Gretchen Hyer

Sra. Hardy

Humanities per 4

November 1, 2017

1. The author of this work is Swami Nishpapananda.

2. The title of this work is, Hinduism, Happiness, and the Good Life. That title tips the

reader off that this passage will explain what the Hindu perspective believes brings

happiness and how someone should live to get that happiness.

3. This work does not have a date for when it was written but since it talks about the oldest

religion known I would say it is safe to think that this document is very old. Even if it is

not too old the ideas that it explains have been around for centuries.

4. This may have been written for anyone who has any interest in Hinduism be it a practice

of Hinduism or a scholar learning about great Hinduism because it explains some Hindu

beliefs.

5. In this work the author explains the happiness that is found in Hinduism. They explain

the four aims of life from the hindu perspective. Those aims are Dharma, artha, kama,

and moksha. Artha is objects or physical things. Often referred to as wealth, or power.

Kama is pleasure. These two aims, the author explains, fluctuate between times of

happiness and times of unhappiness. Dharma is the practice of virtue. When someone is

virtuous their mind is clear and they find happiness in the Divine. The last one, Moksha,

is liberation from all pain. (93)

6. The author makes the point that happiness is found within oneself when they follow the

path of virtue. People can learn from their experiences, they can find the happiness in any

opposition they encounter. The happiness that someone finds with the Divine is lasting.

The point is made that worldly happiness falters but following the proper paths as

directed in Hindu doctrine lead to true happiness. (66)

7. I really enjoyed this piece. It was insightful on how happiness can be found in multiple

places. The circumstances you may find yourself in may not always be optimal for

happiness but God is constant so you can find constant happiness in God. The Hindu

perspective would be trading that image of God for their Divine. I agree that a virtuous

life brings joy and clarity of mind. I agree that polarities will always be a part of life. I

really enjoyed reading this perspective and finding that it isn't so different from my own.

It was even enlightening.