【中英专栏】人类的幸福到底是什么？

美国史学教授达林，曾写过一本书叫《幸福的历史》。主题就是：人类的幸福到底是什么？到底什么能给我们带来幸福？

答案是什么呢？“如同神话里盛过基督宝血的神杯一样，极致幸福也可能只存在于我们的想象中。”

换句话说，真正的幸福是得不到的。这种观点，可以说与佛教中讲的“三界无安”不谋而合。

或许有人驳斥：“人生中并非全是痛苦，还是有一些快乐的。”话虽不错，但实际上，这些快乐都是暂时的、无常的，随时可能会变成痛苦。所以，我们的快乐，就像一块蓝布上的小白点，只是偶尔的点缀，却不是人生的底色。

还有人以为，快乐存在于感官之上，比如身体的接触、悦耳的声音、漂亮的东西……确实，这些都可以带来快乐，但这种快乐特别肤浅，有时候通过药物也可以获得。

其实，真正的快乐来自内心，人要想离苦得乐，就必须从内心下手。

关键要知道：痛苦的根源是对自我的执著。因此，一旦你试着不再执著自我，将生活的重心转为利他，你会发现，原来压得你喘不过气来的东西，譬如对名利的殚精竭虑、对感情的患得患失，不知不觉中就不在了。

有个教授和一个学生在田间小道上散步，突然看到地上有双鞋，估计是附近一个农夫的。学生对教授说：“我们把鞋藏起来，躲到树丛后面，看看他找不到鞋子的感受怎么样？”

教授摇摇头：“我们不能把自己的快乐建立在别人的痛苦之上，你可以通过帮助他给自己带来更多快乐。你在每只鞋里放上一枚硬币，然后躲起来观察他的反应。”学生照做了，随后他们躲进了旁边的树丛。

没多久，一个农夫来到这里，把鞋往脚上套去。突然，他脱下鞋弯下腰，从里面摸出了一枚硬币，脸上一下充满了惊讶和欣喜。他又继续去摸另一只鞋，又发现了一枚硬币。这时，教授和学生看见他激动地仰望着蓝天，大声地表达着自己的感激之情，话语中谈到了生病无助的妻子、没有东西吃的孩子……

学生被这个场景深深地感动了，他的眼中充满了泪花。这时教授问：“你是不是觉得这比恶作剧更有趣呢？”

学生说：“我感觉到了以前从不曾懂得的一句话——给予比接受更快乐！”

佛陀告诉我们：一切快乐，都是从利益他人中产生的；一切痛苦，都是由只为自己而引起的。你若能明白这一点，并试着去慢慢改变，其实得到幸福很快，并且很长久。

American historian, Darrin M. McMahon, wrote a book Happiness: A History. Its theme is, “What exactly is the happiness of mankind? What precisely can bring us happiness?”

And the answer? “The holy grail of perfect happiness is one of those things, and like that precious mythic relic, said to have gathered blood from the side of the son of God, it, too, may exist only in our minds.”

In other words, true happiness will always remain elusive. Such a viewpoint accords with the Buddha’s teaching: “In the entire Three Worlds*, there is no happiness.”

Perhaps someone will object: “Human life is not all painful, there is some happiness still.” That’s right, but in reality, all happiness is temporary and impermanent, and at any given moment can turn into suffering. Our happiness is like a little white dot on a piece of blue fabric; it is only an occasional ornament rather than the background color of life.

Still, others reckon that happiness comes from our senses—such as touching the sensual body, hearing lovely melodies and seeing beautiful things. Indeed, such sensations will bring forth pleasures. However, they are superficial and at times can even be temporarily experienced through drugs.

Any person who wants to part from pain and attain happiness must work from the heart. That’s where genuine happiness comes from.

The key is to recognize that the root of suffering is the attachment to the self. As soon as you try to give up self-grasping and shift your life’s focus to the welfare of others, the heavy burdens that have stressed you out—your crazy pursuit of fame and wealth, your insecurity in love relationships—will disappear quietly.

Once, when a professor and a student were strolling along the paths of a field, they spotted a pair of shoes that likely belonged to a farmer. The student said to the professor, “Let’s hide the shoes and sneak behind the trees. It would be interesting to see how the farmer responds once he finds out his shoes are gone.”

The professor shook his head disapprovingly, “We should never build our pleasure upon the suffering of others. Instead, you’ll have more happiness through helping him. Why not put a coin in each of his shoes, then hide to observe his response.” The student did so and they hid behind the trees.

Before long a farmer came by and put on the shoes. Suddenly, he bent down to reach into one shoe and out of it came a coin. His face was immediately flooded with surprise and joy. He tried the other shoe and again found another coin. Then both the professor and the student saw the farmer look up at the blue sky in great excitement. He spoke loudly to express his gratitude, mentioning his sick, helpless wife and his starving children.

The student was deeply impressed and tears welled up in his eyes. The professor asked him, “Now, don’t you think this is something more noteworthy than a prank?”

The student answered, “Yes! It is better to give than to receive. I finally understand it now!”

The Buddha teaches us, “All happiness derives from benefiting others; all suffering comes from cherishing oneself.” If you take this teaching to heart and try to train yourself gradually, you’ll quickly experience enduring happiness.

* Three Worlds (or the Three Realms): In Buddhist cosmology, they are the world of desire, the world of form and the world of formlessness.