శర్మ గారూ,
ఆనందమయ జీవితానికి మనం ఆచరించే మతం కూడా సహాయ పడుతుందని అనేక పరిశీలనలలో విశదమైంది. అలాగని వైద్య శాస్త్రం మతాన్ని ప్రోత్సహిస్తుందని అర్ధం చేసుకోకూడదు. మనందరికీ తెలుసుకదా వైద్య శాస్త్రానికి ఎప్పుడూ ఒకటే మతం , అదే మానవత్వం !
ఈ క్రింద ఉంచిన వివరాలు చూడండి. ( సమయం తక్కువ అవటం వల్ల దీనిని తెలుగులో అనువాదం చేయలేదు. క్షంతవ్యుడిని )
Dr. Edward Diener, who has studied happiness across cultures and has pinpointed some universal reasons that people are happier. One is religion. I ( not Sudhakar ! )had the opportunity to interview Dr. Diener.

Question: Why does religion seem to make people happier?

Dr. Diener: Many studies find that religious people on average are happier. But since not all religious people are happier, and not all religious beliefs seem to lead to happiness, we have to search for the “active ingredient” in what aspect of religion might increase feelings of well-being. In our book on happiness, my son and I argue that one key ingredient is positive spirituality, feeling emotions such as love, awe, wonder, respect, and gratitude that connect us to others and to things larger than ourselves. That is, spirituality can focus us on larger causes than our own personal welfare, and this can give us purpose and meaning. Also, this broader focus on others and purpose can help us quit worrying so much about ourselves. And it can help us connect to others.

Religion has been associated with happiness for other reasons. For instance, religion often gives people social support and contact. People meet other like-minded people at any place of worship , and in many instances can count on those folks when they need help. Another reason that some religions might increase subjective well-being is that they provide optimism for an afterlife. These religions solve the “terror” associated with death by promising a better life after death. Another reason that religion can help happiness is that it provides a moral compass, rules to live by. We need something more than our own hedonism to guide our behavior, and religion can help to provide guidelines to follow in order to have an orderly and moral life, that helps us get along well with others. Finally, religion can provide answers to large questions, such as where did the universe come from, why is there evil, etc.

In our research, we are surprised to find that the happiest nations are often relatively nonreligious, such as Scandinavian societies. This is surprising, because we also find that religious people have more positive feelings in most nations. So it is a puzzle as to why people in wealthier societies are so frequently turning away from religion. It seems from our analyses that people most turn to religion when conditions in their society are tough – poverty, conflict, and so forth. When conditions are good, fewer people in a nation continue to be religious. Even then, the religious individuals report more positive emotions.