Happiness

Awhile back I ran into this definition of happiness: "Infantile optimism." Having studied Tibetan Buddhism off and on for a decade or so, I've seen hundreds of referrals to the word in the teachings, and so I asked a Tibetan Lama for a translation of the root word in Tibetan ... the closest definition of the word he could give me was "gratitude," if I understood him properly. My own reaction to the over use of the word is primarily negative, turning away from what I imagine to be version of a Disneyland of the mind, and endless desires for media driven comfort, self indulgence and forgetfulness, and the like, including possessions. Imagine brimming over with "infantile optimism" while BP oil flows in the gulf as the hurricane season approaches, the Massey Energy mine yet to be examined, Haiti & New Orleans awaiting reconstruction, the latest deaths being reported from Afganistan and other wars & "disturbances."

No argument with being grateful for what you have, for the blessings of well being, but in my play book those feelings are a long way off from the business as usual trappings of h a p p i n e s s . As we reevaluate the nuts and bolts of life in this troubled century we may find ourselves more content with far less, and find it much to our liking. &, it would seem, we may have little to say about it.