Layperson's 4 Sources of Happiness

Prof. Lily de Silva (WQ edit)

We have already seen the extraordinary happiness available through the ascetic life (Samanaphala Sutta) because a king thought to ask the Buddha: What legitimate reason could someone possibly have to become a Buddhist monastic? The Buddha answered in terms of pleasure superior to that of a king. However, there is also a great deal of happiness borne of living a good Buddhist life as a layperson. Lily de Silva explains.

Physically, mankind has devolved. One now succumbs to untimely death by "diseases of affluence" (such as cancer, heart failure, diabetes). Mentally, we are so tension-ridden that most of us have forgotten the art of relaxing and so cannot enjoy sound sleep. In this set up interpersonal relationships become brittle and vulnerable, the divorce rate climbs, setting loose a series of social problems. Indeed, life has become problematic, a burden. And there is a great pressing need for a solution.

The words of the Buddha are of immeasurable value, universally applicable, because the Buddha taught not only monks and nuns, but also to the lay public. In fact, most of his teaching was to ordinary "householders." It is possible and useful to find Teachings of the Buddha relevant to the present-day, of immediate benefit, inviting us to come and see.

In the Pattakammavagga of the Anguttara Nikaya (AN II, 69), the Buddha gives a discourse (sutra) to the millionaire Anathapindika on the Fourfold Pleasures of a Layperson. This sutra offers valuable insights to meet present-day demands. It discusses four types:

1. pleasure of having material wealth (atthisukha)
2. pleasure of enjoying material wealth (bhogasukha)
3. pleasure of being debtless (ananasukha), and
4. pleasure of being blameless (anavajjaskha).

How can these sources of pleasure be harnessed for leading a happy lay life in the present day?

I. HAVING WEALTH — One is wise to have an ecological means of living (right livelihood), avoiding blameworthy trades such as dealing in:

• meats
• intoxicants
• poisons
• weapons
• slaves

Instead, one pursues an occupation in a wholesome, harmless way. For instance, if a doctor welcomes poor lifestyle diseases in order to make money, like a trader hoping for natural calamities to send market prices up, the money earned is not honest money, but rather money made impure and foul by one's intentions.

One also avoids defrauding, deceiving, or exploiting others in the performance of one's job. One does not use "It's my job" as an excuse for bad karma. Exerting oneself for the good of oneself and others, one works with great perseverance. One earns a living. And such hard-earned wealth is called wholesome, blameless wealth (dhammika dhammaladdha). One amasses great wealth, with a sense of contentment, able to enjoy the pleasure of having it.

Otherwise, hoarding even massive wealth is like attempting to fill a bottomless vessel. Greed run all out of control is one of the widespread maladies seen in societies. This inordinate amassing of wealth becomes a source of aching misery and debilitating anxiety. Such wealth exposes the possessor to the jealousies and maneuvers of other unscrupulous individuals, hence the occurrence from time to time of crimes like blackmailing and kidnapping for ransom.

But if one has a righteous means of earning a living and the correct attitude toward wealth, one can escape many of the hazards that money brings in its wake to modern people.

II. ENJOYING WEALTH — Wealth only has instrumental value. And the proper enjoyment of wealth is an art well worth cultivating. Buddhism avoids both personal extravagance and miserly hoarding. One must maintain a healthy balanced standard of living according to one's means. If, in the enjoyment of wealth, one overindulges in sense pleasures, one is bound to run into health hazards in a very short time.

If, for instance, one overindulges in food just because one can afford it, one will soon be overcome by diseases such as heart diabetes, failure, and high blood pressure. Such a person will be faced with the situation of "cutting one's neck with one's own tongue." Moderation in food is a virtue praised in Buddhism, and it is a health-promoting habit.

Often in the name of enjoying wealth, one cultivates unhealthy habits such as smoking and drinking. It is paradoxical that humans, who actually love themselves most, should act as if they were their own worst enemies by indulging in habits that ultimately reduce them to physical wrecks. It is medically established that smoking causes the highest percentage of lung cancer, and that drinking causes irreparable damage to vital organs. If only one pauses to ponder over one's own welfare, and if only one entertains some degree of compassion towards oneself, one would not get into the clutches of these vicious habits.

Wealthy people often end up in the pitiful plight of the ant fallen in a pot of honey. Such people do not know the art of enjoying wealth. Regarding this body as simply an instrument of pleasure, they wear out and debilitate their capacity for enjoyment in double quick time, long before the natural process of wear and tear would set in.

If we love ourselves, we treat our bodies with care without taxing it with the alternate extremes of overindulgence and deprivation. It is with this body that we can enjoy not only the pleasures of the senses, but even the spiritual bliss of nirvana.

Another aspect of the joy of wealth is the art of sharing (generosity and charity or caga and dana). Without being a "never-giver" (adinnapubbaka), if one learns to share one's riches with the less fortunate, one will have the noble experience of being happy at the joy of another. This is called mudita (empathy or happiness at another's happiness). And at that time one earns the appreciation and goodwill of others, instead of becoming the target of jealousy and intrigue.

III. DEBTLESSNESS — The pleasure of being debtless is the third quality discussed in this sutra. If one can be completely free of debt, one is indeed a very fortunate person. To be debtless in society one has to discharge one's obligations scrupulously.

As a wage earner, one has a duty to work rather than living beyond one's means, otherwise one can be indebted by mismanagement.

As a parent one has to fulfill one's obligations to one's children. In society children are taught to respect and look after their parents. But one would do well to remember that parents too have to qualify themselves for the honor they receive by being dutiful parents. It should be emphasized that fathers who neglect their families as a result of their addiction to vices, such as drinking and gambling, fall far short of the ideal of debtlessness.

One can have the satisfaction of being debtless only if one has fulfilled one's obligations in the social roles one has to perform.

Alcohol consumption at Harvard -- failed path to happiness

IV. BLAMELESSNESS — The satisfaction of leading a blameless life is the highest form of satisfaction that a layperson can have. Every society has a code of ethics to be followed by its members. According to Buddhism, the minimum code of ethics regulating the life of its adherents is the Five Precepts:

1. abstain from taking life
2. abstain from taking what is not given
3. abstain from sexual misconduct
4. abstain from tale bearing
5. abstain from intoxicants that occassion heedlessness

If one practices these virtues, one can have the satisfaction of leading a righteous life to a great extent. Refraining from doing to others what one does not like being done to oneself is the basic principle underlying these virtues.

Buddhism speaks of the sense of shame-about-wrongdoing (hiri) and fear-of-wrongdoing (ottappa) as heavenly qualities (deva dhamma). These are the basic qualities that separate humans from animal and lower planes of existence. Unlike animals, human have a conscience that makes them squeamish about wrongdoing.

Buddhism recognizes blameless mental activity as well. Mental activities -- which spring from greed, hatred, and delusion -- are unwholesome and blameworthy. They are unbeneficial in that they lead to one's harm. Such mental behavior is a source of unhappiness: Take for instance the case of a person who is angry. What are the symptoms of anger?

• hard breathing
• accelerated heartrate
• fast circulation of blood
• feeling hot
• sweating
• tension
• trepidation
• restlessness and so on

All of these are the physical manifestations of anger. They are certainly not comfortable physical experiences. Each time the cause of anger is remembered, even though the physical manifestations of anger may not be as marked, one feels restless and mentally ill at ease.

We use expressions such as "boiling with anger," "I got the devil into me," and so on to mean getting angry. These sayings are more literal than figurative. It is simply impossible to be angry and happy at the same time: An irritable person is a very sad person, and what is worse is that one infects others with that sadness.

In Buddhism, the word for mind -- seat of consciousness -- is heart (citta).

THE FOUR DIVINE ABIDINGS

There are four Sublime Modes of Behavior (brahmaviharas):

1. loving-kindness
2. active compassion
3. sympathetic joy (mudita)
4. equanimity

They are truly conducive to happy living here and now. Those who develop such attitudes to the point of being habits are pleasant and amicable people who are happy alone and in company.

If we understand the significance of the four kinds of happiness elucidated in this sutra, translating them into action, life will be much more pleasureable, pleasant, and happy even in this modern age. More>>