Who doesn’t want to be happy
We all desire happiness. We pursue pleasures systematically through life – it comes as naturally to us as the sunflower turns to the sun.
But, pleasure once obtained does not last; so once again, the search begins.
Moreover, pleasure is ephemeral; it eludes the seeker at the final moment.
One may work very hard and get all that the world considers necessary for a happy life, yet none of these things can make us really happy
There are several people who do not have even the basic necessities of life and are yet happy
. Happiness is a state of mind.
This is easier to achieve once we learn to be less self- centred.
The more egocentric we are, the more vulnerable we become; even a small thing can shatter our happiness.
At the material, intellectual and spiritual levels there is every chance of our being disappointed so long as we are egocentric.
It may be something as petty as not being invited to a lunch part
or, if a colleague gets a promotion and we do not, we become unhappy
or if another person is judged kinder and nobler than we are, even then
, we tend to become jealous. Statistically, there is a bell-shaped curve,
tapering off, either side, showing that extreme cases are rare.
If we want lasting happiness we must be prepared to surrender pleasures
of preyas or smaller worth for pleasures of shreyas or greater worth.
True happiness comes about when, even for a few moments, we forget ourselves
making it possible for us to establish contact with our higher nature, the divinity within.
When we are admiring a painting or listening to a piece of music or observing the sun set, we do forget ourselves for those moments.
We sometimes experience this bliss when we meditate.
We also experience this happiness when we forget ourselves in helping
someone or in doing good works without any self-interest.
So long as we are searching for happiness, we are bound to be unhappy.
But when we cease making happiness our goal, we shall definitely experience it as a kind of by-product.