UNDERSTANDING HAPPINESS AND PROSPERITY CORRECTLY- A CRITICAL APPRAISAL OF THE CURRENT SCENARIO
Happiness may be defined as being in harmony/synergy in the state/situation that I live in. ” A state or situation in which I live, if there is harmony in it then I like to be in that state/situation. The state of liking is happiness. ” Whereas, prosperity is the ” feeling of having or making available more than required physical facilities “.
In the current scenario, we are generally trying to achieve happiness and prosperity by maximizing the accumulation and consumption of physical facilities. This is an attempt to achieve happiness through pleasant sensory interactions. The physical facilities are not seen in terms of fulfilling bodily needs but as a means of maximizing happiness. This has resulted in the wrong assessment of wants for physical facilities as being unlimited.
But this pursuit is self-defeating. Neither can we hope to achieve continuous happiness through sensory interactions nor can we have prosperity, as it amounts to trying to fulfill unlimited wants through limited resources. This effort is engendering problems at all levels. It is becoming anti-ecological and anti-people and threatening human survival itself.
Some of the Consequences of such a Trend are Summarised below:
- At the level of the individual: Rising problems of depression, psychological disorders, suicides, stress, insecurity, psycho-somatic diseases, loneliness, etc.
- At the level of the family: Breaking of joint families, mistrust, conflict between older and younger generations, insecurity in relationships, divorce, dowry tortures, family feuds, wasteful expenditure on family functions, etc.
- At the level of the Society: Growing incidences of terrorism and Naxalism, rising communalism, spreading casteism, racial and ethnic struggle, wars between nations, attempts of genocide, fear of nuclear and genetic warfare, etc.
- At the level of nature: Global warming, water, air, soil, noise, etc. pollution, resource depletion of minerals and mineral oils, sizeable deforestations, loss of fertility of the soil. It, therefore, calls for an urgent need for human beings to correctly understand happiness and prosperity as well as the sustainable way to achieve these.
| Our Present State / A Critical Appraisal of the Current Scenario |
| Present Day Relationship |
| State | Reason |
| Sometimes more good and fulfilling relationships | Good Understanding |
| Sometimes less fulfilling relationships lead to unhappiness | Living with wrong assumptions Unable to understand others and their expectations |
| Present-Day Physical Facilities |
| State | Reason |
| Want to feel prosperous but only accumulate wealth | Wrong assumptions of getting more happiness with more wealth |
| Want to enrich Nature but are exploiting and destroying it. | Adopting bad and eco-destructive practices for our development |
Also, read
- Understanding and living in Harmony at various levels
- Understanding Harmony in Human beings
- Difference between sukh and suvidha
- Needs of Human
- Understanding the Needs of Self and Body
