Joy, or happiness, has often been the common character of a "good" life, no matter to ancient Egyptians, or to Aristotle, or to probably most of us.
For thousands of years, countless many people have been pondering on this word, have been searching beyond and within for it, have been exerting trial-and-error efforts to understand it, and yet here we are, today, still baffled and battered every now and then.
Reading the ethics chapter of any philosophy book will give you a good summary of the views from many great minds, hence I just want to share something personal.
I am one of the happier gals, the fact of which, I believe, will be nodded at by most people around me. In the domain of happiness, my days so far can be divided into two major regimes : "ignorant happiness" (or "blind happiness"), and "skillful happiness".
Accidently, coming to America 10 years ago denotes the watershed between those two regimes. Don't get me wrong. It's not like there are monsters and wolves in US. If I am asked of a question that "what is the best thing that has ever happened to you", my answer, without hesitation, will be "come to America". I think it's that dramatic change of environment catalyzed a quake that shattered the unsound foundation of my spiritual world. And I am 120% glad that it happened that way instead of paining me through a slow death. About 1.5 years ago, I started to have this delightful feeling that finally a butterfly had morphed successfully from a caterpillar, or that a phoenix had risen from ashes... I could smell spring everyday, and I had never been that live - not because I did something majestic or became a big shot, but because I felt I found, not without pain, joy, and the path leading to it - this time it's a different kind of joy, more mindful, more sustainable, and more sophisticated. It has been a profound and life-changing experience.
For thousands of years, countless many people have been pondering on this word, have been searching beyond and within for it, have been exerting trial-and-error efforts to understand it, and yet here we are, today, still baffled and battered every now and then.
Reading the ethics chapter of any philosophy book will give you a good summary of the views from many great minds, hence I just want to share something personal.
I am one of the happier gals, the fact of which, I believe, will be nodded at by most people around me. In the domain of happiness, my days so far can be divided into two major regimes : "ignorant happiness" (or "blind happiness"), and "skillful happiness".
Accidently, coming to America 10 years ago denotes the watershed between those two regimes. Don't get me wrong. It's not like there are monsters and wolves in US. If I am asked of a question that "what is the best thing that has ever happened to you", my answer, without hesitation, will be "come to America". I think it's that dramatic change of environment catalyzed a quake that shattered the unsound foundation of my spiritual world. And I am 120% glad that it happened that way instead of paining me through a slow death. About 1.5 years ago, I started to have this delightful feeling that finally a butterfly had morphed successfully from a caterpillar, or that a phoenix had risen from ashes... I could smell spring everyday, and I had never been that live - not because I did something majestic or became a big shot, but because I felt I found, not without pain, joy, and the path leading to it - this time it's a different kind of joy, more mindful, more sustainable, and more sophisticated. It has been a profound and life-changing experience.
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