La tradition religieuse en Chine ne recoit pas toujours d'idee assez mure sur l'au-dela apres la mort, ainsi que celle de l'autre monde en dehors d'icibas, puisque ce monde terrestre est le monde unique qui existe pour le peuple du continent chinois. Leur bonheur de ce monde est en consequence tout le bonheur qu'ils peuvent porter. Les croyances populaires sont profondement enracinees dans leur societe, parmi lesquelles le taoisme poursuit surtout divers facons de maintenir la vie quotidienne sauve et calme. L'art de respiration pour la longevite, la medecine traditionnelle chinoise, la technique de geomancie et les amulettes afin d'exorciser les mauvais esprits qui leur portent malheur, se situent tous au pied d'une vaste plaine de pratiques taoistes. Les Chinois passent par des alternatives de joie et de desespoir a travers du changement frequent de dynasties. Vivre en paix, bien que pauvre en evenements, est ardemment desireux dans les siecles des hauts et des bas. Les ecritures de Tchouang-tseu expriment la recherche du non-agir et du non-causer en racontant sous la forme de mythe, et celles de Lao-tseu la haussent comme loi d'existence pour une longue vie dans ce monde. Cette recherche etait transformee en idee impossible a realiser, concue par les fideles du taoisme de l'epoque tardive qui estimaient la voie du Livre de la Grande Paix.

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Recently, the happiness and well-being of individuals, as well as that of whole nations, has begun to be taken into consideration. The International Day of Happiness (20 March), adopted by the United Nations in 2012, is proof of the increasing concern for happiness and well-being. The country with the greatest influence on the adoption of the International Day of Happiness was undoubtedly Bhutan. In the 1970s the Bhutanese Fourth King Jigme Singye Wangchuk (b. 1955) advocated the concept of Gross National Happiness (GNH) and the concept became the policy of the country. When discussing GNH, researchers focus mainly on its political or administrative aspects such as GNH Index and GNH Commission. On the other hand, they scarcely discuss what the concepts "National" and "Happiness" really mean for Bhutanese people in most cases. We thus need to direct our attention to their spirituality and its history, which form the basis of the GNH, as well as the political and administrative aspects of the GNH in order to realize what the concepts of happiness and well-being mean to the Bhutanese people. This paper analyzes the concepts "National" and "Happiness" as seen by the Bhutanese people with reference to Bhutanese history, thought, and ethics, while also exploring its application to society.

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According to some international scholars, spirituality has become popular in a global business context. A self-help bestseller "7 Habits of Highly Effective People" is referred to as a typical example of such "workplace spirituality." This paper explores the "7 Habits" phenomena in Japan through field research, analyzing affinities between spirituality discourse and global capitalism. As a result, despite the claim of prior studies, common-sense human relationships are presented in actual business training, and spirituality discourse takes place in a very restrained manner. Communication is usually advanced in a therapeutic language rather than in a spiritual one. Today's work ethics in a global context are realized in a very delicate balance between spirituality and secularity. Harmonious relationships in "7 Habits" might partly derive from a new religious movement, but it is suggested that these are also taught in a religiously anesthesized way.

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Recent depopulation and globalization will transform Japanese society in the near future. While family and community are going through the process of individualization, it is a prerequisite that labor and welfare institutions must be reconstructed regarding individuality. As a result, the state must take up the traditional risk-hedge function of communality, and also promote a sense of self-responsibility due to the current stagnant economy. Therefore people have became more anxious about their life, and their sense of well-being has declined. Under such circumstances religion is no longer in a stable condition. Religions that cannot meet people's needs and aspiration will fade out because of the decline of conventional communality of regions and households, which used to be the economic base of shrine Shinto and temple Buddhism. Referring to current research of happiness and well-being, this paper first studies the relation between peoples' subjective well-being and their social capital, and then discusses the agenda of contemporary religions. People become more satisfied and have a sense of hope when they develop an intimate and meaningful relationship with others, through which they can also feel self-esteem and have a positive attitude. Are contemporary religions able to fulfill these sincere requests?

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Shiawase in Japanese means "chance" or "fortune." According to Orikuchi Shinobu, sachi in older Japanese before the addition of foreign elements means the power of hunting and also the spiritual power of the quarry. Kofuku is a derivative of "happy" and "happiness." Happiness is not something substantial but something each individual feels and something else transitory such as a "dream" or "fantasy." This is why people long for happiness to happen repeatedly and continuously. The folkloric surveys of the life style of mountain villages of the 1930's show that happiness is connected with property, diligence, a long life, and a harmonious household. People wish to transmit those elements to the next generation. The relationship between momentary happiness, such as an appetite for food, sexual desire, and the aspiration for fame, and regenerated happiness can be compared to the repetition of charging and discharging. Without the labor of charging, there is no pleasure of discharging. From the folkloric traditionological point of view, the reality of happiness is in the structure of reproducing happiness through alternating hare and ke.

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The aim of this paper is to clarify theodicies of Japanese New Religions. Max Weber assumes that the only religions that contain theodicies are Calvinism, Zoroastrianism, and the idea of karma, and that other religions such as Confucianism and Japanese Buddhism lack theodicies. However, the present study found out that Japanese New Religions have unique theodicies that explain why suffering takes place and how people can achieve happiness. This study explores the discourses of major new religious groups in Japan: Soka Gakkai, Tenrikyo, Rissho Koseikai, Seicho no Ie, and so on. The common features of these theodicies are that human beings are children of God and originally created to be happy, but suffering takes place as (1) a notice from God that tells the person who has deviated from the right way or the right mind, (2) a result from the spiritual world, or (3) a result of depravity and sin in a previous life. In addition to those theodicies, they have common pragmatic ways to overcome suffering. That is, when believers (1) repent and recover a pure heart by (2) practicing teachings and doing good for the world, they will (3) attain the state of salvation.

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Salvation and happiness are two different things, as is clear from the fact that one can feel happiness, but not salvation. Christian monasticism, on the other hand, is clearly an effort of Christian monks which aims at salvation. In order to attain salvation as something to be obtained in the other life, monks of Christian antiquity renounced various worldly things, such as various forms of happiness in this life: pleasure in eating and drinking, pleasure pertaining to sex, and familial relations as a source of happiness. One might ask whether it is possible at all to talk about happiness in Christian monasticism. There is a tradition in Western Christianity which asserts that happiness can be obtained in this life through the act of contemplation. This assertion has been presented and discussed in detail in this paper. However, the author argues that this assertion is apparently a product of medieval Christianity lived by Christians of a medieval feudal society, because it does not fully take into account the normal meaning of "happiness" which, in my view, can be obtained in one's normal daily life. Happiness can be obtained every now and then by anyone in this life, from whom even monks are not excluded despite their distinct ways of life.

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According to Kant, religion consists in hope for happiness. However, his explanations of happiness are various, and it is not necessarily clear what kind of happiness he thinks is the happiness for which religion allows one to hope. In his arguments laying the foundation for ethics Kant defines happiness as "satisfaction of all inclinations" and "complete satisfaction with one's existence/condition." He argues that it can never provide the moral principle, and warns that one should not confuse it with "self-contentment" as a mere "analogue of happiness," which occurs based on consciousness of observing moral laws. In brief, he tries to purify morality from religion and happiness. On the other hand, when he discusses the happiness hoped for as the second element of the "highest good," its close connections with morality are redeemed. In this context, also, happiness is "complete satisfaction with one's existence/condition," but this can only be realized based on the above-mentioned "self-contentment," and the "satisfaction of inclinations" cannot but be abstracted (in the case of "beatitude" hoped for after death in a future world) or limited (in the case of "general happiness" to be realized in an "ethical community" which should be established in this world). Interestingly, Kant seems to argue that promotion of the "highest good" is obliged to human beings, but at the same time one may hope for the help of God in the same process to its realization.

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As Victor E. Frankl pointed out, human beings are homo patiens. Suffering, especially occurred from losing a beloved, urges the loser to construct a new relationship with the lost beloved, which brings the loser living a new life (the power of suffering). On the other hand, the suffering itself is saved by a "community of memory" that stands close to the loser with sympathy (the power of co-suffering). In that sense, both remembering the lost beloved and cooperatively participating in the act of remembering have religious meanings. The fact that happiness is fragile and transient gives rise to the sorrows of life, while, conversely, it strengthens the sense of happiness at this very moment.

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