Keys to Happiness

Keys to Happiness

Happiness - is it having loving and compassionate relationships?  Or a caring community?  Is it a manner of worship?  Or having a sense of meaning?  Some say we are at our happiest when we are learning and are challenged.  Others believe happiness comes from fulfillment of personal needs.  Still others argue that happiness lies in forsaking our own self-interest to serve others.  

Happiness is an attribute of love. It cannot be apart from it. Nor can it be experienced where love is not.  Love has no limits, being everywhere.

-A Course in Miracles

‘Abdu’l-Bahá wisheth no one’s heart to feel hurt, nor will he be a source of grief to any one; for there is no greater satisfaction than being a source of joy to the hearts. I ask God that ye may become like angels of heaven, sources of happiness to souls.

-‘Abdu’l-Bahá

He that is discontented in one place, will seldom be happy in another. 

-Aesop

Happiness does not depend on what you have or who you are...  It solely relies on what you think.

-Buddha

Success, wealth, good health and nurturing relationships are by-products of happiness, not the cause.

-Deepak Chopr

I slept and dreamt that life was joy.

I awoke and saw that life was service

I acted and behold, service was joy.

-Tagore

A man living with his thoughts in this Kingdom knows perpetual joy. The ills all flesh is heir to do not pass him by, but they only touch the surface of his life, the depths are calm and serene. 

- ‘Abdu’l-Bahá

We are what we think. All that we are arises with our thoughts, with our thoughts we make the world. Speak or act with a pure mind and happiness will follow you as your shadow, unshakeable.

-The Dhammapada

The ideals which have always shone before me and filled me with the joy of living are...  goodness, beauty and truth.

-Albert Einstein

Happiness is a perfume which you cannot pour on someone without getting some on yourself.

-Ralph Waldo Emerson

Anyone can be happy in the state of comfort, ease, health, success, pleasure and joy; but if one be happy and contented in the time of trouble, hardship and prevailing disease, that is the proof of nobility. 

-‘Abdu’l-Bahá,

Happiness consists more in small conveniences or pleasures that occur every day, than in great pieces of good fortune that happen but seldom to a man in the course of his life.

-Benjamin Franklin

There is no way to happiness... Happiness is the way.

-Buddha

Happiness is when... what you think, what you say and what you do are in harmony

-Mahatma Ghandi

Go deep into thy heart. There is a realm in your heart. There it will spring up with the water of joy, a constant stream of joy will be flowing from your own heart. Nothing will stop it and nothing will be able to give it except yourselves. This is done by spiritual exercise.  

- Faizi

When I planted my pain in the field of patience, it bore fruit of happiness.

-Kahil Gibran

He is truly happy who makes others happy.  Those who face that which is actually before them, unburdened by the past, undistracted by the future, these are those who live, who make the best use of their lives, these are those who have found the secret of contentment.

-Alban Goodier

Happy is the lover that hath inhaled the divine fragrance of his Best-Beloved from these words, laden with the perfume of a grace which no tongue can describe. 

-Bahá’u’lláh,

Happiness is a butterfly, which when pursued is always just beyond your grasp, but which, if you will sit down quietly, may alight upon you.

-Nathaniel Hawthorne

Happiness can be found even in the darkest of times, if one only remembers to turn on the Light.

-Albus Dumbledore

He who has reached the state of self-sacrifice has true joy.

-‘Abdu’l-Bahá,

Things and conditions can give you pleasure, but they cannot give you joy, joy arises from within.

-Eckart Tolle

If you possess happiness you possess everything:  To be happy is to be in tune with God.

-Paramahansa Yogananda

The purpose of life is...the expansion of happiness.

-Maharishi Mahesh Yogi

If you wish the joy, happiness and the composure of the spirit and the peace of the conscience of Abdul Bahá, strengthen the bonds of union and harmony amongst yourselves so that all of you may become the waves of one sea, the drops of one river, the flowers of one garden, the links of one cuirass, soaring in the atmosphere and breaking forth into one glad song. 

-‘Abdu’l-Bahá

You pray in your distress and in your need, would that you might pray also in the fullness of your joy and in your days of abundance.

-Kahil Gibran

Ever since happiness heard your name, it has been running through the streets trying to find you.

-Hafez

Material progress insures the happiness of the human world. Spiritual progress insures the happiness and eternal continuance of the soul … In accordance with these principles and actions and by the assistance of the Holy Spirit, both material and spiritual happiness shall become realized. 

-‘Abdu’l-Bahá,

As a blind man feels when he finds a pearl in a dustbin, so am I amazed by the miracles of awakening rising in my consciousness. It is the nectar of immortality that delivers us from death, the treasure that lifts us from death, the treasure that lifts us above poverty into the wealth of giving to life, the tree that gives shade to us when we roam about scorched by life, the bridge that takes us across the stormy river of life, the cool moon of compassion that calms our mind when it is agitated, the fun that dispels darkness, the butter made from the milk of kindness by churning it with the dharma. It is a feast of joy to which all are invited.

-Shantideva

What is the difference

Between your experience of Existence

And that of a saint?

The saint knows

That the spiritual path

Is a sublime chess game with God

And that the Beloved

Has just made such a Fantastic Move

That the saint is now continually

Tripping over Joy

And bursting out in Laughter

And saying, “I Surrender!”

Whereas, my dear,

I am afraid you still think

You have a thousand serious moves.

-Hafez

Through suffering he will attain to an eternal happiness which nothing can take from him. 

-‘Abdu’l-Bahá,

Happiness is the meaning and the purpose of life, the whole aim and end of human existence.

-Aristotle

Thousands of candles can be lighted from a single candle, and the life of the candle will not be shortened. Happiness never decreases by being shared.

-Buddha

Man is, in reality, a spiritual being, and only when he lives in the spirit is he truly happy.

-‘Abdu’l-Bahá,

Your joy is your sorrow unmasked.

And the selfsame well from which your laughter rises was oftentimes filled with your tears.

And how else can it be?

The deeper that sorrow carves into your being, the more joy you can contain.

Is not the cup that holds your wine the very cup that was burned in the potter's oven?

And is not the lute that soothes your spirit, the very wood that was hollowed with knives?

When you are joyous, look deep into your heart and you shall find it is only that which has given you sorrow that is giving you joy.

When you are sorrowful look again in your heart, and you shall see that in truth you are weeping for that which has been your delight. 

Some of you say, "Joy is greater thar sorrow," and others say, "Nay, sorrow is the greater."

But I say unto you, they are inseparable.

Together they come, and when one sits, alone with you at your board, remember that the other is asleep upon your bed. 

Verily you are suspended like scales between your sorrow and your joy.

Only when you are empty are you at standstill and balanced.

When the treasure-keeper lifts you to weigh his gold and his silver, needs must your joy or your sorrow rise or fall.

-  Kahlil Gibran

Reflection Questions

1. In what way are spirituality any happiness intertwined?
2. Considering world events, what is there to be happy about in the world today?
3. In what ways can happiness be defined to reflect spiritual principles?
4. Forgiveness is a pervasive spiritual principal.  How does this relate to happiness? 
5. In what ways is happiness a universal path of enlightenment?
6. Is the pursuit of happiness virtuous? 
7. What role does happiness play in being successful? 
8. Share your special message of inspiration on Happiness? 
9. When are people happy enough?
10. How does gratitude play into spirituality and happiness?
11. If joy became the national currency, what kind of activity would make us wealthy in the currency of joy? 
12. How is ego a barrier to spirituality? Is it also a barrier to happiness?
13. How can living in a spiritual world bring perpetual joy? 
14. If our reality is spiritual can we be happy in the ephemeral world? 
15. What may be the relationship of sacrifice to joy and happiness?
16. How is our happiness impacted by being a source of joy to hearts of others?  
17. How do bonds of union and harmony contribute to happiness?
18. What role does material progress play in happiness?
19. What role does human suffering play in happiness?

Power of Words

Written or spoken, words are the currency through which thoughts take shape in our minds and are then expressed outwardly.  Almost like a living organism, words are capable of growing, spreading and effecting the world in many ways.  They have the power to change lives, to encourage, to discourage, to guide or misguide, to make or break relationships or to heal a broken heart.  

How do we use words to create meaning?  What distinguishes plain words from ‘words of wisdom’?  Is there a fine line between being politically correct and being conscious of the words we choose?  What aspect of words or their delivery makes them inspirational?  So how do we want to use our words- to deceive or to illuminate, to divide or to unite?  And how conscious should we be of when, where, how, how much and with whom we communicate?  What role do intention and purity of heart play? Do words of Divine Teachers carry more potency? Are there cultural and linguistic differences in how words influence the heart? What are the effects of excessive speech?  To what extent do factors such as timeliness, place, content and style influence its impact?  

"Raise your words, not your voice. It is rain that grows flowers, not thunder."

–Rumi

“Beware! Beware! Lest ye offend any heart!

Beware! Beware! Lest ye hurt any soul!

Beware! Beware! Lest ye deal unkindly toward any person!

Beware! Beware! Lest ye be the cause of hopelessness to any creature!”

-'Abdu'l-Baha

"The secret of being boring is to say everything."

–Voltaire

"Kind words can be short and easy to speak, but their echoes are truly endless."

-Mother Teresa

“A kindly tongue is the lodestone of the hearts of men. It is the bread of the spirit, it clotheth the words with meaning, it is the fountain of the light of wisdom and understanding. “

– Baha’u’llah

 “Kindness in words creates confidence. Kindness in thinking creates profoundness. Kindness in giving creates love.”

-Lao Tzu

“Better than a thousand hollow words, is one word that brings peace.“

-Buddha

“Do not be content with showing friendship in words alone, let your heart burn with loving kindness for all who may cross your path”

― Abdu'l-Bahá

“Whatever words we utter should be chosen with care for people will hear them and be influenced by them for good or ill.”

-Buddha

“For the tongue is a smoldering fire, and excess of speech a deadly poison. Material fire consumeth the body, whereas the fire of the tongue devoureth both heart and soul. The force of the former lasteth but for a time, whilst the effects of the latter endureth a century.”

– Baha’u’llah

“Prayer is not asking. It is a longing of the soul. It is daily admission of one's weakness. It is better in prayer to have a heart without words than words without a heart.”

-Mahatma Gandhi

“For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. The good person out of his good treasure brings forth good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure brings forth evil.”

– Matthew 12:33

“Keep your thoughts positive because your thoughts become your words. Keep your words positive because your words become your behavior. Keep your behavior positive because your behavior becomes your habits. Keep your habits positive because your habits become your values. Keep your values positive because your values become your destiny.”

-Gandhi

“Beware, O people of Baha, lest ye walk in the ways of them whose words differ from their deeds.”

– Baha’u’llah

“Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear.”

– Ephesians 4:29

“Take heed, O people, lest ye be of them that give good counsel to others but forget to follow it themselves.”

– Baha’u’llah

“There is one whose rash words are like sword thrusts, but the tongue of the wise brings healing.”

- Proverbs 12:18

"No man of wisdom can demonstrate his knowledge save by means of words. This showeth the significance of the Word as is affirmed in all the Scriptures, whether of former times or more recently. For it is through its potency and animating spirit that the people of the world have attained so eminent a position. Moreover words and utterances should be both impressive and penetrating. However, no word will be infused with these two qualities unless it be uttered wholly for sake of God and with due regard unto the exigencies of the occasion and the people."

-Baha'u'llah

“You talk when you cease to be at peace with your thoughts;

And when you can no longer dwell in the solitude of your heart you live in your lips, and sound is a diversion and a pastime.

And in much of your talking, thinking is half murdered.

For thought is a bird of space, that in a cage of words may indeed unfold its wings but cannot fly.

-K. Gibran

"Pleasant words are as a honeycomb, sweet to the soul and health to the bones."

-Proverbs 16:24

There are those among you who seek the talkative through fear of being alone.

The silence of aloneness reveals to their eyes their naked selves and they would escape.

And there are those who talk, and without knowledge or forethought reveal a truth which they themselves do not understand.

And there are those who have the truth within them, but they tell it not in words.

In the bosom of such as these the spirit dwells in rhythmic silence.

When you meet your friend on the roadside or in the market place, let the spirit in you move your lips and direct your tongue.

Let the voice within your voice speak to the ear of his ear;

For his soul will keep the truth of your heart as the taste of the wine is remembered

When the colour is forgotten and the vessel is no more.”

-K. Gibran

“Language creates reality. Words have power. Speak always to create joy.”

– Deepak Chopra

“Say: Human utterance is an essence which aspireth to exert its influence and needeth moderation. As to its influence, this is conditional upon refinement which in turn is dependent upon hearts which are detached and pure.”

– Baha’u’llah

“Let your eye be chaste, your hand faithful, your tongue truthful and your heart enlightened.”

– Baha’u’llah

"Kind words are the music of the world. They have a power which seems to be beyond natural causes, as if they were some angel's song which had lost its way and come to earth."

-Frederick William Faber

“Words mean more than what is set down on paper. It takes the human voice to infuse them with shades of deeper meaning.”

― Maya Angelou

“Once I knew only darkness and stillness... my life was without past or future... but a little word from the fingers of another fell into my hand that clutched at emptiness, and my heart leaped to the rapture of living.“

-Helen Keller

“O people!  Words must be supported by deeds, for deeds are the true test of words.  Without the former, the latter can never quench the thirst of the yearning soul, nor unlock the portals of vision before the eyes of the blind. The Lord of celestial wisdom saith:  A harsh word is even as a sword thrust; a gentle word as milk. The latter leadeth the children of men unto knowledge and conferreth upon them true distinction.”

–       Baha’u’llah

“Not everything that a man knoweth can be disclosed, nor can everything that he can disclose be regarded as timely, nor can every timely utterance be considered as suited to the capacity of those who hear it.”

–       Baha’u’llah