The Buddha spoke a great deal about what leads to happiness and what leads to suffering. He said happiness and peace come from skillful qualities of mind and heart, while suffering comes from unskillful qualities. There is a very powerful insight to be explored here - that our happiness depends on the strengthening of skillful qualities and the weakening of unskillful qualities within, and not ultimately on conditions outside of ourselves. Indeed, Right Effort, the sixth link in the Eightfold Path, is defined as the effort to nurture skillful qualities and prevent the development of unskillful qualities.

The Buddha spoke in detail about exactly which qualities are skillful and which are not, but for us to really learn deeply, we must take on the practice of investigation of the whole area to see for ourselves. Then our actions and lives will match our words. This investigation itself is a skillful factor and is an aspect of Right View, the foundation for liberating wisdom.

There are many ways to approach this investigation of what exactly leads to happiness and what leads to suffering. Here we can only touch on a few. But to begin with, it is important to notice and be attentive to the different kinds and depths of happiness that are available.

Often we make decisions, consciously and unconsciously, seeking physical (or mental) comfort, or convenience or pleasure, and trying to avoid what we perceive may be discomfort, inconvenience and unpleasant sensations. With-out realizing, we may be in some way equating happiness with having or getting comfort, convenience and pleasure, and avoiding their opposites. (This is something most of us do to some extent and is a rich area for exploration.) But surely deeper kinds of happiness are available to us. And might it be that in our pursuit of comfort, convenience and pleasure, we are cutting off the potential flow of deeper joy in our lives?

Many of the items on our energy conservation list may at first seem to entail inconvenience, discomfort and unpleasantness. But in a sense they are also acts of generosity, lovingkindness and renunciation, and so, for our purposes, opportunities to cultivate skillful qualities and support our happiness. The Buddha often spoke about the fundamental spiritual value of generosity. It is a practice which opens the heart and loosens the often unconscious constriction of narrow self-interest. Practicing generosity leads to happiness because of this opening and because it helps lessen feelings of isolation and fosters feelings of connection - in this case to the whole human family and to the Earth. When the qualities of open-heartedness and connection are nurtured within us, we realize a more profound and reliable sense of well-being and joy.

Acting in ways that express care and kindness for the planet and all its inhabitants - for instance, taking action to reduce global warming - strengthens the presence of lovingkindness in our hearts. Like generosity, lovingkindness is a quality that leads to a happiness and peace that is independent of getting things or doing things or getting things done. It's hard not to feel happy when there is the quality of lovingkindness in the heart, and if through cultivation and reinforcement it becomes a "mental habit," happiness will be a frequent visitor for us.

The Buddha defined the second link of the Eightfold Path, Right Resolve, as being resolved on renunciation, on freedom from ill will and on harmlessness. The massive negative environmental impacts of energy over-consumption, and particularly our excessive use of oil in automobiles, have been amply chronicled in many places. So, knowing this, to resolve to practice energy conservation is Right Resolve - tending toward harmlessness. Many of us don't often link renunciation with happiness, but experimenting a little with this quality may reveal many unexpected things. For instance, it may promote simplicity which can lead to peace and allow for the greater flow of joy. It can also create space for more awareness and stronger mindfulness and attentiveness - qualities which are themselves gifts and are indispensable in the discovery of happiness and freedom.

What we also discover in practicing is that skillful qualities tend to support, reinforce and feedback on each other in many ways. For example, with acts of lovingkindness, loving-kindness is strengthened as a quality of one's heart which leads to greater happiness and a greater sense of inner security. This enables one to be freer in one's generosity and to experiment safely with renunciation without feeling deprived, which in turn leads to more happiness, and so on. And as we begin to notice the many patterns of cause and effect, we naturally act in a skillful way more and more, gaining in peace, happiness and confidence.