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Abraham Ayala

Professor Ditch

English 113A

9 May 2018

Finding Happiness WithinYourself

Through reading the articles “The Alchemy of Suffering” by Matthieu Ricard and “The

Sources of Happiness” by Howard Cutler and his Holiness the Dalai Lama in Pursuing Happi-

ness they aim to share their points which have a central commonality. The common idea shared

between both texts is how one views their own happiness and if it is actual happiness or just

pleasure that can lead to suffering. There is a difference between happiness and pleasure that

many do not realize. In “The Alchemy of Suffering” Ricard states that there are three types of

suffering hidden suffering, visible suffering, and invisible suffering. In the reading “The Sources

of Happiness” by Howard Cutler and his Holiness the Dalai Lama they write that happiness

comes from within and not from pleasure. The significance that Ricard, Cutler, and the Dalai

Lama want their readers to learn is why it is important to know the difference between both hap-

piness and pleasure. Ricard, Cutler, and the Dalai Lama are all trying to connect the main idea

that happiness should be ones main focus rather than having pleasure in your life that can cause

suffering. The reasoning why pleasure is bad is because it is a distraction from the end goal

which is true happiness that comes from within. I can concur with the authors’ main point based

on my experiences with materialistic items. The truth of the matter is I get bored of them and

continue to want the newest items out. I personally do not buy myself these items, however, I do

receive materialistic items as gifts and although I am very grateful they are just items at the end
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of the day. The reason I chose not to spend my money on materialistic items is because they will

not make me any happier than I already am.

Pleasure according to the Dalai Lama is “unstable; one day [it’s] there, the next day it

may not be” (30). In other word’s, the Dalai Lama is explaining that pleasure is only temporary.

In addition to this statement, Ricard writes “Hidden suffering is concealed beneath the appear-

ance of pleasure, freedom from care, fun” (36). Many do not see that pleasure has the potential of

becoming hidden suffering. Pleasure is temporary, one's true goal in life should be happiness be-

cause happiness is considered stable and pleasure is unsuitable. Happiness according to the Dalai

Lama is relating “more to the mind and heart” (30). In my life, I have realized that many people

rather have pleasure as opposed to happiness and the reasoning behind that is because most do

not know the difference. Men and Women confuse the two and feel that pleasure is happiness, for

example, the Dalai Lama writes in “On the surface, it seemed like a fairly obvious observation;

of course, happiness and pleasure were two different things. And yet, we human beings are often

quite adept at confusing the two” (30). The reason that we human beings confuse the two is be-

cause most people do not know the difference between happiness and pleasure. Pleasure is driven

by things wanted in life that are unneeded such as materialistic items, drugs, or even excessive

amounts of money and happiness comes from within one’s self.

Based on my experience I can agree with Ricard because I personally do not buy materi-

alistic items for myself and I am still happy. The only way I get new clothing is if the items are

given to me as gifts. At first, when I see the gift I am ecstatic however over time I reach a point

of hedonic adaptation with each of those items. For example last year from my birthday I re-
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ceived a pair of brand new shoes from my best friend and they were fairly expansive but once I

started to wear them down and started to tare they were not as special to me as they were when I

first got them. I was bored of their unappealing appearance at that point and wanted a new pair.

We as human beings are blinded and unaware of the problems we face with pleasure.

Pleasure is not a source of longterm happiness but a type of distraction that many do not see

cripples us human beings. To find true happens we must not look for the temporary solution but a

long lasting one. The reason we should try finding happiness is because it is considered stable

and long lasting as opposed to pleasure which is only temporary and considered to be unstable.

Pleasure disables people from having their true goal which is happiness. The reason it disables us

humans is because it is only a form of temporary satisfaction and you will keep wanting more

pleasures that life has to offer. The reasoning behind wanting more is a psychological term called

hedonic adaptation. Hedonic adaptation is when someone reaches a point of dissatisfaction with

the things that originally gave them pleasure. “The first is the truth of suffering - not only the

kind of suffering that is obvious to the eye but also the kind, that we have seen in subtler

forms” (Ricard 39). Ricard explains to his readers that not all suffering is obvious. Pleasure is

one of those struggles that we go through because it is not obvious to many that it is a setback. It

might feel like the right thing to do at the moment but will any pleasure ever be long lasting? The

answer for most is no. To truly be happy in our lives we have to know the difference between

pleasure and happiness.

There is a larger aspect of happiness than you might have thought. There is pleasure

which has been confused with happiness and there is actual happiness “...one’s level of life satis-
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faction can be enhanced simply by shifting one’s perspective...” (Cutler 23). If we all try to shift

our perspective on how we view pleasure and see that it is a distraction we would all be happier

in life. Pleasure being the temporary choice and happiness being the long-term choice.

In conclusion, based on my experience of pleasure I conclude that most do not need ma-

terialistic items because it will keep us wanting more. Hedonic adaptation is a never-ending loop

of wanting more that is why it is a form of suffering. Pleasure is short term and unstable. Happi-

ness, on the other hand, comes from within and is considered sustainable and long-lasting. Hap-

piness can be achieved in many ways however a crucial part of becoming happy is knowing the

difference between pleasure and happiness. Pleasure can be achieved by materialistic items

which will ultimately result in short-term happiness and long-term dissatisfaction.

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Works Cited

Cutler, Howard and The Dalai Lama. “The Sources of Happiness.” Pursuing happiness: A

Bedford Spotlight Reader, edited by Matthew Parfitt and Dawn Skorczewski, Bedford St.

Martain’s, 2015, pp.21-33.

Ricard, Matthieu.“The Alchemy of Suffering.” Pursuing happiness: A Bedford Spotlight Reader,

edited by Matthew Parfitt and Dawn Skorczewski, Bedford St. Martain’s, 2015, pp.34-42.