Buddha Dordenma

Besten Dank, Leo!

Beautiful

Morality Is Happiness

Nurturance typically requires sacrifice. And so it might seem strange that a concomitant of moral nurturance would be a view of morality as the cultivation of one's own happiness. Yet such a moral scheme is a consequence of Morality As Nurturance. The reasoning goes like this:

Unhappy people are less likely to be compassionate (empathetic and nurturant) than happy people, since they are not likely to want others to be happier than they are. Therefore, to promote one's own capacity to compassion (empathy and nurturance), one should make oneself as happy as possible -- provided one doesn't hurt anyone in the process

This view of the morality of happiness is intuitively understood and widespread among a great many whose moral system is Nurturant Parent morality. Incidentally, it is a long-standing part of the Buddhist tradition. There is a reason, after all, why the Buddha is smiling. Excerpt: "Moral Politics" ~ George Lakoff

Many thanks, Dinesh! Wise words! In Bhutan you find many smiling people and less of the western rat race but of course not everything is perfect. Bhutanese tend to joke about the many street dogs, they say they are reincarnations of monks that have misbehaved in their former lives;-)

I ought to see Bhutan !