I translated this for a friend who I thought would want to read this blog post but can't read Farsi. Life presents people with many barriers, and language never ceases to be one. English helps every now and then, but it only goes so far. What follows is my English translation of another message from the center of the world.
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There isn't much doubt in that there is a certain "something" missing in most, if not all, of our lives, and that the lack of that "something" - whatever it may be - brings us suffering. We can name that "something" happiness, which may not necessarily be a misnomer. However, I think pursuing this "happiness" is futile. I'll tell you why. My main premise is this: it is "better" for each being to be closer to Nature - or better to say, to it's Nature, since nothing except the ways of Nature persist in the long run.
Let me start by saying this: Do mountains and plains, animals, or plants, get happy or sad? Well the answer is obvious: No, or at least we don't know. From what we can know, we can only deduce that the beings of nature are neither happy nor sad. These words are conditions that we attribute to them. In their Natural state of being, these things simply "exist". For us, on the other hand, happiness and sadness are parts of our natural state. The fact that we attribute happiness and sadness to ourselves and other beings shows that being happy or sad is part of our natural state of being as homo sapiens.
The main word in the previous sentence is "Natural" and the main thing I'm trying to say is that a significant portion of the modern-day happiness-inducing behaviors we experience, don't stem from our group of natural behaviors and consequently don't lead to any end. Let me explain these "natural behaviors" with the example of pouring water in a dry well. It must stand that the the well itself has water. If you pour water into it, it may, for a limited time, have water but with this pouring water, the well is not going to become hydrated. It's a collection of rainwater and underwater currents and depth and etc. that defines the "natural behaviors" of this well. Maybe the only thing we can do for that [dry] well is not to pour water in it but to make it deeper so that it's "natural behaviors" would have it become hydrated again. At first glance, however, there isn't much connection between hydrating a well and making it deeper, except for someone who has a grasp on underwater currents dynamics and wells [construction] and etc.
Similar to this, a big portion of our current day happy existence is also at odds with our stacks of natural behaviors. We either fake it. Reference? All these extravagant cameras which are supposed to exaggerate colours such that instead of looking at life, we just look at the pictures we take of it. [Another] reference? The photo collection of happy-looking people called Facebook. [Another] reference? The happiness-filled parties full of people who are sad in solitude and use the gathering as an excuse to escape from this sadness.
Or we just busy ourselves with obsessions. One becomes a movie addict, the other a cigarettes-&-alcohol addict, the other a photography addict, one a sex addict, a book addict, a weblog addict, a food addict, a writing addict, a job addict, maybe a success addict, articles, start-ups, mysticism, love, whatever. Obviously none of these obsessions are bad in themselves, obviously everyone should and must and ought to pursue their interests. The problem is the way these interests are chosen to be pursued. It's that you chase it to run away from your sadness and depression and fuel this with "fear" and "neediness" so that the obsession would distract you from sadness and fear and depression and whatever else you are considering "bad". Or you can pursue it with happiness, with affluence. If you write, or read or take photos or hike or pray or whatever it is you do, it's not a form of begging for a brief release or a cry for "happiness". It should be in a state of abundance, so that I'm not chained by its need, but want it for what it is.
Another thing I want to say is that this word "Happiness" has gotten way too much attention, it's become overrated*. Happiness is undoubtedly an integral part of the good life, whatever definition your good may have; yet like a small child who loves the pickles served next to a main course but hasn't some in a while and his body's ion content has dropped, so now he has made it his mission to fill every food dish in the world with pickles, happiness has also transformed into a parameter everyone is unceasingly trying to increase, no matter the cost. Happiness is a parameter in our mind and body's natural behavior, it's part of a natural system.
Natural systems are way more buffered than to have their stable conditions be changed in the long term with pills and supplementary medications. If your body's lacking Vitamin D, this shows an imbalance much deeper than your Vitamin D count. You can of course take Vitamin D pills, but if you want to fix the imbalance in the long term, you would probably need to change something significant in your life. In your food habits, sleep, physical activities, or as is often said you need to fix your "lifestyle". By taking Vitamin D pills, you may mask one of the symptoms of that imbalanced lifestyle, but that imbalance will do its harm in other many other places. Like a fever that signifies illness, although it must be controlled, forcibly nullifying it is not good for the body nor does it signify health. Lack of happiness is like this too. We can't fix that fundamental imbalance which shows itself in the form of a happiness deficiency with small fragments of happiness.
So what can we do now? I guess nothing, we can't do much. Let's not have a thirst for anything, especially happiness. Let's not pull or push it. Let's leave happiness alone, it'll return with other things on its own accord whenever balance comes back. Let's not be afraid of being unhappy, of weariness and loneliness. Saying this and carrying it out though are two entirely different things.
P.S. I think to myself imagine if someday one would be able to write, hike, brew tea, and love without a sense of fear or need. I know that this is neither perceivable nor imaginable.
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*: original writer used this word in English.
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There isn't much doubt in that there is a certain "something" missing in most, if not all, of our lives, and that the lack of that "something" - whatever it may be - brings us suffering. We can name that "something" happiness, which may not necessarily be a misnomer. However, I think pursuing this "happiness" is futile. I'll tell you why. My main premise is this: it is "better" for each being to be closer to Nature - or better to say, to it's Nature, since nothing except the ways of Nature persist in the long run.
Let me start by saying this: Do mountains and plains, animals, or plants, get happy or sad? Well the answer is obvious: No, or at least we don't know. From what we can know, we can only deduce that the beings of nature are neither happy nor sad. These words are conditions that we attribute to them. In their Natural state of being, these things simply "exist". For us, on the other hand, happiness and sadness are parts of our natural state. The fact that we attribute happiness and sadness to ourselves and other beings shows that being happy or sad is part of our natural state of being as homo sapiens.
The main word in the previous sentence is "Natural" and the main thing I'm trying to say is that a significant portion of the modern-day happiness-inducing behaviors we experience, don't stem from our group of natural behaviors and consequently don't lead to any end. Let me explain these "natural behaviors" with the example of pouring water in a dry well. It must stand that the the well itself has water. If you pour water into it, it may, for a limited time, have water but with this pouring water, the well is not going to become hydrated. It's a collection of rainwater and underwater currents and depth and etc. that defines the "natural behaviors" of this well. Maybe the only thing we can do for that [dry] well is not to pour water in it but to make it deeper so that it's "natural behaviors" would have it become hydrated again. At first glance, however, there isn't much connection between hydrating a well and making it deeper, except for someone who has a grasp on underwater currents dynamics and wells [construction] and etc.
Similar to this, a big portion of our current day happy existence is also at odds with our stacks of natural behaviors. We either fake it. Reference? All these extravagant cameras which are supposed to exaggerate colours such that instead of looking at life, we just look at the pictures we take of it. [Another] reference? The photo collection of happy-looking people called Facebook. [Another] reference? The happiness-filled parties full of people who are sad in solitude and use the gathering as an excuse to escape from this sadness.
Or we just busy ourselves with obsessions. One becomes a movie addict, the other a cigarettes-&-alcohol addict, the other a photography addict, one a sex addict, a book addict, a weblog addict, a food addict, a writing addict, a job addict, maybe a success addict, articles, start-ups, mysticism, love, whatever. Obviously none of these obsessions are bad in themselves, obviously everyone should and must and ought to pursue their interests. The problem is the way these interests are chosen to be pursued. It's that you chase it to run away from your sadness and depression and fuel this with "fear" and "neediness" so that the obsession would distract you from sadness and fear and depression and whatever else you are considering "bad". Or you can pursue it with happiness, with affluence. If you write, or read or take photos or hike or pray or whatever it is you do, it's not a form of begging for a brief release or a cry for "happiness". It should be in a state of abundance, so that I'm not chained by its need, but want it for what it is.
Another thing I want to say is that this word "Happiness" has gotten way too much attention, it's become overrated*. Happiness is undoubtedly an integral part of the good life, whatever definition your good may have; yet like a small child who loves the pickles served next to a main course but hasn't some in a while and his body's ion content has dropped, so now he has made it his mission to fill every food dish in the world with pickles, happiness has also transformed into a parameter everyone is unceasingly trying to increase, no matter the cost. Happiness is a parameter in our mind and body's natural behavior, it's part of a natural system.
Natural systems are way more buffered than to have their stable conditions be changed in the long term with pills and supplementary medications. If your body's lacking Vitamin D, this shows an imbalance much deeper than your Vitamin D count. You can of course take Vitamin D pills, but if you want to fix the imbalance in the long term, you would probably need to change something significant in your life. In your food habits, sleep, physical activities, or as is often said you need to fix your "lifestyle". By taking Vitamin D pills, you may mask one of the symptoms of that imbalanced lifestyle, but that imbalance will do its harm in other many other places. Like a fever that signifies illness, although it must be controlled, forcibly nullifying it is not good for the body nor does it signify health. Lack of happiness is like this too. We can't fix that fundamental imbalance which shows itself in the form of a happiness deficiency with small fragments of happiness.
So what can we do now? I guess nothing, we can't do much. Let's not have a thirst for anything, especially happiness. Let's not pull or push it. Let's leave happiness alone, it'll return with other things on its own accord whenever balance comes back. Let's not be afraid of being unhappy, of weariness and loneliness. Saying this and carrying it out though are two entirely different things.
P.S. I think to myself imagine if someday one would be able to write, hike, brew tea, and love without a sense of fear or need. I know that this is neither perceivable nor imaginable.
---
*: original writer used this word in English.
