Whatever happiness is found in sensual pleasures,

And whatever there is of heavenly bliss –

These are not worth one sixteenth-part

Of the happiness that comes with cravings’ end.

                                                                                    Udana 2:2 (Pali Canon)

 

This talk is based on “Happiness,” Chapter 3 in “The Jhanas: A Practical Guide to Deep Meditative States” by Shaila Catherine.  Shaila Catherine is a contemporary Buddhist practitioner who has spent most of her adult life dedicated to the Dharma, including nine years in total in retreat.

I read this chapter in the sun this morning in the seats outside the Fingerprints coffee shop, whilst enjoying a slice of chocolate cake and a large cappuccino.  I was very happy – and felt temporarily free of the troubles of the world. 

However, later there was a stressful phone call, a dentist bill, and dissatisfaction over tiredness due to a sleepless night and then the rush to prepare this mini-talk.

After the above quote on happiness, Chapter Three, reminds us of the four noble truths in the following fashion:

To understand the fact of suffering

To abandon the craving the causes suffering

To realize the end of suffering

To cultivate the way leading to the end of suffering

 

Shaila Catherine is keen to point out that Buddhism is not just about suffering.  She says, “The Buddha realized these truths after he saturated his consciousness in the sublime happiness of jhana.  Happiness is the essential context for a liberating insight into the basic facts of discontent.”

Shaila also points out that the  Buddha was happy, (and funny).  As were his disciplines.  They were not dour renunciates.  They were “amiable, dedicated, humorous and happy.”

“There are two kinds of happiness: the kind to be pursued and the kind to be avoided.  When I observed that in the pursuit of such happiness, unwholesome factors increased and wholesome factors decreased, then that happiness was to be avoided.  When I observed that in the pursuit of such happiness, unwholesome factors decreased and wholesome ones increased , then that happiness was to be sought after.”

Those present were then invited to participate in the Exercise “Dwelling with Joy.“    This involved remembering a time when joy arose based on virtuous activity, and then dwelling in this joy for a few minutes, before finally reporting back to the group.

In her book, Shaila Catherine, goes onto describe how the Buddha described a threefold hierarchy of happiness:

1. Carnal happiness (sensual pleasure), for example, the chocolate cake.
2. Spiritual happiness, “states of rapture, joy, and equanimity, develop through concentration and clarified in jhana.”
3. Happiness that is more spiritual than spiritual happiness.

Direct experience of higher happiness in jhana leads to corresponding dispassion towards the coarser states.  It is said that once you know “the taste of bee’s fine honey  – you will not crave coarse brown sugar.”

Sensual pleasures, like chocolate cake are brief, but not necessarily bad or immoral.  Just not an effective strategy for achieving lasting happiness.

“Wherever there is attachment to sensual pleasures, there follows fear of avoidable change.”

We are looking for:

The delight of non-remorse associated with virtue

The rapture that arises with concentration

The happiness that come with wholesome states such as love and compassion

The contentment that comes with simplicity and renunciation

The equanimity of tranquil states

The bliss of release

 

“The Buddha described five qualitatively distinct feelings of happiness found within the progression of jhanas: happiness born of seclusion, happiness born of concentration, happiness associated with mindfulness and equanimity, the feeling of equanimity that is neither pleasant nor unpleasant, and the “peaceful abidings” characteristic of the formless sphere.”  – the potentiality for joy is virtually limitless.

A description of the first four jhanas is also given:

1^st Jhana frees the mind from unwholesome states and the impingement of sensuality

2^nd Jhana – “happiness that is born of concentration, – one’s entire experience is drenched, filled and infused with the ecstatic experience of joyous rapture.”

3^rd Jahna -happiness associated with mindfulness and equanimity.  Shaila Catherine describes how on one long retreat she remained in third jhana until the sign of fourth jhana naturally arose.

4^th Jhana – characterised by deep stillness, complete focus, and equipoise

Finally, Awakening is happiness that is “more spiritual than the spiritual.”  The end of suffering.

 

Questions:

1. “Bring mindfulness to your experience of pleasant events throughout your day. What occurs that sparks pleasure?  How do you respond to it? Open yourself to pleasure, but resist adding the attachment that wants it to last.”

 

2. To attain first jhana we must stop searching for gratification through sensory experience. We have been conditioned to look for lasting happiness from successful home life, work, and relationships.  Most people have discovered that this does not work?  What is your experience? Do you agree?

 

3. Do you think we think too much/not enough about dukkha? Or too much/not enough about happiness?

 

4. Do you think we have to choose between happiness and survival?