Deconstructing happiness and meaning

[Someone here]

 Now dont judge a book by its title ..hear me out ..I do believe there is a correlation between happiness .. Pleasure.. Pain.. Suffering.. Etc. Tbh there is no such thing as what Buddhist rats call "causeless" happiness. Unless you can explain it to me.. Maybe then i will change my mind. But I do think happiness is a condition. And just like all conditions.. Temporary and unsubstantiated. It's not like you can be happy all the time. You have to experience pain and suffering.thats just part of life isnt that obviously true ..? In fact I'd argue that happiness is only 20% of life (generally). While 30 % is suffering. And the rest 50 % is mundane and boring (just another day). 

Tbh I'm leaning towards a depressed nihilistic view on life recently. But this nihilism also has been a great pain-killer. I was walking home one evening earlier this year.. my existence shifted with a single passing thought...I was chronically stressed at college overwhelmed by expectations.. grasping for a sense of achievement or greater purpose and tip-toeing towards full-on exhaustion. Then it hit me: “Who cares? One day I will be dead and no one will remember me anyway.”

I can’t explain the crashing sense of relief. It was as if my body dumped its cortisol levels and i started crying like a baby .  I looked at the sky and thought: “I’m just a chunk of meat hurtling through space on a rock orbiting the sun In the middle of the nowhere. Pointless.. Futile.. meaningless.” It was one of the most comforting revelations in my life.. To discover that real happiness along with other kinds of illusions are indeed illusions. Please anyone reading who are having the best time of their lives like @Aaron p dont get upset or anything.. Im just sharing honest opinions on hope for clearer communication.  Don't know if any of  you  guys ever went through a nihilistic phase in your life. But I'm stuck in one atm . It's kinda like when you are so autisticly smart that you simply can't buy the BS that people use to comfort themselves with in this dumb meaningless weird existence. 

share whatever comes to mind please!.

[theleelajoker]

In my experience there is indeed a cycle with "happiness" and "non-happiness". Up and down. Can't have a one sides coin.

A the same time, I feel I do get a bit more relaxed, centered, calm as I grow older. Not caring so much about others expectations, or my own but just doing my thing. Becoming more conscious if my programming, cultural programming etc. Looking more inside than outside,

Just remember that "happyness, sadness, pleasure, nihilism" are just words.  I learned that it is good for me to go more into physical sensations and less into words. Be careful not to think too much about it.

And for the nihilism: This is likely to change instantaneously  the moment you meet a girl/boy you like very much. Suddenly you will care about a lot of things quite a lot : )

Edited yesterday at 07:40 AM by theleelajoker

[Breathe]

7 hours ago, Someone here said:

I do believe there is a correlation between happiness .. Pleasure.. Pain.. Suffering

Yes

7 hours ago, Someone here said:

Tbh there is no such thing as what Buddhist rats call "causeless" happiness. Unless you can explain it to me.. Maybe then i will change my mind.

But this type of happiness is different.

This is where the term "happiness" becomes murky. I would describe this more like contented enjoyment, or contented joy. You don't experience it for any other reason except that the mind is calm and tranquil and fear, sadness, anger, fatigue, etc are not present. All of those conditions must be met.

An other way to describe it is that it feels pleasant to let attention rest in the body. It is a meditative happiness. There is no need to be anywhere else.

I would also like to point out that one is not likely to experience this if their needs are not met: social, financial, emotional, food, water, shelter, etc. One in survival mode cannot get there. Depression, stress, and anxiety are major hindrances.

Lastly, you said, "Explain it to me.. Maybe then I will change my mind"

It cannot be explained, but when you begin to touch on this state of mind again and again you will KNOW.

Edited yesterday at 07:37 AM by Breathe

[ExploringReality]

Happiness is conditional. But there is the possibility of Absolute Happiness or Absolute Tranquility of Mind. Like the eye of the storm, unperturbed and still within motion. 

Yes your happiness is conditional and different people need different things to be happy relatively speaking. Suffering is inevitable so we are driven to minimize suffering and pain, to pursue pleasure, satisfaction and ease temporarily until we drop dead.

Depending on your state of consciousness, the idea of time is relative. Being happy all the time can be recontexualized as in no matter what happens to me or around me, happiness is not dependent on circumstances. It's an advanced way of living because you have to strip away the ego and it's hold on reality. Circumstances don't matter, only my state of being matters, then you choose the state of being you prefer to be in.

Just stay open minded and be skeptical of the meanings you are assigning to words and try to see it differently because they're may be more to what you see.

As for nihilism, you can choose to see reality and the universe as being insignificantly small and trivial, or as magnificent and beautiful. Because reality as it's occurring is so magical and mysterious that it's infinite. Those stars you see are only a fraction of what is there and then you look at yourself and it zooms in forever in everyway. The universe is infinite and you are infinite because you are the universe experiencing itself as a particular point within yourself. You are amazing. You are it. It is you.

Edited yesterday at 07:33 AM by ExploringReality

[Breathe]

7 hours ago, Someone here said:

Don't know if any of  you  guys ever went through a nihilistic phase in your life.

It's not so much a phase as it is a journey. You might want to learn about the differences between nihilism, absurdism, and existentialism. As you navigate through life with a certain level of insight, your perspective will change to suit one or more of the above descriptors. Meaningless isn't a bad thing unless you are attached to life or things being one way or another. Otherwise, meaningless will eat you alive, destroy your soul. It can get nasty.

You are asking the right questions.

The happiness I described above is the only way out of the existential rut.

Life has no meaning. Meaning is subjective. One's interpretation of meaning is dependent on getting what you want or things going your way. No such luck mister. People get hit by semi-trucks, die in fires, lose their kids, their job, etc. Shit happens.

As you alluded to, you just roll with the punches.

But you NEED a spiritual practice that prevents you from getting sucked too deeply into the drama of life. And this will certainly happen. Over and over and over. The practice is navigating this cycle and becoming more skillful at doing so.

Good luck!

Edited yesterday at 07:41 AM by Breathe

[ExploringReality]

"Meaninglessness has no meaning, therefore you can still create! God doesn't create because it matters or has meaning, God creates because it doesn't matter, God creates for the joy of creation ". Leo said this which may help. Watch his video below