What is Happiness and how to achieve it ?(下）

Firstly, we must realize that the world does not and cannot function as per our whims and fancies. We are too insignificant in the scheme of the existence. We can have control only over our desires and not on the factors necessary to fulfill them. During winter, we may desire that the sun shines a bit more in the sky but sun has no obligation to behave as per our desires. We may desire that every other human being around us acts in such a way that his acts do not hurt us at all and only make us happy, but the other person has his own desires and compulsions and he will act accordingly. We may desire that whenever we ask for something we get it, but the person or the force who has the power to grant our wishes may not wish to do so or may not be able to do so because of his or its own compulsions. Are we ourselves always willing or able to fulfill the demands of others around us? If not, then how can we hope that our demands must always be fulfilled. In fact if we pause to consider it carefully then it will become obvious that there always is more probability of our desires not getting fulfilled. Then why keep desiring constantly and exposing ourselves to unhappiness?

首先，我们必须认识到，世界没有也不可能按照我们的想法和幻想运转。在生存的计划中，我们太微不足道了。我们只能控制自己的欲望，而不能控制实现欲望的必要因素。在冬天，我们可能希望太阳在天空中照得多一点，但是太阳没有义务按照我们的愿望行事。我们可能希望我们周围的每一个人都能这样做，他的行为不会伤害我们，只会让我们快乐，但另一个人有他自己的愿望和强迫，他会相应地采取行动。我们可能希望，无论何时我们要求什么，我们都能得到它，但有能力实现我们愿望的人或力量可能不希望这样做，或可能无法这样做，因为他或他自己的强迫。我们自己总是愿意或能够满足我们周围的人的要求吗?如果不能，我们又怎能希望我们的要求总是得到满足呢?事实上，如果我们停下来仔细考虑一下，很明显，我们的愿望得不到实现的可能性更大。那么，为什么要不断地渴望，并把自己暴露在不快乐之中呢?

Secondly, it is a blunder on our part that we consider happiness and pleasure to be the same. They are not same. Pleasure is there all around us for the taking. Since we have become obsessed with our desires we have ceased to notice sources of pleasure and as a consequence fail to grab it when it is available. Pleasure is the essence which we extract from things we have. We may desire to visit the most beautiful sea beach in the world. When we are finally able to make it to that beach we feel happy. This happiness is the consequence of the fulfillment of our desire. But when we look at the waves rushing towards us, at the golden sand spread over a large area, the wind on our faces, the riot of colours in the sky while sun is setting or rising, the feel of sea water on our skin, what we feel is pleasure. To derive pleasure it is not at all necessary to desire. When we pass along the green fields while traveling, we do feel pleasure looking at them though we had not specifically "desired" to see them. When we look at anything beautiful we feel pleasure. Pleasure is always around us without our asking for it. It is not a consequence of our ambitions and endeavors. It is simply waiting all around for us to pause and pay attention. It is only that we are always so obsessed with our desires and wishes and the struggle to fulfill them that we have forgotten how to pleasure ourselves. Almost all of the time we live inside our minds, either making plans to fulfill our present desires or ruing the desires which could not be fulfilled and in this process miss out all the pleasures lying all around us.

其次，我们错误地认为幸福和快乐是一样的。它们不一样。快乐就在我们身边等待我们去获取。由于我们沉迷于自己的欲望，我们就不再注意到快乐的来源，因此，当它可以得到的时候，我们就不能抓住它。快乐是我们从拥有的事物中提取出来的精华。我们可能会渴望参观世界上最美丽的海滩。当我们终于能够到达那个海滩时，我们感到很高兴。这种快乐是我们欲望得到满足的结果。但是，当我们看到海浪向我们冲来，看到大片的金色沙滩，风吹在我们的脸上，看到太阳落山或升起时天空五彩缤纷，看到海水拍打在我们皮肤上的感觉，我们感到的是快乐。要获得快乐，根本不需要有欲望。当我们沿着绿色的田野旅行时，我们确实感到高兴，虽然我们没有特别“渴望”看到他们。当我们看到任何美丽的事物时，我们会感到快乐。快乐总是在我们身边，无需我们主动要求。这不是我们的野心和努力的结果。它只是在周围等待我们停下来集中注意力。只是我们总是被我们的欲望和愿望所困扰，努力去实现它们，以至于我们忘记了如何让自己快乐。几乎所有的时间我们都生活在我们的大脑里，要么制定计划来满足我们现在的欲望，要么懊悔那些无法实现的欲望，在这个过程中错过了我们周围所有的快乐。

Thirdly, We do derive pleasure when our desires are fulfilled but for every desire fulfilled there are numerous others that remain unfulfilled. We have to consider carefully whether we are not paying too high a price, in terms of all the frustrations we experience as a result of failures, for a few fulfilled desires. If the answer is yes, then the conclusion is obvious.

Actually, happiness and unhappiness are two sides of the same coin. They are part of the same package. If one asks for one he leaves him susceptible to the other. The desire for happiness is like asking only for the light and not for darkness. But there is not much difference between light and darkness. It is matter of degree only. We choose and therefore get disappointed. What we should do is only look for the pleasures all around us. Whatever comes our way we should try to extract all the pleasure possible from it.

第三，当我们的欲望得到满足时，我们确实会得到快乐，但每一个欲望得到满足，就会有许多其他的欲望没有得到满足。我们必须仔细考虑，我们是否付出了过高的代价，在所有的挫折，我们经历的失败，为一些满足的愿望。如果答案是肯定的，那么结论是显而易见的。事实上，快乐和不快乐是同一枚硬币的两面。它们是同一包的一部分。如果一个人想要一个，他就会让他容易受到另一个人的影响。对幸福的渴望就像只要求光明而不要求黑暗。但是光明和黑暗之间并没有太大的区别。这只是程度的问题。我们选择了，也因此感到失望。我们应该做的只是寻找我们周围的快乐。无论遇到什么，我们都应该尽力从中获得所有可能的快乐

If we delve still deeper, we will realize that it is not really happiness which we should seek. We should try to avoid unhappiness. When we achieve something, the payoff is not as great as the pain we suffer if we fail to achieve it. It is this pain of failure, pain of frustrated desires which is of greater significance to us. It is actually like good health. One can only define health as an absence of diseases. In order to have good health we strive to avoid diseases. You cannot purchase or achieve good health directly. You have to take steps which keep your body free of diseases. Then only the organs of body keep functioning properly and you experience good health. Similarly, when one destroys the root cause of unhappiness the problems are over. And the root cause of all our unhappiness is DESIRE.

如果我们再深入探究，就会发现我们应该追求的并不是真正的幸福。我们应该设法避免不幸。当我们实现了某件事，其回报不如我们没有实现它所遭受的痛苦那么大。正是这种失败的痛苦，欲望受挫的痛苦对我们来说更重要。它实际上就像健康。人们只能把健康定义为没有疾病。为了有良好的健康，我们努力避免疾病。你不能直接购买或获得良好的健康。你必须采取措施使你的身体远离疾病。只有身体各器官正常运作，你才能体验到健康。同样地，当一个人破坏了不快乐的根源时，问题就结束了。而我们所有不快乐的根源是欲望。

If one can stop desiring, if one can take life as it comes, Then only one can be free of unhappiness.

如果一个人能停止欲望，如果一个人能接受生活的到来，那么只有一个人能摆脱不幸。