Buddhism And Confucianism: The Pursuit Of Happiness

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Throughout history, religions and various philosophies have provided their interpretation of happiness. Happiness can be considered either a state of mind or the actions a person does to create a sense of joy. In the philosophy of Confucianism, the founder Confucius, believed people can achieve happiness through one’s moral feelings or qualities. Buddhism also believes that a person can achieve happiness if they inquire it within themselves and learn the control of one’s mind. These philosophies and traditions have similar ideals in the respect that the power of happiness is dependent on the people, but their ideas of why and how happiness occurs are different. Siddhartha Gautama of Shakya founded Buddhism during the late 6th and early 5th centuries. Buddhism is a nontheistic religion: Buddhism is traditions of thought without divine god. This philosophy is based on the ideals of …show more content…
By achieving a mental balance, one can detach from all excessive needs, wants and passions in life (Müller and Maguire 5). The dysfunctions that people meet within their daily lives, according to Buddhism, stems from the mind. If people silence their obsessive minds, then they silence their distractive lives, which will eventually lead to happiness. In an article by Müller and Maguire titled “The Pursuit of Happiness,” it describes what Buddha would say about the human mind. Müller and Maguire said, “The Buddha once described the mind as a wild horse. In the Eightfold Path, he recommends practicing ‘right effort’ by avoiding and then clearing our minds of negative, unwholesome thoughts.” They continued, “Once that is achieved, one perfects a wholesome, tranquil state of mind through the practice of positive thinking. This ongoing effort promotes a state of mind that is conducive to the practice of mindfulness and concentration, otherwise known as meditation. (Müller and Maguire
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