Of People and their happiness

What is it that people really desire? A quick look around will tell us that people clamor for more of everything materialistic. Can we have a bigger house? How about a faster car? And in so far as money is concerned, the more the merrier. The question becomes, how much is good? Well, given the fact that our desires are emanating from a bottomless pit, the sky seems to be the limit. Will an attempt to satisfy these needs give people the happiness that they seek? After all, is it not happiness that everyone is chasing?

The million-dollar question is why do people desire or hate external objects? People think that the acquisition of objects will generate happiness and the avoidance of undesired objects will safeguard their happiness. So if it’s only happiness that people seek, all they need to do is understand that objects by themselves don’t have happiness intrinsically. Unlike, say, sugar. It is intrinsically sweet no matter who eats it.

However, are objects intrinsically of the nature of producing happiness? If so, all that people need to do is to acquire objects. Let’s take the example of chocolate. People who love chocolate believe that it gives them joy. If a chocolate intrinsically gives happiness, everyone in this world would like them. But that is not the case. We see millions of people who hate sweets and avoid them like the plague. The sweet dish that apparently produced joy also brings up revulsion when one is nauseated or unwell.

So in essence, what objects do to people is just temporarily assuage a craving. When the craving agitation stops, they assume it to be happiness. However, the craving starts again later. A clear understanding that objects by themselves don’t produce joy will help people interact with them minus all emotional attachments. That is the path to real happiness.