The Art of Happiness

If humans can create beautiful works of art, in theory humans should also easily create the art of happiness. Happy people are not supernatural, we can see it. But strangely, the art of happiness is like an antique that must be sought after.

We believe there are many theories to achieve happiness, that's why some call it the art of happiness. Art is a skill and an expert is not just born. A process of struggle definitely accompanies it so becoming an expert is not easy.

 

Happiness Doesn't Require Publication

The meaning of happiness itself may be a matter of debate, at least among people who pretend to be happy. Then there is the term true happiness. Happiness is like a service, there is economy class and executive class. However, the definition of happiness is clear. According to the Big Indonesian Dictionary, happiness is a state of mind or feeling of pleasure, peace of life physically and mentally.

Even in the doctrines of some religious leaders, happiness often has the connotation of obedience to religious commands. If someone can carry out religious ritual obligations, he feels happy because he is free from obligations. In the end, the ritual was only to abort obligations, simply wanting heaven and being afraid of hell.

So the person who lives for religion will be different from the person who uses religion to live. Unfortunately, happiness does not have an official institution that can label someone whether they are happy or not.

It seems that happiness is not something that needs to be proclaimed, but something that should be enjoyed rather than needed to be published. Because if happiness requires publication, of course there will be an official office. That's why the art of happiness can vary depending on the position of the person concerned. But people who already know the art of happiness can be happy in any position.

Adam Searches for Happiness

Plato said that humans consist of soul and body combined in an unhappy union. So if we read the book of Adam's fairy tales before going to bed, it is proven that we are an unhappy union of body and soul. Adam was expelled from the paradise of Aden in an unhappy condition because he ate the forbidden fruit. As his children and grandchildren, we inherit that unhappiness and seek it on earth.

Adam was happy that after a long journey on earth he could finally be with Eve again. Many of us find happiness because we meet a suitable partner, so to speak. But now Adam is not only provided with one woman, there are many women he can choose from. Either his official first love at home or a spare love from a disposable love peddler.

Adam's children and grandchildren do have different definitions of happiness according to their position. They are both trying to unite their bodies and souls so that they are both happy. Maybe it's better interpreted as being in harmony, not contradictory. If all individuals seek happiness like that, it is natural that there is the term true happiness. Happiness is too much so someone has to go up a class and pass the eligibility test to become true happiness.

The story of Adam is only told in divine religious books. Meanwhile, in older Ardhi religions, such as Hinduism and Buddhism, the story of Adam does not exist. Adam became an image of humans or even a technique for the apostles to convince their followers to understand the ins and outs of humans. Because self-knowledge is considered important to believe in the existence of God.

It is said that Adam was sent down to earth separately from Eve. Maybe one is in the west and one is in the east or Adam is in the south while Eve is in the north. To be together again like in Aden they have to travel.

Why didn't stories like this exist in the old religions? Maybe it's true that Adam is just an image of all humans. So what we really want to tell is the journey of every human being to find themselves. Meanwhile, eve is actually a symbol of human authenticity.

Since the fourth century BC, Plato has begun to hint at this journey of happiness. So Adam is not necessarily male. Because Adam's story will get worse if gender is an issue. Moreover, here we are trying to become artists of happiness. We are currently in an era where women have the same rights as men.

Since ancient times, happiness has had no problem with gender. happiness belongs to all two-legged creatures called humans. Meanwhile, animals and plants are quite happy with their current situation. Just look at a weaver bird whose nest is beautiful, it never has the desire to turn its nest into an apartment. Likewise, the plants he grows live up to his name. Corn plants will bear corn and may not bear mango.

The Art of Happiness

Does happiness ultimately have to be like the weaver bird and the corn tree? Actually, there is only a slight difference, only humans can choose. We can choose whatever we want. Whether the choice is good or bad, we ourselves will bear it. In this way, a blank canvas spreads within every human being. If he can paint his own canvas well, he will become part of the beauty of the great canvas of the universe.

The large canvas of the universe certainly cannot reject bad paintings, because good paintings need comparisons to have good value. Then we learn that everything balances each other out, like pieces of a puzzle, everything becomes a variable on this big canvas. It's like we're stranded, even though no matter how bad we are, we're still part of a masterpiece on the big canvas of the universe.

The beauty of the universe is so skilled at weaving all appearances into an inseparable part of universal beauty. The universe is a work of art whose calculations are so accurate. The expression of a great soul who surrenders to accept all kinds of growth within himself.

Humans reflect the structure and function of the universe. Man is a small universe is a microcosm and macrocosm concept found in several ancient Chinese philosophical and spiritual traditions. This idea is the same in several Western philosophical traditions, about the interconnectedness of everything, including the human body and the universe.

Scientifically, the human body has certain basic characteristics in common with the universe. Humans are also made of atoms and follow certain physical laws. In this way, humans are one soul with the universe.

Meanwhile, according to Plato, the soul is immortal and transcendent or extraordinary and has innate knowledge (ideas) from birth. The body or body is always temporal and profane or impure and polluted.

So the art of happiness doesn't seem like an antique that we have to look for. The art of happiness has been within us since birth but has been hidden by the temporal desires of the body.