Perhaps, there
is no person on earth who has never dreamt of being happy. However, everyone
has their own concept of happiness. For some people happiness means material
welfare and richness, while other people see happiness through success and
popularity among other people. Some people lack a soulmate to reach
happiness, other people need to be healthy… According to the Holy Fathers, the
true happiness of a human being is kept not in the secular joys, which can
disappear in a flash, but in the love towards the Lord, which transfigures the
world around us.
1. Faith in God
Of course, the first key to happiness of the
Athonite monks is faith and love towards the Lord. If a person manages to come
to this in his life, then nothing more can make him unhappy. Once, a woman
asked St. Porphyrios of Kafsokalivia why keeps saying he is happy although his
health condition has got much worse. The saint replied: “Read the Holy
Scripture, go to church, find a spiritual father, partake of the Holy Communion
– in other words, be a good Christian and then you will find the happiness you are
looking for. You see, I am sick now, but I am still happy. The same concerns
you: when you will come closer to Christ, you will become happy with your
life”.
2. Becoming free from worries and vanity
St. Paisios the
Hagiorite said that to feel happy one has to live a natural and simple life, in
which there is no place for excessive luxury, vanity and senseless worries. The
saint told: “Once a doctor from America came to me. He told me about the life they
live there. People there have already turned into machines. They devote their
life to work. Each family member is supposed to have their own car. What is more,
to make every family member feel comfortable at home, there must be at least
four TV-sets. So go on, work and get
exhausted, earn a lot of money so that you can say your life is happy and
comfortable. But does this life have something in common with happiness? Such a
life, full of worries and non-stop rush, is not happiness, but a torment.”
3. Sober mind
Monk Simeon the
Athonite has a short parable, which shows that outer circumstances cannot
influence on whether we feel happy or not. Salvation is within us, and this is
why one must have a sober mind to endure any difficulties. Here is the parable:
“A person who could not swim was floundering in water. He caused waves, which he
mistook for a dangerous stream. He began to fight with the waves.
Finally, he understood that he can float on the water and then managed to reach
the riverbank. When he came out of water, he saw that the river was calm and
understood that the waves he was fighting with were caused by him. Any
misfortune begins within us. If you get your head straight, it will end within us.”
4. Pure heart
According to
St. Nektarios of Aegina, the right way to happiness is to have a pure and kind
heart. “Happiness is a pure heart because such a heart becomes the throne of
God. The Lord said about people with pure heart, I will dwell in them and
walk among them. I will be their God, and they shall be My people (2
Corinthians 6:16). What can they lack then? Nothing indeed. They already have
the greatest good in their hearts – the Lord Himself!”
5. Ability to forgive
Forgiveness is
one of the most important Christian virtues. This is why everyone who is trying
to reach happiness must learn to forgive his neighbor. Due to forgiveness, a
person makes his heart free from old offences, and a joyful heart is always
happy. “This is our law: if you forgive, then it means that the Lord has forgiven
you too. But if you do not forgive your brother, then your sin will stay with
you”, - said Silouan the Athonite.
6. Give more, take less
To become happy
one must share his joy and happiness with their people. It seems that there is
no secret in it, but Monk Simeon the Athonite considered this ability to be the
rarest among people. The one who comprehends it, becomes happy.
7. Being grateful for small favors
“Desires are
the mess of the world”, - said Simeon the Athonite. Indeed, the more a person dwells
on his desires, the bigger his appetite gets. Having no opportunity to get
enough of what he wants, a person dooms himself to unhappiness. St. Paisios the
Hagiorite suggested fighting against desires with abstinence: “We find
happiness when we are grateful for small favors. What do people do today? They
buy, and buy, and buy again various goods, cars, electronic devices and many
other things. Of course, they lack money and worry all the time about this. We
must be grateful for small favors and try not to grasp as much as possible.
Having only the necessary things, one should not work too much. Then people will
have more time to be at home with their children and family, for activities together, for prayer and for living in a warm family circle instead of being
constantly under pressure.”
Source:http://dishupravoslaviem.ru/7-sekretov-schastya-ot-afonskix-starcev/
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