[harmonygirl]

actually Antonio, I think that happiness is looking for what you find. I have noticed that people can live richly or poorly and it has nothing to do with their finances. Don't get me wrong, pursuit of excellence is fun and great, but if you stake your happiness to it, you will always be disappointed.

[mkirkpatrick]

Originally Posted by AntonioLao

absolute happiness come from mastering the principle of Levity.

L - learning to live a full life
e - enhancement or a drive for excellence
v - valiant, brave and courageous
i - integrity, honesty and fairness
t - totality, completion
y - yearning and compassion

most people are just relatively and temporarily happy. absolute happiness last forever, extending into the afterlife.

I totally agree with that Antonio
very well said.

regardsmichael.

[psycho_preteen0711]

You are totally right about that. It's just a feeling to get you through the day so that you don't think that the bad things that would normally get you anyway were just out to get you because of that little feeling you had.

[ubermensch]

Love is empathy, the very fabric of our human existence. To be able to feel other's pain and suffering and to care for others are why we ARE.

[HappytheStripper]

""""""""""""""""""""""""""" state of be-ing """""""""""""""""""""""""""

[mkirkpatrick]

Happiness is in knowing yourself,and then finding the freedom that comes with this
realization.


regards michael.

[JAK]

"Happiness" is a "balanced" state of the human organism. By being "balanced", all subsystems operate in an optimum fashion. This state was termed "homeostasis" by Walter Cannon circa the 1930s. We experience homeostasis during sleep which is why we feel refreshed after a good night's sleep and also after meditation (relaxation).

An imbalanced state, which we commonly call "being stressed", directly relates to Cannon's phrase, "fight or flight." In an imbalanced state, some subsystems (such as digestion) are sacrificed since they are not critical for fighting or fleeing. The more severe the need for "fight or flight", the more severe the imbalance (greater sacrifice of non-critical internal subsystems). This is frequently experienced as a "sinking feeling" in the gut as blood flow is diverted from the torso to the extremities (arms, legs, and brain). This maximizes the resources available for fight or flight.

Strangely, consciousness is a "stress" state. Prolonged wakefulness is uniformly fatal to rats (see Allen Reschaffen). This stress in humans is recognized by our becoming more and more tired as the hours go by (see beta-CCM and GABA).

We believe we experience "happiness" in the waking state, but it is typically a recoil mechanism directly related to the release (or escape) from stress (see Richard Solomon's Opponent-Process Theory). This usually comes after scoring a touchdown, solving a serious problem, or having some other "break-through" in achieving a personal or business goal. The recoil is intended to recover sacrificed subsystems, so a feeling of "up-welling" in the torso (chest) occurs during the recoil process.

However, if the achievement of a goal is exhausting, the recoil is subdued or non-existent since resources needed for the recoil are exhausted, too. The recoil mechanism attempts to restore sacrificed systems with whatever resources are available after overcoming an obstacle. If exhausted, no resources are immediately available for recoil, so no happiness occurs immediately. A surge of "happiness" will likely occur upon reflection after some food, drink, and rest.

I agree with HappyTheStripper: "The fundamental method of philosophy is the use of reasoning to evaluate arguments concerning these questions."

In the preceding posts, there have been numerous wishy-washy statements of "feeling" and philosophies of life, but not much dialog. Some folks postulate that everything is subjective. If this is true, than none of us have anything to share. If there truly is a shared universe, than we can share our experiences and look for commonality, which is the basis of the scientific method. To deny any commonality is to embrace ignorance and deny co-existence.

I'm all for acknowledging the Sun as a common experience. So, too, do I accept our common experience of "feeling" - to include happiness.

Any other believers in a common universe?

[mkirkpatrick]

Happiness is part of a trinty of expression that outworks through beings such as us,the lowest level of expression is happiness,a physical sensation,centered in the solar plexus,
joy is the next expression,a mental feeling and centered in the heart,lastly comes bliss,which is a spiritual expression,and centered within the head,all are real on their level of expression.



regards michael.