The Quest For Happiness

Every person in this world is seeking happiness in some way. We generally equate happiness with the pleasure we get through our senses. As money is needed to satisfy the sensual desires almost all people run after money assuming that money would give happiness. Money undoubtedly plays a very important role in our lives and to some extent it is appropriate to say that our happiness is directly proportionate to the amount of money we earn. But delving a little deeper we can understand that money is not synonymous with happiness. The most affluent people in the world are not always the happiest.

It is not easy to clearly define happiness. It is also not possible to measure if even though we do experience varying degrees of happiness. The nature of human senses is such that when a sense is exposed to a particular pleasurable experience it enjoys the sensation for sometime. If the sense is repeatedly exposed to the same sensation then it ceases to enjoy that sensation. We all know that if we go an eating our favorite dish several times a day for many days we begin to hate the very sight of it. The same principle applies to all the senses. When a new musical album is released people go mad over it, listen to it repeatedly and dance. After some time the same album does not evoke such a response.

The world is constantly changing and we are exposed to different experiences and sensations regularly. We are so engrossed with worldly activities that we rarely ask ourselves whether we are really going in the right direction to seek happiness. But if we think about it seriously even for a short while we can understand that we cannot attain lasting happiness by running after worldly objects. That means we cannot get happiness that does not diminish from the external world. Does it mean we can never get unending happiness? Many people have occasionally experienced a wave of happiness without apparent reason. Does it mean that true happiness is with in but we do not experience it always? It is a case of so near yet so for? If it is within ourselves why do we not feel it? This is an enigma. All of us, sometime or the other keep something is our pockets but go on searching for it everywhere else. Is it the same with happiness?

Since time immemorial Indian Yogis have been telling us that our true nature is bliss. Because our nature is bliss and we have forgotten our real nature and identify ourselves with the body mind complex we go on searching for it. How do we forget our real nature? The UPANISHADS give the example of different states of the human mind. We all experience the waking state, dream state and the state of deep sleep. In our dreams we may imagine ourselves to be something different. The managing director of a multinational company employing hundreds of people may dream that he is an unemployed youth desperately searching for a job. In his dream he may not get any job even after running from pillar to post and decide to end his life. At that point of time he will wake up because of the unpleasant nature of the dream and laugh at the whole episode.

The UPANISHADS teach us that this world is also a dream and disappears when a person experiences the highest state of meditation, which is called Samadhi. What then is the difference between this and the state of deep sleep in which we are not aware of the world? In the state of deep sleep we are ignorant of our real nature and do not experience the bliss we do in the state of Samadhi. The UPANISHADS state categorically that God is the only truth and this world of names and forms is an illusion brought about by the power of God, which is referred to as Maya. The ultimate goal of human life is to experience our real nature, which is spiritual and attain ever lasting and infinite bliss. This can be attained by regular and scientific meditation. The quest for happiness ends there. Those who are curious to learn more can study the UPANISHADS particularly the Mandukya Upanishad with the commentary written by Gaudapada, which is known as Karika. Those who are seriously interested in learning meditation can contact the Self-Realization Fellowship in Los Angeles or its sister organization Yogoda Satsanga Society Of India situated at Dakshineswar, near Kolkata and a branch at Ranchi in India. This organization was founded by Paramahansa Yogananda in the year 1920.

Dr. Arun Kumar Suri is the webmaster of Family Life And Home Based Business. He is a Pediatrician by profession. This site is dedicated to issues of family with particular attention to children and adolescents. The articles on the site look at the common problems in a family from different angles. The site stresses the need to lead a balanced life giving equal importance to materialistic and spiritual aspects of life. You can visit his site at http://www.homebusinessandfamilylife.com

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