Reference: The Happiness Rundown
HAPPINESS
True joy and happiness are valuable.
If one does not survive, no joy and no happiness are obtainable.
Trying to survive in a chaotic, dishonest and generally immoral society is difficult.
Any individual or group seeks to obtain from life what pleasure and freedom from pain that
he or they can.
Your own survival can be threatened by the bad actions of others around you.
Your own happiness can be turned to tragedy and sorrow by the dishonesty and misconduct
of others.
I am sure you can think of instances of this actually happening. Such wrongs reduce one’s
survival and impair one’s happiness.
You are important to other people. You are listened to. You can influence others.
The happiness or unhappiness of others you could name is important to you.
Without too much trouble, using this book, you can help them survive and lead happier lives.
While no one can guarantee that anyone else can be happy, their chances of survival and
happiness can be improved. And with theirs, yours will be.
It is in your power to point the way to a less dangerous and happier life.
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Introduction to the Exercise
The booklet gives the information and stable data which one can use in life. These exercises handle any confusions or charge of the past which could get in one’s way. By freeing one up from charge of the past, a fresh start is possible.
It is well known that nobody is perfect and as the subject of conduct and good behavior may have been quite confusing in the past, it is not surprising that all of us have made errors in our conduct. You may be reminded of some of these during these exercises. It is okay to look at something about yourself that seems discreditable or embarrassing. Such things usually seem much worse before they have been examined and one feels better after examining them in detail. You should not judge yourself based on what has happened in the past. These are lessons good or bad that help you attain a happier life.
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False Data Steps
Make sure you know these steps to handle false data:
- Look at the idea that came up in response to the question.
- Find the source of the idea—either a person, book, TV, newspaper, movie, school or something else.
- See if you can recall the exact moment when you received that data.
- Look at how that data seems to you now.
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Exercise
1. Make sure you understand the meaning of the following words: “precept,” “transgress,” “transgressed,” “transgression,” “survival,” “happiness,” “chaotic,” “immoral,” and “false data.” (See Glossary: The Way to Happiness).
2. Clear the words “moral” and “morality” from the glossary and regular dictionary.
MORAL
Able to know right from wrong in conduct; deciding and acting from that understanding. First recorded in 1300–50; Middle English, from Latin mōrālis, equivalent to mōr- (stem of mōs) “usage, custom” + -ālis-al1
Morals, ethics refer to rules and standards of conduct and practice. Morals refers to generally accepted customs of conduct and right living in a society, and to the individual’s practice in relation to these: the morals of our civilization. Ethics now implies high standards of honest and honorable dealing, and of methods used, especially in the professions or in business: ethics of the medical profession.
MORALITY
- conformity to the rules of right conduct; moral or virtuous conduct.
- moral quality or character.
- virtue in sexual matters; chastity.
- a doctrine or system of morals.
- moral instruction; a moral lesson, precept, discourse, or utterance.
- morality play—an allegorical form of the drama current from the 14th to 16th centuries and employing such personified abstractions as Virtue, Vice, Greed, Gluttony, etc.
3. Contemplate over the question: “Have you been told or taught that the word ‘moral’ meant something different?“
If yes, then check for false data (see the steps above).
4. Contemplate over the question: “Do you have any rules or ideas about morality that are contrary to the definition of the word?“
If yes, then check for false data.
5. Contemplate over the question: “Have you been given any beliefs on the subject of morality that don’t make sense?”
If yes, then check for false data.
6. Contemplate over the question: “Have you run into a moral code that you found impossible to keep?”
If yes, then check for false data.
7. Contemplate over the question: “Do you have any false data on the subject of morality?”
If yes, then check for false data.
8. Look at your ideas and considerations about morality now, and see if there is still some anomaly that you need to resolve.
If so, then look at that anomaly more closely until it resolves. Repeat this step until no anomaly appears.
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