Zen and the Art of Happiness
禅
Zen
and the
Art of Happiness
Chris Pentris
Dominique Doarte S. Gapayao
Zen and the Art of Happiness “Everyone deserves to be happy.” And that is exactly why we are still here on earth, why we are still breathing, and why we are still persevering, this is because we want to experience happiness, not just it, but a true happiness. There are different concepts of happiness according to different kind of persons, and to some philosophers. I remember what our professor taught us when he teaches us that “there is change, especially when it comes to concept”. In other words, our professor is trying to tell us that the concept, for example of “happiness” is changing, that the concept of happiness during the time of the ancient philosophers is different to the concept of happiness in today’s modern society. But, do we really understand the word “happiness”? Is it something that we can acquire in just a snap of our fingers? Or we need a life time in order to understand it? Is it something temporal or eternal? Can we acquire it now? Or do we still need to wait for it? But, no one can truly answer the question when it comes to happiness, because it is always a question of readiness and willingness. Aristotle teaches us that man’s “telos” or ultimate end is “eudaimonia”. In order to understand this, “the first thing then that he does is to consider what makes human beings different from the rest of other beings. And what he discovers is that human beings have a function or ergon that is exclusively and characteristically human.” In other words, in order for the human beings to experience its telos or ultimate end, which is eudaimonia, human beings need first to analyze what makes him a human being. In order to understand it well, Aristotle discusses the three kinds of souls, the vegetative soul, the sensitive soul, and the rational soul. The Vegetative souls are souls which are capable of nutrition and growth, and it is applicable to plants. The Sensitive
Zen
and the
Art of Happiness
Chris Pentris
Dominique Doarte S. Gapayao
Zen and the Art of Happiness “Everyone deserves to be happy.” And that is exactly why we are still here on earth, why we are still breathing, and why we are still persevering, this is because we want to experience happiness, not just it, but a true happiness. There are different concepts of happiness according to different kind of persons, and to some philosophers. I remember what our professor taught us when he teaches us that “there is change, especially when it comes to concept”. In other words, our professor is trying to tell us that the concept, for example of “happiness” is changing, that the concept of happiness during the time of the ancient philosophers is different to the concept of happiness in today’s modern society. But, do we really understand the word “happiness”? Is it something that we can acquire in just a snap of our fingers? Or we need a life time in order to understand it? Is it something temporal or eternal? Can we acquire it now? Or do we still need to wait for it? But, no one can truly answer the question when it comes to happiness, because it is always a question of readiness and willingness. Aristotle teaches us that man’s “telos” or ultimate end is “eudaimonia”. In order to understand this, “the first thing then that he does is to consider what makes human beings different from the rest of other beings. And what he discovers is that human beings have a function or ergon that is exclusively and characteristically human.” In other words, in order for the human beings to experience its telos or ultimate end, which is eudaimonia, human beings need first to analyze what makes him a human being. In order to understand it well, Aristotle discusses the three kinds of souls, the vegetative soul, the sensitive soul, and the rational soul. The Vegetative souls are souls which are capable of nutrition and growth, and it is applicable to plants. The Sensitive