Happiness vs. Fulfillment: What spiritual masters teach us

The pursuit of happiness is universal and timeless. We all want to be happy. Yet few of us actually are. Most of us experience joy and sorrow, pleasure and pain, loss and gain, sun and rain—all in cycles.

- ATMAN IN RAVI

So we are happy and sad, happy and sad, over and over again. The question is—is it possible to be happy always? The answer is yes. It lies in going beyond pleasure and fulfillment to discovering the purpose of life.

The one thing that we don't understand is that pleasure is not happiness. Unfortunately, we confuse the two. Pleasure is ephemeral. It comes and goes. But true happiness is eternal—it forever flows. Pleasure comes from success, achievement, people, possessions, places and things. But it is very short-lived. Pleasure is only the first peak of happiness. Therefore, we must evolve and go beyond pleasure to fulfillment—the next peak of happiness.