What is Happiness?

A few years ago on a trip to India we asked Swami Niranjan if happiness is ultimately possible in an intense and active city life. "What do you mean by happiness?" he asked us. "Many people, in their attempt to find happiness, get confused and chase after pleasure. Pleasure is almost the opposite of happiness," he replied.

This set us up for a very interesting exercise in a continuing distinction between the two... As Dr Lustig says:

The more we seek pleasure, the more unhappy we become.

We are actually talking about two completely different, almost contradictory, states.

Pleasure is short term and solitary as opposed to happiness which is long term, outgoing and experienced in social groups.
Pleasure is dependent and wants 'to take', as opposed to happiness which is autonomous and giving.
Pleasure is physical, happiness is ethereal and beyond the realm of the senses.
More importantly, pleasure secretes dopamine ("this feels good; I want more") and happiness secretes serotonin ("this feels good; I am complete"). The extremes of pleasure all lead to addiction, whether substances or behaviors. However, as Dr Lustig says, no one has ever been addicted to excessive happiness.

All the activities we have incorporated into our lives and the way we conduct them, in which category do they fall into?

Obviously, the pleasures in life are always welcome when they come, but that doesn't mean we should be frantically pursuing them, or forget who we are while in them. The key may be in proper distinction and balance.

But do we know what makes us happy? May we be simply just looking the other way? Alan Watts says there are 2 reasons we can't see what really gives us happy. One, is because we don't know ourselves well, and the other, is because what gives us happy, we already have...