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Happiness, now
Translation: Régine Paradis
Reading time: 2 min.
“Club Med, happiness, if I want it”
“Open a Coca Cola, open HAPPINESS”
“Mauritius, happiness has never been so close”
“Happiness at work”
We could continue this enumeration of all these sellers of happiness, find THE infallible recipe that would allow us to navigate permanently, despite the swell and the bad weather, on this vast ocean where the song of the sirens makes us land from one mirage to another. How can we escape this bottomless cycle that pushes us forward, in an endless quest, towards a horizon never reached? And what is happiness, once we realize that it is not in the acquisition of the next gadget, the next trip, the next “I absolutely want it”?
March 20th is the day decreed by the UN as the day of happiness.(1) Here is the UN Secretary General’s statement on the subject: “The world needs a new economic paradigm that recognizes the parity between the three pillars of sustainable development. Social, economic, and environmental well-being are inseparable.”(2) Defining the global conditions that will promote the happiness of each and every person is fine, but what are the real impacts of such a day, and of the intentions that are attached to it?
It was Bhutan that proposed the establishment of this day of happiness in 2012. Since 1970, Bhutan has placed the gross national happiness index above the gross domestic product, which refers only to the economic aspect of development. But the current capitalist system that governs the planet is at the antipodes of meeting the wishes of the Secretary General of the United Nations in terms of “social, economic, and environmental well-being”. It is rather the opposite that we are witnessing with the massive destruction of living species through the annihilation of ecosystems, the growing gap of inequalities between the rich and the less well off, the wasting of resources to meet the needs of the world’s (over)population, our planet is under intolerable pressure that threatens even our survival!
It is time to put technology at the service of human beings, and not the other way around. This revolution has a name: “Paradism”.(3) The current systems have failed, we must without further delay eliminate money, remove the powers that be in order to pave the way for a more just society, respectful of the fundamental rights of every human being to have a roof over his/her head, sufficient food, where he/she will live in perfect harmony with his/her environment.
What about happiness? The search or the quest for happiness is unthinkable for an individual who worries about his/her next meal… But do we have to wait until all the conditions are in place, for example in a world where Paradism reigns, to cultivate our happiness? Of course not, we can never put off our happiness until tomorrow: “Happiness is now, and only now! Not before, not after. Only now.”(4)
Let’s go a step further. Can true happiness depend on anything? To make our happiness dependent on anything or anyone, on a possible trip to Mauritius for example, is to dedicate this happiness to the risks of events and of having. “Consciousness is the greatest enemy of supraconsciousness. Supraconsciousness, on the contrary, is laughter. It is happiness for nothing. It is laughter for nothing. It is smiling for nothing. It is the happiness of existing for nothing.”(5)
The advent of Paradism and the happiness of each of us are intrinsically linked! Cultivating happiness “for nothing” is a personal responsibility. The more we will be numerous to maintain this garden of the supraconsciousness, the more it will have an impact on the whole of the society, and the more the society will approach the Paradism, and the more it will allow the individuals to bloom, and to savor the happiness of the moment, which connects us with the infinite.
Jean Riendeau
Columnist for the Raelian Movement