Happiness.! that is the best thing a person (which include Animals) can achieve. No matter how you could try to explain,the sole purpose of life is to pursue happiness.
Happiness is always achieved when a certain desire or desires fulfilled with the desired ingredients.In other words, if desire is an empty container filling that emptiness with the desired ingredients will create happiness.
Full satisfaction or fulfillment is the ultimate happiness which has no happiness beyond.
Now, the problem we have is the fact that we cannot retain that happiness forever, due to two reasons.
1) The effectiveness of the ingredients we provide would not be remained constant due to decay.
2) The "emptiness" of the "container" will grow even bigger soon after we reached the peak of happiness.
Out of those two reasons, the 2nd one is the most powerful and makes a profound effect on our lives.
Every problem and every effect we face, every technology bit we create on this earth is due to the 2nd reason.The mother of all problems we have is the reason number two. Why? because every desire we fulfill will create more and more desires to be fulfilled. Which goes on and on and will never ends.!
Right.! Are you with me so far.? Now, As I mentioned above, the root to the all happiness or unhappiness is nothing else but desire.! Now, one can ask, where do we get this desire from and why? The answer is they all are within us.! They are coming from our sensory system and the brain. We are the "toys" of that system.!
Can we escape from that and be happy forever? Yes.! Theoretically we should be able to do that.
Then How?
There are two ways,
1) Keep providing those "ingredients" to fulfill the desire as long as it needs them.
2) Stop the growing "empty space" by controlling the desire or cheating it.
we know that we all are day and night trying harder to achieve the number one. that is why you are at work, that is why you are running a business, invention, almost anything you do. Are we successful ? you decide.!
How about No. 2 ? Can we try that? In my openion, that is not going to be that easy. We can try to hold or hide our desire but not very long.
Certainly we can cheat temporarily with the help of drugs alcohol etc. But for how long? when we are back to reality, you will find things are even worst.
In any case, if we are to achieve total happiness by implementing one of the above 2 methods, only the 2nd method is the most practical and achievable if we have the right technique in our hands.
Can a religion provide this technique? I dont know.!
According to my understanding, Buddhism provides a method. But I have not practiced enough or achieved enough yet.! It makes lot of sense, but I cannot speak for that.