What Is Holistic Happiness?

As a coach I teach the life philosophy of Holistic Happiness. Holistic Happiness is an eclectic approach to personal development heavily influenced by ancient Asian techniques of self-discovery combined with modern techniques and philosophies. At its heart, Holistic Happiness leads the agent on a journey to enlightenment, self-discovery and success in the secular world.

In order to more formally introduce my life philosophy I would offer this definition as an introduction to promoting understanding:

I regard success as being the ability to do exactly that. Sure, I like the nice things in life too and I enjoy a sense of accomplishment, but I don’t place money and trophies (real or of the mind) above the integration of our selves and the integration of that unified Self with wider society.

You will notice that there are two primary components to the pursuit of Holistic Happiness: one relates to a primarily internal quest of self-discovery and enlightenment (the discovery of your true nature) while the other is concerned with the external world and living a moral and lawful life within the society you live in.

Unlike many spiritual teachers I do not teach or embrace the idea that the discovery of the divine trumps all else. I have no desire to ensconce myself in a temple somewhere and ‘be spiritual’. Spiritualism to me is an important part of one’s life…but it is only a part and should not be pursued at the expense of other areas of development.

Similarly I am also opposed to the idea that success can be understood in the simple terms of accruing more and more (wealth, intellect, possessions, status, trophies and so on). I want all of those things, but I don’t only want those things. I want to gain those more tangible assets while being true to myself and while being a moral and lawful member of society. I am not interested in sacrificing my morality or in breaking the law to ‘be successful’; nor am I interested in neglecting my spiritual development.

Now admittedly, exactly what it means to be ‘moral’ or ‘lawful’ can be quite fluid and trying to find and define one’s ‘true nature’ can be discussed ad infinitum. These are rather imprecise terms. However, that is also an attractive point of the language I have chosen to use as it allows for multiple definitions that will vary from person to person, from society to society and from epoch to epoch. A core ingredient of the path to Holistic Happiness is that it is both a journey of self-discovery and external investigation and examination. It is not about absorbing and regurgitating information that I or some other person provides. It is about using the teachings of myself and others as ‘a finger pointing’. What it means to be moral is different for different people at different times and in different places. Recognizing this is as much a part of the process as anything else and formulating your own moral code, no doubt borrowed in part from wider society, is an important step. Then these factors are ultimately governed by your need to act as a lawful member of society (assuming you want to retain your freedom of course).

The moral and legal aspects of Holistic Happiness are important to consider and weigh against living an authentic life in accord with your true nature. Following your instincts is not always the best approach; similarly following a pre-established moral or legal code is also not always where you want to be (I, for example, would have no problem spending 20 years in prison if that was the price to pay for protecting one of my children against harm). It is this constant, dynamic interaction between your true nature (found in your right brain hemisphere) and your awareness of a world that is impersonal and that hasn’t been designed specifically for you to express your true self in (understood and recognized in your left hemisphere) that lies at the heart of Holistic Happiness.

What I am teaching and what I will be writing about in more detail is the need to be both rational and intuitive; both self-expressive and self-controlled; both internally driven and externally motivated. Which aspect you emphasize will vary from situation to situation as per the demands made upon you. Holistic Happiness then is a quest for both an understanding of the divine and success in the secular world. It is an investigation of both the right and left brain hemispheres. It is a quest for balance and harmony. It is about taking an holistic approach to the entirety of life and achieving happiness through this.

Vincent Cooper has spent much of his teenage life and all his adult life studying martial arts and the attendant philosophies. In recent years he has taught and coached his philosophy of Holistic Happiness. For more information please send email to:
info@personaldevelopmentforum.com.

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