Happiness. A Serious Affair.

By Acharya Tadany.
Published in Diário de Santa Maria, May 7, 2026.

Happiness is, without a doubt, a serious matter, but not in the sense of something heavy, rigid, or gloomy, rather as a lucid, continuous, and prejudice-free inquiry into understanding its true nature, its authentic manifestations, and its inevitable implications for both individual and collective life.

In general, life behaves like a pendulum because, within a matter of seconds, we are taken from enthusiasm to frustration, from satisfaction to disappointment, from the feeling of success to a sense of uselessness. These constant oscillations seem to be part of the human experience, and many eventually accept this movement as something natural and inevitable. Rarely, however, do we question the very foundation upon which this instability rests.

That is, if contentment is one of the primary goals of existence, i.e., something that all of us, explicitly or implicitly, seek incessantly, then, it becomes paradoxical that so few dedicate themselves to understanding what truly constitutes happiness. Instead, we pursue ready-made ideas, often inherited and rarely examined.

For example, from childhood we are exposed to concepts, beliefs, and models of happiness that become deeply rooted in our psyche. This means that family, the social environment, and the cultural context play a central role in this formation. Consequently, even though in adult life we may believe we think independently, the truth is that many of our criteria for joy, success, and purpose continue to reflect what we absorbed during the early years of life, even when such ideas are limited, incoherent, or even mistaken.

As a result, our pursuits, reactions, and choices become guided by an often distorted understanding of what it means to be happy. Thus, what we believe brings us joy, or what we judge to be an obstacle to our well-being, may not correspond to the reality of happiness itself, but merely to a subjective and unconsciously conditioned construction that, in most cases, is restricted, partial, and deeply biased.

Therefore, it is crucial to understand that this limited perception is the pillar sustaining much of human suffering. In other words, frustration is born not only from external circumstances, but from the mistaken expectation that happiness depends upon them. And when this expectation is not fulfilled, sadness, anxiety, fear, and, in extreme cases, genuine emotional collapse arise.

In light of this, the need for a cognitive reorientation becomes evident. To take happiness seriously means, first and foremost, questioning the foundations upon which we have built our idea of contentment, satisfaction, and acceptance. It means investigating, with maturity and depth, what is permanent and what is transient, what is essential and what is merely circumstantial.

This journey implies understanding that emotional stability, joy, and lasting peace cannot depend exclusively on past conditioning or external factors, which are, by nature, unstable and unpredictable.

When this understanding begins to take root, a subtle yet transformative shift occurs. The search for happiness ceases to be an endless race for ideal conditions and instead becomes a process of recognition, a recognition that what we seek outside may never have been absent within us.

In this way, treating happiness as a “serious matter” is, paradoxically, the path toward a more authentic and radiant journey. It is the gateway to a life that is less reactive and more conscious, less bitter and more inspiring, less lifeless and more joyful, and above all, more aligned with what we truly are.

Acharya Tadany

Photo by Catalin Pop on Unsplash