The 3 pillars of happiness according to Mahikari
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Mahikari is a spiritualist art created in Japan that originated in 1959, whose goal is the purification of humanity through its practice of Okiyome (also known as laying on of the hand) – the way that Mahikari practitioners emit divine light granted by God to carry out purification. It is a mean of the one who applies the Okiyome and the person who receives it to cleanse their karma.
According to Mahikari guidelines, it’s the most effective way because, in addition to helping yourself, it also helps others.
Within this art, there are several teachings, one of which talks about the pillars of happiness. They are health, harmony and prosperity. When one understands the meaning and importance of these pillars and begins to exercise them, it is possible to see life with more simplicity and less problems, and thus reaches a higher spiritual level.
Mahikari and the 3 pillars of happiness
Pillar number 1: Health
When talking about health, it’s referring to being healthy and avoiding imbalances in life because when the body gets sick, the spirit also gets sick. Thus, it’s recommended to exercise weekly, maintain a balanced diet, sleep around 8 hours a day and not only seek physical health, but mental health as well. Doing pleasurable activities, meditating, socializing, or even seeking professional help if necessary, are attitudes that contribute to our mental health.
Pillar number 2: Harmony
To better understand the pillar of harmony, it is necessary to know the concept of “sonen”. It is the deepest feeling that anyone can have and can only be reached when body, mind and spirit are aligned.
The basis of harmony is achieved when you are able to lead a life free of conflicts and confrontations and achieve the harmony born out of love, that is, to feel at peace with yourself before the gestures of love for your neighbor.
An example of having a life without conflicts is to have attitudes such as: not starting fights; instead of exalting yourself in confusion, try to remain calm and tone; not having attitudes towards others that would displease you if they were with you; have self-love; etc.
The main way to cultivate the sonen of harmony born out of love is through the practice of Okiyome. It is also possible to do good without seeing to whom, through voluntary projects or charity.
Pillar number 3: Prosperity
The pillar of prosperity means freeing yourself from misery, that is, managing your finances consciously and avoiding materialism. Some attitudes that help in this pillar are reflecting on your need for consumption, not exaggerating, abstaining from futile things, etc. It means feeling satisfied with having the essentials; this does not mean not spending money, but giving preference to consuming what generates experience.
Thus, this is one of the possible ways to achieve happiness, but everyone is free to seek it in their own way.
The great importance of these 3 pillars is to show us that happiness comes from within our hearts and not from the outside world, that is, it’s useless to have a thousand things if you have no one to share with or you do not have the health to live it. After all, when we die, we don’t take any object with us, we take only our memories and that’s what really matters.
