Buddhist Dhammapadha What is happiness

Chapter XIV - BUDDHA VAGGA - The Buddha

THE MOST HAPPY OCCURANCES

THE MOST HAPPY OCCURANCES

Sukho buddhanam uppado sukha saddhamma desana
Sukha sanghassa samaggi sammagganam tapo sukho. [194]

Happy is the birth of Buddhas. Happy is the teaching of the sublime Dhamma. Happy is the unity of the Sangha.¹ Happy is the discipline of the united ones. [194]

XIV: 08 What is happiness?

Once, a group of bhikkhus were discussing the question,'What constitutes happiness?' These bhikkhus realised that happiness meant different things to different people. Thus, they said, 'To some people to have riches and glory like that of a king is happiness. To some people sensual pleasure is happiness, but to others to have delicious food is happiness.' While they were talking, the Buddha came in. After learning the subject of their talk, the Buddha said, 'Bhikkhus, all the pleasures you have mentioned cannot get you out of suffering. In this world, these constitute happiness: the arising of a Buddha, the opportunity to hear the Teaching of the sublime Truth, and harmony amongst bhikkhus.'

Notes:

Sangha is the oldest, democratically constituted, historic celibate Order, founded by the Buddha. Strictly speaking, the Sangha denotes those noble disciples who have realized the four Paths and four Fruits. The ordinary bhikkhus of the present day are merely their representatives.