Buddhist Teachings and Happiness

by Pablo Ramirez
(Guadalajara, Mexico)

For me, the key to living a happy life has been the Buddhist teachings that have helped me deal with adversity and difficult times. The more I think about it, the more I see the wisdom in the teachings that all suffering comes from trying to make myself happy, and all happiness comes from trying to work for the benefit of others.

One recent experience clearly demonstrated this to me when a dog I often sit for passed away. At first I was grief stricken, but I tried to examine why I was so unhappy. The dog was getting older and had diabetes and related complications.

He appeared in good spirits before suddenly becoming ill and passing away soon after being admitted to an animal hospital. I tried to think how it was good that he did not suffer longer and had comfortable conditions at the time of his death including veterinarians who treated him for pain and people who loved him around.

It still hurts if I think about how I will not see him anymore and how much I miss having him run to greet me when I come in the door or snuggle up with me after he eats dinner. However, if I think about his welfare I am less likely to become unhappy. I believe that I would be less happy if I tried to distract myself from the grief than if I face the grief and examine the causes so that I can resolve it.

It also helped to think of the dog's owner and his loss given that he spent so much more time with him and now lives in the same house without him. I think we have been able to help each other feel a little less unhappy by acknowledging our grief and remembering the good things about the dog and being glad he had a comfortable death.