What makes you happy?

[Minuend]

Yeah, pm me your address and I will.

 

[AlisaD]

 

[telepathink]

I like letterz.

me too, what a coincidence!
and I love electronic mail because it just workz instantly

I think someone has to describe the mind of the detached person for me. I imagine someone who is distant and unable to care, disconnected from the world around them, unable to feel pleasure or pain.

I would like to quote Krishnamurti here for you. He has very clear way of looking at things and is for me very inspiring.

"There is only attachment; there is no such thing as detachment. The mind invents detachment as a reaction to the pain of attachment. When you react to attachment by becoming "detached," you are attached to something else. So that whole process is one of attachment. You are attached to your wife or your husband, to your children, to ideas, to tradition, to authority, and so on; and your reaction to that attachment is detachment. The cultivation of detachment is the outcome of sorrow, pain. You want to escape from the pain of attachment, and your escape is to find something to which you think you can be attached. So there is only attachment, and it is a stupid mind that cultivates detachment.

All the books say, "Be detached," but what is the truth of the matter? If you observe your own mind, you will see an extraordinary thing-that through cultivating detachment, your mind is becoming attached to something else."

 

[useless username]

ignorance

 

[Minuend]

@telepathink. Yes, I agree. For instance:

On the other side of the spectrum we could start out with detachment and work forward from there. A different person gets the same kind of car, but because they already have a clearly defined sense of self the car remains what it is - a means of transportation, a car, separate from their idea of self.

Does this person not need to be attached to the idea of the sense of self to have it? Attached to values that state that things aren't important?

Even those who favors detachment must be attached to the idea of detachment to care about it.

And thus I started wondering what is actually meant by attachment and detachment.

I can understand the mentality of not being too upset if somethings happens to ones car, but I wouldn't use the word "detached" in reference to "separating things from one's identity". I see those as different issues. Detachment is a sort of extreme version, where you have no feelings, neither good nor bad. Whilst when you separate your identity from an object, you can still be attached and have feelings about it.

But then, English isn't my language, so I might be wrong.

 

[Lobstrich]

Well without going into to much detail and namingto many things. These two things make me truly happy. Learning: Finding out new stuff, expanding my knowledge about whatever I find interesting. And as cliché it might be, music. Listening to Bob Marley, specially the song "Stir it up" Jimi Hendrix etc. I'm a total Hendrix fanatic and would take him above anything else. But Bob Marley's music just makes me more happy. I really just feel like everything is going to be all right and that the world will unfold the way it's supposed to.

EDIT: And truth. Genuine people. They make me happy.

 

[Lostwitheal]

I would like to quote Krishnamurti here for you. He has very clear way of looking at things and is for me very inspiring.

"There is only attachment; there is no such thing as detachment. The mind invents detachment as a reaction to the pain of attachment. When you react to attachment by becoming "detached," you are attached to something else. So that whole process is one of attachment. You are attached to your wife or your husband, to your children, to ideas, to tradition, to authority, and so on; and your reaction to that attachment is detachment. The cultivation of detachment is the outcome of sorrow, pain. You want to escape from the pain of attachment, and your escape is to find something to which you think you can be attached. So there is only attachment, and it is a stupid mind that cultivates detachment.

All the books say, "Be detached," but what is the truth of the matter? If you observe your own mind, you will see an extraordinary thing-that through cultivating detachment, your mind is becoming attached to something else."

Yeah, he's just missed the point of several thousand years worth of eastern thinking on the matter. For example:

Fame or Self: Which matters more? Self or Wealth: Which is more precious? Gain or Loss: Which is more painful? He who is attached to things will suffer much. He who saves will suffer heavy loss. A contented man is rarely disappointed. He who knows when to stop does not find himself in trouble. He will stay forever safe.

Lao Tzu got it, completely. He also got a few other things which aren't generally understood today. To say that "There is no such thing as detachment" and to then go on and talk about it is a bit disingenuous I find. It sounds to me like he was very attached to his attachments, especially when he lashes out at the end with the "stupid" comment. This is a classic symptom of someone who is very attached to their idea and is afraid of anyone challenging it! He has completely missed the point, though in once sense he is right; if your aim is to cultivate detachment and you actively pursue it then you will be attached to that goal. I imagine this is how he went about it and, quite accurately, observed that this was happening. This is not how you go about it. Detachment is a by-product of a fundamental shift in values and attitude underneath: it's not the goal itself.

I need to work tomorrow, I'm going to bed now

 

[telepathink]

Attachment is in the human nature. But it brings also pain so some folks avoid it. But these folks are rather lucky folks because they just don't attach to things as easily. They consider themselves the ones with the right values and attitude - well whatever. Still they are attached, they are living humans. They have this ideal that they loose the attachment in the process to perfection, they want to become alien probably, or dead

Tao-te-ting is perfect, "He who is attached to things will suffer much."
We have to learn to understand it and accept it. Then live attached as happily as we can.
But of course don't get foolish with all the attachments this world can offer - just don't be naive and think you are detached, or you have some goal in life, the meaning of life, to get detached.

 

[Lostwitheal]

Attachment is in the human nature. But it brings also pain so some folks avoid it. But these folks are rather lucky folks because they just don't attach to things as easily. They consider themselves the ones with the right values and attitude - well whatever.

And this is based on...?

It's not about having the "right values and attitude", it's about having a set of values and an attitude which allows one to choose happiness as a default state rather than as a reaction to influences beyond one's own control. Due to their non-attachment it does not matter to them if anyone else ascribes to the same values, or if they have a similar attitude. If someone else wishes to take cues from this and follow a similar path then that's great, if they don't then that's just as great. You seem to be implying some kind of religious zeal here which contradicts this entire ethos. This does not make sense.

Still they are attached, they are living humans. They have this ideal that they loose the attachment in the process to perfection, they want to become alien probably, or dead

Au contraire. What you end up with is a more Zen-like existing-in-the-moment state, which is probably the most alive and in touch with their true-self that one could ever be.

Tao-te-ting is perfect, "He who is attached to things will suffer much."
We have to learn to understand it and accept it. Then live attached as happily as we can.
But of course don't get foolish with all the attachments this world can offer - just don't be naive and think you are detached, or you have some goal in life, the meaning of life, to get detached.

Apologies, but we don't *have* to do anything.

Time for a slight deviation..

Question: What is the highest form of love?

I would suggest that it is unconditional love, no? Love which demands nothing, but would give everything.

What is this love based on do you suppose? Attachment sure won't do it; as soon as the subject of the love deviates from the form which created or plays to the attachment then that love is diminished, ergo, conditional. Unconditional love is saying "I love you no matter what", which in truth then means, "I am love for you no matter what." It is a choice, not a reaction.

 

[s0nystyle]

@OP: Food, company, word games/pictionary/charades (anything that requires you to think on the spot)

 

[the internet]

i can't say its things/circumstances that make me happy, although i am pretty hedonistic. most days i'm happy and feel good about my self, status, hygiene, appearance regardless of how haggard i look or fucked up my life is (although generally i look awesome and everything is cool). some days i am in a horrible sour mood and nothing can make me feel better. obviously if like i won the lottery, i would feel better but generally speaking, when i feel like ass i feel like ass.



personally i blame my faulty brain chemistry and/from pubescent drug use.

 

[Yasmin]

I forgot. Which is strange, considering that yesterday I spent the night smiling 'til my cheeks began to hurt. What about that day made me happy? Oh yes, there were great Built to Spill songs, and thinking about . . . her. But there was a more important theme. Yesterday I felt part of something, as an INTP. I re-discovered the notion that there are other people on this planet and that I might share things in common with them. I forget that sometimes.

I will try to memorize it: a sense of belonging=happiness.

 

[snafupants]

I forgot. Which is strange, considering that yesterday I spent the night smiling 'til my cheeks began to hurt. What about that day made me happy? Oh yes, there were great Built to Spill songs, and thinking about . . . her. But there was a more important theme. Yesterday I felt part of something, as an INTP. I re-discovered the notion that there are other people on this planet and that I might share things in common with them. I forget that sometimes.

I will try to memorize it: a sense of belonging=happiness.

its an easy yet fatal thing to forget; try to encode it for next time. i can get pretty low myself sometimes, with that thought as a contributing factor. on a lighter note, perfect from now on is a fantastic, stylistcally meandering album!

anyway, back to the thread theme, reading, writing, getting drunk on laughter with friends, family, coffee, going to the zoo, music, stanley kubrick movies, genuine emotion from other people, deep conversation...i might be sentimental this hour, but i think friends are an important thing to keep around.

 

[Jestj7]

Music

 

[IzlaRoza]

1. Long lengths of quality time with self. (i feel most happy when i get long deserved space.)
2. drawing
3. writing
4. meeting people with whom i can have intellectual conversations (we're an endangered species)

 

[MidnightGino]

Time alone to do whatever I want to do, i.e. listening to music, playing video games, surfing the internet, reading, etc.

While I was reading this thread, one question popped up in my mind... Is there any type that doesn't like music? For example, you ask them "What's your favorite music genre?" and they answer "I don't like listening to music"? I don't think anyone wouldn't like music, but I want your opinion.

 

[pjoa09]

when i am told i can do what ever the hell i want. i am free.

i get totally fucking psyched. but then if i dont have a plan. i kinda go fuck. now what.
though my INTP is quite debatable i am sort of IXTP, so I really wish i could go for a round of go-karting because i always try to shit myself while driving.

 

[snafupants]

serotonin and dopamine bah ha ha ha. mathematician paul erdos was someone who ostensibly didnt appreciate music. he referred to music as noise in his alternative english parlance. however, he also had no permanent residence and did massive quantities of amphetamines for the last thirty odd years of his life, so take that with a grain of salt, if it do ya.

 

[PhoenixRising]

Well of late there's someone who with a handful of words can pierce my core; putting my heart and mind in an effusive daze.

yeah......

Sounds like the effect of a jellyfish sting. You should probably get that checked out.

 

[PhoenixRising]

Reading - especially when you come across some esoteric-like theory, profound facts, or something that just completely resonates with ones internal world.
Long conversations with someone on the same level, or who is intriguing in some way shape or form.
Being surrounded by nature in a serene location.
Stupid, highly immature, yet harmless innocent childish fun.
Achieving something long strived for.

It seems like you and I share an almost identical ideal of happiness. I think the thing I enjoy most about discovering profound facts is the energetic rush I get when realizing a new perspective about the world. It is also wonderful to have a long, insightful conversation with someone on the same level. Been a while since I've done that.

 

[cerebedlam]

The chemicals in my brain.

My reductionist mentality leads me to this same deduction...