The Buddha Spoke of Happiness

By Ven. Kusala, Resident Monk (on leave)

The Buddha spoke of happiness.

Not just fleeting pleasure or comfort—but deep, stable, liberating happiness. Again and again, in his own words, he pointed to sukha—true happiness—as the natural fruit of a mind trained in kindness, clarity, and letting go. He even spoke of paramaṁ sukhaṁ—the highest happiness.

This isn’t the message many expect. We’ve been told the Buddha taught that “life is suffering.” But that’s a mistranslation, and more importantly, a misunderstanding. The Buddha did not declare life to be miserable; he invited us to see clearly where misery arises—and how it can end.

He spoke honestly about dukkha—the unreliability, the friction, the unsatisfactoriness that comes when we grasp, resist, or ignore the truth of change. But his aim was never to dwell there. He taught dukkha only so we could go beyond it. Every description of suffering in the suttas leads immediately to a path of release: ethical living, meditation, and wise understanding.

So the heart of the Buddha’s message is not suffering. It is the possibility of happiness—profound, unshakable peace. He called it nibbāna, the cooling of fire, the end of craving. He called it santipada, the way to peace.

At Peace House, we remember this. We sit, we breathe, we listen—not because life is broken, but because there is a way to live it with freedom. A way to discover, for ourselves, what the Buddha meant when he spoke of the highest happiness.