<p>Partying, singing, dancing, and drinking do produce a certain kind of happiness, but it is a happiness based on sensuality, and so it is a fairly limited kind of happiness. Sensual happiness is always at least unwholesome, meaning that in terms of karma it doesn't lead towards future happiness and can impede spiritual progress. Some kinds of sensual pleasure (like drinking, drug use, sexual misconduct, etc...) furthermore produce evil karma which will lead to suffering.</p>

<p>Buddhism teaches that people should totally avoid those things which produce evil karma, but permits actions which are merely unwholesome for laypeople, encouraging moderation, but always praising wholesome happiness and pleasure (e.g. the happiness of generosity, virtue, wisdom, meditation, etc...) as being superior. In otherwords, it's ok for Buddhists to attend parties (although they shouldn't drink or take drugs, and they probably shouldn't go if these are the main reason people are going) but one shouldn't base their happiness off of a social life by just partying. Happiness needs a firmer foundation than that.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-09-04T13:13:28.040Z
2014-09-04T13:13:28.040Z
Bakmoon
<p>The euphoria you describe (a big party with friends / dancing / singing / drinking) is a form of suffering experienced by samsaric mind. If we look very carefully deep into ourselves we can see how even within so-called pleasant experience there is a seed of unsatisfactoriness. There is always this anticipation of hangover, or feeling that we're missing even bigger fun, or timidity and up-tightness etc. This is due to an element of confusion inevitably present in a non-enlightened mind.</p>

<p>In Buddhism, happiness (<code>sukha</code>) is different. There are two kinds of happiness: worldly happiness and happiness of sugatas.</p>

<p>Worldly happiness is a quiet feeling of ease and comfort we experience when our existence is not burdened by troubles and emergencies. This is achieved by following common guidelines for good living, first and foremost the five precepts.</p>

<p>Happiness of sugatas is <em>suchness</em> (<code>tathata</code>) rooted in Final Knowledge, transcending all dualities such as desirable/undesirable. This is achieved by following preliminary guidelines for taming the mind, the special guidelines for gradually reducing the clinging, and the secret guidelines for attaining the view of spontaneously self-existing great natural perfection.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-09-04T14:35:26.160Z
2014-09-04T16:22:46.477Z
2014-09-04T16:22:46.477Z
Andriy Volkov
<p>I have to say that it is like a feeling of deep joy inside. Coming from our heart. Almost like when one falls in love. but then we let that feeling close up again. The key is to have that feeling always. A feeling of love with everything always.Partying and such just clouds the mind and takes us farther away fro  this true hapiness. It is the wrong direction to go in.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-07-31T18:19:57.067Z
2015-07-31T18:19:57.067Z
user5602
<p>From the <a href="http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/sn/sn36/sn36.031.nypo.html" rel="nofollow">Niramisa Sutta</a>:</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>"There is, O monks, worldly joy (piti) there is unworldly joy, and there
  is a still greater unworldly joy. There is worldly happiness, (sukha) there
  is unworldly happiness, and there is a still greater unworldly
  happiness. There is worldly equanimity, there is unworldly equanimity,
  and there a still greater unworldly equanimity. There is worldly
  freedom, there is unworldly freedom, and there is a still greater
  unworldly freedom.</p>
  
  <p>"Now, O monks, what is worldly joy? There are these five cords of
  sense desire: forms cognizable by the eye that are wished for and
  desired, agreeable and endearing, associated with sense-desire and
  tempting to lust. Sounds cognizable by the ear... odors cognizable by
  the nose... flavors cognizable by the tongue... tangibles cognizable
  by the body, wished for and desired, agreeable and endearing,
  associated with sense-desire and tempting to lust. It is the joy that
  arises dependent on these five cords of sense desire which is called
  'worldly joy.'</p>
  
  <p>"Now what is unworldly joy? Quite secluded from sense desires,
  secluded from unwholesome states of mind, a monk enters upon and
  abides in the first meditative absorption (jhana), which is accompanied by
  thought-conception and discursive thinking, and has joy and happiness
  born of seclusion. With the stilling of thought-conception and
  discursive thinking, he enters upon and abides in the second
  meditative absorption which has internal confidence and singleness of
  mind without thought conception and discursive thinking, and has joy
  and happiness born of concentration. This is called 'unworldly joy.'</p>
  
  <p>"And what is the still greater unworldly joy? When a taint-free monk
  looks upon his mind that is freed of greed, freed of hatred, freed of
  delusion, then there arises joy. This called a 'still greater
  unworldly joy.'</p>
  
  <p>"Now, O monks, what is worldly happiness? There are these five cords
  of sense desire: forms cognizable by the eye... sounds cognizable by
  the ear... odors cognizable by the nose... flavors cognizable by the
  tongue... tangibles cognizable by the body that are wished for and
  desired, agreeable and endearing, associated with sense desire and
  alluring. It is the happiness and gladness that arises dependent on
  these five cords of sense desire which are called 'worldly happiness.'</p>
  
  <p>"Now what is unworldly happiness? Quite secluded from sense desires,
  secluded from unwholesome states of mind, a monk enters upon and
  abides in the first meditative absorption... With the stilling of
  thought-conception and discursive thinking, he enters upon and abides
  in the second meditative absorption... With the fading away of joy as
  well, he dwells in equanimity, mindfully and fully aware he feels
  happiness within, and enters upon and abides in the third meditative
  absorption of which the Noble Ones announce: 'He dwells in happiness
  who has equanimity and is mindful.' This is called 'unworldly
  happiness.'</p>
  
  <p>"And what is the still greater unworldly happiness? When a taint-free
  monk looks upon his mind that is freed of greed, freed of hatred,
  freed of delusion, then there arises happiness. This is called a
  'still greater unworldly happiness.'</p>
  
  <p>"Now, O monks, what is worldly equanimity? There are these five cords
  of sensual desire: forms cognizable by the eye... tangibles cognizable
  by the body that are wished for and desired, agreeable and endearing,
  associated with sense desire and alluring. It is the equanimity that
  arises with regard to these five cords of sense desire which is called
  'worldly equanimity.'</p>
  
  <p>"Now, what is unworldy equanimity? With the abandoning of pleasure and
  pain, and with the previous disappearance of gladness and sadness, a
  monk enters upon and abides in the fourth meditative absorption, which
  has neither pain-nor-pleasure and has purity of mindfulness due to
  equanimity. This is called 'unworldly equanimity.'</p>
  
  <p>"And what is the still greater unworldly equanimity? When a taint-free
  monk looks upon his mind that is freed of greed, freed of hatred and
  freed of delusion, then there arises equanimity. This is called a
  'still greater unworldly equanimity.'</p>
  
  <p>"Now, O monks, what is worldly freedom? The freedom connected with the
  material. What is unworldly freedom? The freedom connected with the
  immaterial. And what is the still greater unworldly freedom? When a
  taint-free monk looks upon his mind that is freed of greed, freed of
  hatred, and freed of delusion, then there arises freedom."</p>
</blockquote>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-07-31T20:26:04.423Z
2015-07-31T20:26:04.423Z
Adamokkha
<p>Interesting question! I like it!</p>

<p>I feel it is not ignorance, quite the opposite in fact. If anything, you experience life more so -- your sensations and emotions are almost 10 fold compared to what they would be usually, except you are slightly better at not being overcome by them. For example, neuroscientists recently discovered a hormone released by our brains that gets stronger and stronger the more we meditate. In turn, this hormone opens up our pathways of being able to empathise more with other sentient beings, or watching a film, or listening to music, or general life experience. From my own experience, I find that when I am practising and also spending a lot of time with my teacher, I am so excited about life that I can't sleep. As my friend calls it, 'joy induced insomnia'. I wouldn't say it means everything is positive and great and happy, because like anyone's life, there is always an element of suffering or sadness. It just means I am able to deal with those things better, and it also means that my senses are heightened and I am able to tune in or pick up these subtle things much quicker and almost feel them myself, quite deeply. Sometimes sadness sits with me after a meditation and I'm not sure why, and by karmic coincidence, something will happen and it all falls into place and I totally understand it. That in itself, is what stems the happiness. When you realise that everything is connected and that there is so much more to explore with this. Especially when you begin to see and meet others who are somehow going through something very similar. That then boosts your happiness!</p>

<p>I'd say it's nothing like an epic party, it's more a whole never-ending burst of love. That keeps coming. And awe in absolutely everything.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-09-04T12:56:59.503Z
Hi thanks for the answer, do you have more details (or the source) about the hormones linked to meditation that you mentioned?
konrad01
CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-09-06T12:35:14.953Z
Yep, this is a very long lecture given recently at the Mind and Life Institute: http://youtu.be/Tvuvw9uupH0
Xiao Long
CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-09-04T12:19:29.973Z
2014-09-04T12:19:29.973Z
Xiao Long
<p>Euphoria may result in happiness but this is temporary. Reason being is you have not absolute to maintain the world to your liking. Every good movie or party eventually does come to an end. The base of this happiness is creating temporary pleasant sensation. In the case of a movie it is looking at the story line and playing the concept of the story. In the case of food it is taste from the tongue. All these sensations arise to pass away. Also when the stimulus is not there it does not arise any more. </p>

<p>The best way to have lasting happiness if in different to the arising and passing away of sensations and achieving an unconditioned state where you do not need an external stimulus to create pleasantness.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-09-04T14:04:59.427Z
2014-09-04T14:04:59.427Z
Suminda Sirinath S. Dharmasena
<p>Most of people these days will define Happiness as euphoria: A big party with friends, dancing, singing all night (sometimes drinking). From a Buddhist's perspective this is not even close to the true happiness, so how would Buddhism classify this kind of Euphoria? Something good, neutral or bad? Is it an addiction? Ignorance?</p>

<nirvana>
Happiness vs. Euphoria from a Buddhist's point of view
# Happiness vs. Euphoria from a Buddhist's point of view

(Asked by: username_0 on 2014-09-04)

Most of people these days will define Happiness as euphoria: A big party with friends, dancing, singing all night (sometimes drinking). From a Buddhist's perspective this is not even close to the true happiness, so how would Buddhism classify this kind of Euphoria? Something good, neutral or bad? Is it an addiction? Ignorance?

**Tags:** nirvana


---

## 6 answers

### Answer by username_6 on 2014-09-04. Score: 5

Euphoria may result in happiness but this is temporary. Reason being is you have not absolute to maintain the world to your liking. Every good movie or party eventually does come to an end. The base of this happiness is creating temporary pleasant sensation. In the case of a movie it is looking at the story line and playing the concept of the story. In the case of food it is taste from the tongue. All these sensations arise to pass away. Also when the stimulus is not there it does not arise any more.

The best way to have lasting happiness if in different to the arising and passing away of sensations and achieving an unconditioned state where you do not need an external stimulus to create pleasantness.


---

### Answer by username_1 on 2014-09-04. Score: 2

Partying, singing, dancing, and drinking do produce a certain kind of happiness, but it is a happiness based on sensuality, and so it is a fairly limited kind of happiness. Sensual happiness is always at least unwholesome, meaning that in terms of karma it doesn't lead towards future happiness and can impede spiritual progress. Some kinds of sensual pleasure (like drinking, drug use, sexual misconduct, etc...) furthermore produce evil karma which will lead to suffering.

Buddhism teaches that people should totally avoid those things which produce evil karma, but permits actions which are merely unwholesome for laypeople, encouraging moderation, but always praising wholesome happiness and pleasure (e.g. the happiness of generosity, virtue, wisdom, meditation, etc...) as being superior. In otherwords, it's ok for Buddhists to attend parties (although they shouldn't drink or take drugs, and they probably shouldn't go if these are the main reason people are going) but one shouldn't base their happiness off of a social life by just partying. Happiness needs a firmer foundation than that.


---

### Answer by username_2 on 2014-09-04. Score: 1

The euphoria you describe (a big party with friends / dancing / singing / drinking) is a form of suffering experienced by samsaric mind. If we look very carefully deep into ourselves we can see how even within so-called pleasant experience there is a seed of unsatisfactoriness. There is always this anticipation of hangover, or feeling that we're missing even bigger fun, or timidity and up-tightness etc. This is due to an element of confusion inevitably present in a non-enlightened mind.

In Buddhism, happiness (`sukha`) is different. There are two kinds of happiness: worldly happiness and happiness of sugatas.

Worldly happiness is a quiet feeling of ease and comfort we experience when our existence is not burdened by troubles and emergencies. This is achieved by following common guidelines for good living, first and foremost the five precepts.

Happiness of sugatas is *suchness* (`tathata`) rooted in Final Knowledge, transcending all dualities such as desirable/undesirable. This is achieved by following preliminary guidelines for taming the mind, the special guidelines for gradually reducing the clinging, and the secret guidelines for attaining the view of spontaneously self-existing great natural perfection.


---

### Answer by username_3 on 2015-07-31. Score: 0

I have to say that it is like a feeling of deep joy inside. Coming from our heart. Almost like when one falls in love. but then we let that feeling close up again. The key is to have that feeling always. A feeling of love with everything always.Partying and such just clouds the mind and takes us farther away fro this true hapiness. It is the wrong direction to go in.


---

### Answer by username_4 on 2015-07-31. Score: 0

From the [Niramisa Sutta](http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/sn/sn36/sn36.031.nypo.html):

> "There is, O monks, worldly joy (piti) there is unworldly joy, and there
> is a still greater unworldly joy. There is worldly happiness, (sukha) there
> is unworldly happiness, and there is a still greater unworldly
> happiness. There is worldly equanimity, there is unworldly equanimity,
> and there a still greater unworldly equanimity. There is worldly
> freedom, there is unworldly freedom, and there is a still greater
> unworldly freedom.
>
> "Now, O monks, what is worldly joy? There are these five cords of
> sense desire: forms cognizable by the eye that are wished for and
> desired, agreeable and endearing, associated with sense-desire and
> tempting to lust. Sounds cognizable by the ear... odors cognizable by
> the nose... flavors cognizable by the tongue... tangibles cognizable
> by the body, wished for and desired, agreeable and endearing,
> associated with sense-desire and tempting to lust. It is the joy that
> arises dependent on these five cords of sense desire which is called
> 'worldly joy.'
>
> "Now what is unworldly joy? Quite secluded from sense desires,
> secluded from unwholesome states of mind, a monk enters upon and
> abides in the first meditative absorption (jhana), which is accompanied by
> thought-conception and discursive thinking, and has joy and happiness
> born of seclusion. With the stilling of thought-conception and
> discursive thinking, he enters upon and abides in the second
> meditative absorption which has internal confidence and singleness of
> mind without thought conception and discursive thinking, and has joy
> and happiness born of concentration. This is called 'unworldly joy.'
>
> "And what is the still greater unworldly joy? When a taint-free monk
> looks upon his mind that is freed of greed, freed of hatred, freed of
> delusion, then there arises joy. This called a 'still greater
> unworldly joy.'
>
> "Now, O monks, what is worldly happiness? There are these five cords
> of sense desire: forms cognizable by the eye... sounds cognizable by
> the ear... odors cognizable by the nose... flavors cognizable by the
> tongue... tangibles cognizable by the body that are wished for and
> desired, agreeable and endearing, associated with sense desire and
> alluring. It is the happiness and gladness that arises dependent on
> these five cords of sense desire which are called 'worldly happiness.'
>
> "Now what is unworldly happiness? Quite secluded from sense desires,
> secluded from unwholesome states of mind, a monk enters upon and
> abides in the first meditative absorption... With the stilling of
> thought-conception and discursive thinking, he enters upon and abides
> in the second meditative absorption... With the fading away of joy as
> well, he dwells in equanimity, mindfully and fully aware he feels
> happiness within, and enters upon and abides in the third meditative
> absorption of which the Noble Ones announce: 'He dwells in happiness
> who has equanimity and is mindful.' This is called 'unworldly
> happiness.'
>
> "And what is the still greater unworldly happiness? When a taint-free
> monk looks upon his mind that is freed of greed, freed of hatred,
> freed of delusion, then there arises happiness. This is called a
> 'still greater unworldly happiness.'
>
> "Now, O monks, what is worldly equanimity? There are these five cords
> of sensual desire: forms cognizable by the eye... tangibles cognizable
> by the body that are wished for and desired, agreeable and endearing,
> associated with sense desire and alluring. It is the equanimity that
> arises with regard to these five cords of sense desire which is called
> 'worldly equanimity.'
>
> "Now, what is unworldy equanimity? With the abandoning of pleasure and
> pain, and with the previous disappearance of gladness and sadness, a
> monk enters upon and abides in the fourth meditative absorption, which
> has neither pain-nor-pleasure and has purity of mindfulness due to
> equanimity. This is called 'unworldly equanimity.'
>
> "And what is the still greater unworldly equanimity? When a taint-free
> monk looks upon his mind that is freed of greed, freed of hatred and
> freed of delusion, then there arises equanimity. This is called a
> 'still greater unworldly equanimity.'
>
> "Now, O monks, what is worldly freedom? The freedom connected with the
> material. What is unworldly freedom? The freedom connected with the
> immaterial. And what is the still greater unworldly freedom? When a
> taint-free monk looks upon his mind that is freed of greed, freed of
> hatred, and freed of delusion, then there arises freedom."


---

### Answer by username_5 on 2014-09-04. Score: -1

Interesting question! I like it!

I feel it is not ignorance, quite the opposite in fact. If anything, you experience life more so -- your sensations and emotions are almost 10 fold compared to what they would be usually, except you are slightly better at not being overcome by them. For example, neuroscientists recently discovered a hormone released by our brains that gets stronger and stronger the more we meditate. In turn, this hormone opens up our pathways of being able to empathise more with other sentient beings, or watching a film, or listening to music, or general life experience. From my own experience, I find that when I am practising and also spending a lot of time with my teacher, I am so excited about life that I can't sleep. As my friend calls it, 'joy induced insomnia'. I wouldn't say it means everything is positive and great and happy, because like anyone's life, there is always an element of suffering or sadness. It just means I am able to deal with those things better, and it also means that my senses are heightened and I am able to tune in or pick up these subtle things much quicker and almost feel them myself, quite deeply. Sometimes sadness sits with me after a meditation and I'm not sure why, and by karmic coincidence, something will happen and it all falls into place and I totally understand it. That in itself, is what stems the happiness. When you realise that everything is connected and that there is so much more to explore with this. Especially when you begin to see and meet others who are somehow going through something very similar. That then boosts your happiness!

I'd say it's nothing like an epic party, it's more a whole never-ending burst of love. That keeps coming. And awe in absolutely everything.

> **Comments:**
> **username_0**: Hi thanks for the answer, do you have more details (or the source) about the hormones linked to meditation that you mentioned?  
> **username_5**: Yep, this is a very long lecture given recently at the Mind and Life Institute: http://youtu.be/Tvuvw9uupH0  

---

