What is happiness where does it lie?
How does it look like and why is it so shy?
Chase of mankind always kept aloof,
Appearances in roses, hearts filled with gloom.
Life in bigger cities, despite better amenities, has become very hectic and stressful that a news item even reported that sale of anti-depressants in India is growing by 17% annually. If we look around, it is an appalling scenario. People seem or rather pretend to be happy, but in actuality are far from being happy. Why is it so that in this era of technological advancements where almost everything has become possible upon a touch of a button, the mind is far away from serenity?
Life is referred as “anubhav dhara”, stream of experiences. There is life as long as there are experiences. As the experiences cease, life also comes to an end. There are two components of any experience, subject and object. The subjects are we as individuals and the object is the world. As the subject, we individuals deal with the world, we have experiences. As are the experiences, so is the life. If experiences are good, life is good and when there are sorrowful experiences, so is the life. To improve the experience, the options are either to improve the subject or the object. One set of school works for the betterment of the objects to provide greater happiness. The scientific developments play an important role and indeed have made massive contributions. With each passing day, new and new captivating gadgets and equipments are becoming part of our life. The objects are truly facilitating. Nevertheless people continue to be in a state of anguish and pain. No object till date has ever been able to overcome the sufferings and woes of any human being. This is an irony. Another set of thinkers concentrate on the subject. Vedanta provides that if we do not work on the improvement of the subject, we live a life of strain and disarray even in the world of prosperity and plenty.
We as human beings succumb to our desires. Desires of sense objects. The fulfillment of each desire; achievement of sense object, symbolises happiness to us. Each time we get our desire fulfilled we appear to be happy. If we put happiness into an equation, mathematically, it would be:
Number of desires fulfilled
Happiness = ————————————–
Total number of desires entertained.
Obvious from the above formula, the two ways in which happiness can be increased are:
I) Either increase the numerator or
II) Decrease the denominator.
Getting along with the first option is very easy. We try to increase the numerator by fulfilling our desires and we do have a sense of happiness. For example: If there is a desire to go out for a dinner at a restaurant, then accomplishing the object makes us feel happy. But in the process of increasing the numerator, we find ourselves in a situation where many more desires have crept in. Every time we fulfill our desire, the number of desires in the wait list keeps on rising. Thus, increase in the numerator automatically increases the denominator and in fact manifolds, severely affecting the equation of happiness downwards.
Concentrating on the subject, we achieve strength to raise ourselves. If we are able to control and confine our desires, there is decrease in the denominator. The removal of each desire would give us the power. Happy at all times. Swami Ramatirtha has said “If you are not happy as you are, where you are, you will never be happy.” The day when we bring down the denominator to zero value, imagine the level of happiness, it shall be infinite. “Happiness Unlimited”. It might seem to be a difficult proposition, but we human beings do follow this practice. The question ahead is; are we willing to improve upon? How? Let’s see.
It is a known fact that our composition is of matter and spirit. The body, mind and intellect referred to as the matter and Atman, the spirit. At the gross level it is body, mind being subtle. Intellect is subtler and Atman the subtlest. Eating an imported brand of chocolate and its taste is the cause of happiness to the body. When it comes to the emotional level where mind plays, we rise and we give the chocolate to our child giving us much more joy and in fact for a longer duration. Our intellectual pursuits for study many times make us give up various desires and we happily let go desires for a cause something more important. That brings everlasting happiness. We need to lift ourselves because intellectual persists.
Giving away desires may not be that easy. The higher we move, from body to mind to intellect and there above, it becomes more difficult. The higher is the pain; greater the happiness. The Lord Himself has said in the eighteenth chapter of The Bhagwad Gita: The true happiness is like poison in the beginning but nectar in the end – verse 37. False happiness is like nectar in the beginning but poison in the end – verse 38.
In these times, full of hassle and haste, let us pause for a while; think where true happiness lies and how it can be achieved lies in not letting go the objective of our life and existence.
The way to happiness is on path of attitude,
Where hearts filled with sense of gratitude.
With all one has ever so content,
As divine gifts above from heavens.
