Mystery of Happiness

 

Ques 1: What is the purpose/goal of Life?

Answer: A student may say his purpose of life is to become a doctor or an engineer etc. Father might believe his purpose of life is to own a house. Mother may consider marrying her kids to be the goal of her life. Actor might feel his goal is to become world famous. Sportsperson may say his goal of life is to break all records, etc. One should think rationally- Is it so? Are there different goals for different persons? No!

All human beings, all animals, all aquatics, all living beings differ in endeavour to achieve ONLY one thing what they think, what they believe, what they conceive, what they term as HAPPINESS. Everyone just wants one thing by each and every endeavour of theirs i.e. HAPPINESS!!Everyone is in search of that thing by all his endeavours.

Thus, the purpose/ goal of Life is to know what is REAL Happiness and how can it be attained.

Ques 2: Who wants happiness?

Answer: We all say “I want happiness”. One should ask oneself-

Who is “I”?
Dog says “I am a dog”..
Donkey says “I am a donkey”..
Human being says-“I am a man”..
Demigod says-“I am a demigod”..
So, is this your identification??
NO!!

You are not a dog or a donkey or a human being or a demigod etc. You are a soul sitting in a body of a dog or a donkey or a human being or a demigod etc.. The body in which you are residing is made from earth, water, fire, ether and sky, which are all dead matter but you, the soul, are spiritual, and you want happiness.

Ques 3: What is Happiness?

Ans. : In Brahma Sütra it’s said “çrutes tu çabda mülatvät”- words from the Vedas are the highest opinion on anything. No opinion is above the eternally same, eternally perfect Vedas.

The Vedas describe the Supreme Lord as Änanda brahma, Änanda svarüpa, rasamaya – the Supreme Lord is a condensed form of Änanda, Rasa and Happiness. And by attaining Him the jéva’s eternal quest for happiness finally reaches its culmination by attaining God i.e. a jéva finally attains happiness !

• raso vai saù (Taittiréya Upaniñad 2.7.1) – The Supreme Lord is Rasa.

• ananda vijïänam änandaà brahma  (Båhad Äraëyaka Upaniñad 3.9.34) – The Supreme Lord is Jïäna Svarüpa, Änanda Svarüpa (it implies, that other beings, other things are not Änanda Svarüpa)

• sarva gandhaù, sarva rasaù (Chändogya Upaniñad 3.14.2)- Here the Vedas go a step further; he is just not simply Rasa. He is “Sarva Rasaù”- He is happiness. All types of Rasa, happiness. There is no Rasa, happiness elsewhere, outside Him.

• änandamayo bhyäsät (Vedänta sutra 1.1.12)

• satyaà jïänaà anantaà (Taittiréya Upaniñad, Änanda Valli 1)

• sac–cid-änanda vigraha (Brahma Saàhitä 5.1)

• sa esa rasanäà rasatamaù (Chändogya Upaniñad 1.1.3)

• akhila rasämåta mürtiù (Caitanya Caritämåta 8.142)

• Brahmand Valli from Taittiréya Upaniñad  2.7 explains eña hy evänandayati- The Supreme Lord is the only giver of happiness, peace!

• Bhagavad Gétä 18.62- tat prasädät paräà çäntià- Only by Lord not by his own whimsical endeavour anybody gets any happiness.

• rasaà hy eväyaà labdhvänandé bhavati (Taittiréya Upaniñad 2.7.1)- Only by attaining Rasmaya, Rasa-svarüpa Lord, a living being gets happiness.

• vijïänaà änandaà brahma (Båhad Äraëyaka Upaniñad 3.9.34)

• taà dhyäyet, taà rasayet, taà bhajet, taà yajed iti (Gopäl Tapäné Upänisad Pürva 50)

Ques 4: What is material happiness?

Ans. Happiness is spiritual only, happiness is not material. There is no such thing called material happiness in reality. There is no happiness in matter and whatever is matter is not happiness. Whatever is ‘jaò’ is not ‘cit’, what is ‘cit’ is not ‘jaò’.

Worldly happiness, material happiness, and sensual happiness- These terms are not correct/wrong. It is formed due to illusion in mind. It is sheer imagination. And pursuing this imagination is a sheer waste of time. One can only attain frustration (not God/happiness) out of this. This holds true for you, for a billionaire, for a demigod, an ant, a dog…everybody.

Ques 5: One has to give up worldly happiness to practise spirituality. Is it so?

Ans : It is a huge misconception which many people have – to go into spiritual life, one has to give up material, worldly happiness.

There is nothing called as Material or worldly happiness. Happiness is always spiritual, is not material. So, there is no question of renouncing any non-existent thing (material happiness). One just has to renounce what he really doesn’t want i.e. false notions of happiness, which ultimately give him frustrations, because the false notion of happiness in terms of material world keeps you eternally away from happiness.

Do we call a person as tyägé, a greatly renounced person, who passes/leaves stool and urine from his body? No! Because stool and urine are just not required, should be given up at the earliest if one wants to be healthy.

Similarly, giving up so-called worldly happiness is just like giving up of stool and urine, which are not required for happiness.  By renouncing this, you just don’t become a tyägé, you simply become a wise person.

Ques 6. How can one attain happiness?

Ans. A person who is thirsty will never start eating wood or start eating grass to quench his thirst. Because he is 100% clear that thirst can only be removed by drinking water. All of us have this clarity about water for quenching thirst, but we need to have same clarity for ourselves.

We, the souls, are thirsty for happiness and this thirst can only be quenched by attaining God, not via wife, kids, status, money, sports, latest clothes, anything. The concepts which humans term as happiness are nothing but “citta våtti- véçeña” are just mental faculty related, are not “Ätma-Samvedya” don’t really touch you, the soul!

Ques 7: “I am happy, if i get what i like”…..is this TRUE?

Ans. Most of us think- “if I get what I like, it means I am happy.”

This is the most common myth about happiness that if I get that thing which I like, it is happiness.

If one achieves what one likes, it is just something which was conceived mentally has just taken shape. It is one’s own fault by terming something as happiness which was mentally conceived.

• If one gets what he likes, he tends to believe “I am happy!”

Then it implies whatever one likes in mind is all happiness.

There are millions and millions of people on the planet. Practically, almost everyone thinks this way that if I get, what I like…it means I am happy. So if this is true, then happiness thus means whatever comes in anyone’s mind- it is happiness. But it is NOT so! Acting as per one’s likes and dislikes is not happiness.

Eg.- Killing someone taking shape is so called happiness for a killer. But for the family of that person who lost their loved one i.e. not happiness, but getting that person behind the bars or killing him is happiness.

• Also, one’s likes changes with time, eternally. So does one’s such concepts of happiness also change eternally. If happiness would have based on this myth, then it means whatever whenever Mr. X likes, if he achieves he will be happy..which is NOT.
  Slavery of mind is not happiness… Happiness is happiness. And it (Happiness) is beyond one’s likes and dislikes.

Ques 8. Can we attain happiness after fulfilling/attaining our desired objects like money, pizza, fame, son, etc.?

Ans. A person desiring any material thing (like money, pizza, fame, etc) can at most get that particular thing but not happiness. Happiness is totally spiritual in nature and cannot be attained by attaining/acquiring material things. All these- money, pizza, sex, wine, car are all material.

One may get these things but-

• Money is money ….. Money is not happiness (God).

• Family is family….family is not happiness (God).

• Pizza is pizza ….. Pizza is not happiness. (God)

• Cricket is cricket …. Cricket is not happiness. (God)

• Sex is sex ….. Sex is not happiness. (God)

• New clothes are new clothes …. New clothes are not happiness. (God)

• Fame is fame ….. Fame is not happiness. (God)

• Mobile is mobile …. Mobile is not happiness. (God)

• Wine is wine ….. Wine is not happiness. (God)

• Luxury car is luxury car ….. Luxury car is not happiness. (God)

• Going abroad is going abroad ….. Going abroad is not happiness. (God)

• Husband is husband ….. Husband is not happiness. (God)

• Getting married is getting married…it is not happiness. (God)

• Food is simply food, it is not happiness.

What I get I desire- it is nothing more than “match the following” thing which students do. I have made concepts in mind that if in the external world we live in, these get matched, we label them as happiness. If they don’t get matched we label that thing as distress!

It is stated-

etäs te kértétaù sarväù
saìkñepeëa vibhütayaù
mano-vikärä evaite
yathä väcäbhidhéyate
(S.B.11.16.41)

These are just mano-vikärä i.e. own interpretations as per one’s state of mind. Such interpretation has got nothing to do with happiness.

When due to personal reasons, one’s state of mind is transformed into affectionate state for certain things, persons or situations he takes them as a source of happiness- pizza, burger, wine, son, wife etc.

But when due to any reason one’s state of mind becomes negative; same persons, situations, food, drinks etc are taken as source of dukha/misery.

The reality is- both apparently favorable and unfavorable states are just mental transformations mano-vikärä taking one away from happiness, for, we know that happiness is spiritual i.e indriyätéta…beyond anyone’s interpretation about things, people or situations.

Ques 9: “Is Eating delicious food happiness”?

Ans.: NO!!

Food is simply meant to run the body. It is not meant for happiness. Just as petrol for car will not give happiness in anyway; it is just to run the car, food is also simply meant to run the body. One may get taste out of it but not happiness. Taste is taste.. Taste is not happiness.

Out of ignorance, many people run here and there to restaurants for food, thinking it will give them happiness. People call chefs from other cities to make particular food, thinking it will give them happiness. Ignorantly one puts/forces idea of happiness into food/drink.

It’s not that one should not eat tasty food but should understand that anything related to tongue, genitals, is not happiness.

jihvära lälase yei iti uti dhäya
çiçnodora paräyaëa – Kåñëa nähi päya
(Caitanya Caritämåta Antya 6.227)

One who runs here and there to satisfy genitals and taste of tongue… Never gets happiness!

Ques 10: What a male feels for a female- Is it excitement or happiness?

Ans.

• A female thinks male body as an embodiment of bliss, happiness.

• Likewise, a male thinks female body is Änanda vigraha, condensed form of bliss.

But Çästras opinion varies. Çästras clearly tells Éçvara, God is sat cit änanda vigraha i.e. embodiment of happiness, Änanda.

Males and females in this world are not Änanda vigraha, are infact ‘mal’ and ‘mütra’ vigraha. A bag full of stool and urine, nicely packed. If 1mm of skin is removed from human body, then one will see it has blood, bones, stool, urine, bile, mucus only. It is just an excitement (not happiness) what a male feels for a female.

A Boy and a girl love each other, get married, slowly that excitement starts going down, and quarrelling etc takes place. This shows that excitement cannot be termed as happiness, as Änanda is ‘Pratikçaëa Vardhmanaà’ (Närada Bhakti Sütra 54), always increasing.  Therefore, one must clearly know that happiness and excitement are two different things. If happiness is east then excitement is west. One going towards east can never reach west. A person who equates excitement with happiness can never truly get happiness.
We, by nature, want unlimited happiness. By giving just to the mercy of sex for happiness, we desire unlimited happiness!

Ques 11. Can anyone attain happiness from this world?

Ans.
This material world cannot give any type of happiness because this world is jaòa (made of dead matter) and there is no happiness in dead things.

By doing material activities like going to cinema hall or buying designer clothes, one may assume it to be sukha or believes it is sukha for jïäné (a person not in knowledge) or sukha for the senses. But none of these assumptions is true.
Everything except the living entity is dead matter. Matter itself has no creative power. When it is manipulated by the living energy, material things are produced, which cannot be called as happiness.

Ques 12: What do I need to understand in order to attain happiness?

Ans. : If in reality, you want to attain happiness, änanda-präpti (bhagavat-präpti ),then you need to have crystal clear-

• 100% foolproof understanding of your own svarüpa who you really are (nitya–çuddha, uncontaminated spirit soul without a tinge of lust, anger, greed, envy etc. I have absolutely no connection with anything of this world. I have no relation with any person of this world.

• 100% foolproof understanding about svarüpa of this world (this world is made of earth, water, fire, air, ether; is dead)

• 100% foolproof understanding about the svarüpa of the Lord (He is Happiness Personified).

Without flawless understanding of whom you really are, what this world is, what exactly is God; you can never really do “Änanda-Präpti”.