lead to wealth, and wealth is seen to be the result, and proof of previous generosity.” (Harvey, 201) From Harvey’s confirmation that wealth is a karmic result, one can assert that these karmic results that lead to wealth are derived by being responsible for the sentient beings in the work environment which pertains to the right livelihood teachings of the eightfold path. In other words, one must care for, and look after the workers inside and outside of the work environment. One

Unusually, Morrie lived a frugal life. In America, people desire material things, the more the better, including commercialism, property, and money (Albom 124). Nevertheless, Morrie pointed out that one cannot substitute material things for love, gentleness, tenderness, or comradeship (Albom 125). Therefore, Morrie kept old material things, such as furniture, a television set, an automobile, and his little house. In Morrie’s whole life, he was not greedy at all; instead, he lived a very simple life with little desires. Buddha emphasized, “To stop suffering, stop greediness. Greediness is a source of suffering.” Abiding by the frugal ideology of Buddhism, Morrie was not suffering from anything. Instead, his house was filled with love, teaching, communication, relationship, and happiness (Albom 126).

Keeping from having an excess amount of materialistic, unneeded goods and genuinely enjoying a simplistic lifestyle measures a greater happiness. Rather than purchasing an increased amount of “things” to possess, the focus should be on “how these things are used”(Pursuit of Happiness). Socrates’ ideas point that “Happiness should not depend on external things...and a wise person will use money in the right way in order to make his life better.” For example, using currency in such a way to gain life experiences or knowledge results in a greater satisfaction and measure of happiness because it leaves priceless memories and lasting impressions. Through learning and experiencing, we humans can fulfill that natural desire to contribute and participate in the human phenomenon as a whole, precisely making life better.

Looking past the pitfalls that bias can lead to, let’s address what this passage can reveal. First of all we can see that people of this area and the writer must have realized that life is not fun or enjoyable. They must have had a much more negative view of life because the teachings of the Buddha states “The world is full of suffering.” It also states that the root of all suffering is desire, as shown here “If desire, which lies at the root of all human passion, can be removed, then passion will die out and all human suffering will be ended.” This belief can show that the author was trying to get the audience to take a more inactive thoughtful way of life instead of a passionate lifestyle full of exploit. These teachings were written by a type of people that were more mind centered rather than warlike and physical. The passage shows that the author tried to live a much calmer lifestyle, if he followed his own writing. Many peoples throughout history had extravagant goals to gain land, wealth, and power, but these teachings focus on gaining higher thought process along with a much less activity driven way of life. This makes this passage significant in that it gives an alternate spiritual path that any person can take. This allows the audience to be any type of person in any social level. This way of life being taught is not exclusively for anyone special. It

Gandhi's belief was that man is "essentially good". By this, he meant that mankind should live life with faith that everyone has an inward core of goodness and should strive to try to reach for it, not paying attention to outward appearance. Vinoba Bhave, an Indian advocate of nonviolence and human rights, makes a comparison based on Gandhi's belief, saying that man or human nature is like a head of cabbage; the inner layers retain their freshness. As human beings, moral progression is an inevitable evolutionary process. People live side-by-side with "evils" tempting them away from their pure goodness. Gandhi explains these evils, saying they are "due to the weakness or our lower self -such as greed, lust, anger, pride, and jealousy; and failure to develop the qualities of 'sattva' or our higher nature such as self-sacrifice, and non-attachment, etc." In following Gandhi's beliefs and teachings, mankind should take time to recognize these evils and fight against them.