764. Happiness: Can Anyone tell me where I can find it???????

http://www.speakingtree.in/spiritual-blogs/seekers/self-improvement/happiness-can-anyone-tell-me-where-i-can-find-it

Suppose it is a hot summer day with scorching heat and you are walking in a city which is very new to you and you feel very thirsty. There are no shops for you to get a chill mineral bottle just then an old friend confronts you and offers you a refreshing cold glass of lemonade. How do you feel when you see the glass? What will be your feeling then, do you term it as happiness or pleasure? Some say pleasure while other says they are happy. Though there is a link between these two feelings, there is a subtle difference between them. Sometime one stir up the other, but they are never the same.

Pleasure is feeling which dependents on our five senses and mind, while happiness is independent of the five senses and mind. Happiness is ingrained in our Self.

Many a times we get confused between pleasure and happiness. Pleasure is a good feeling that is felt when our senses are sated, to make our sense satisfied we have to depend on circumstances, objects, events and people. Happiness is not so, we need not depend on anything to attain it and also it is not something far away and unattainable. It is ingrained and an inseparable part of our Self which is veiled by our thoughts, desires and worries.  The understanding of adepts down the ages has been that happiness is inherent in our Self and not something to be gained anew. All that is necessary for us to do is to realize it.

How???

By just being indifferent to it…The story below might help understand better.

Once there was learned soul who had arrived from Himalayas. The citizens of the place mostly peasants gathered around him seek his blessings and listen to his sermon. But the learned soul would not open his eye and come out of the seat of silence for the people to shoot their questions for him to answer. Day passed by he was so very much to himself that the people thought that this learned man knew too very much and that started regarding him to be their savior and interestingly to so happened that things began to fall at place and everyone were find solace since this learned man came to that place. The news of the learned man reached the king of that province and the king came to meet the learned soul. The bowed to the learned man with reverence and asked, “O Enlightened Soul, I often wonder what happiness really is. Can you please disclose to me the secrets of happiness?”

The Learned man who rarely talked just gave merciful glance upon the King and said, “O King, happiness is like a butterfly.” The King was confused by the obscure answer. “I did not understand” said the King. The Learned Soul smiled, “Very soon, O King, it will be revealed to you.” The sage then closed his eyes and went back to his seat of silence, leaving the King perplexed about the mysterious wisdom he just heard.

A few days passed by and the King was taking a stroll along with his queen in the royal garden. His eyes fell on a beautiful vibrant colored butterfly which was resting on a leaf. As soon as he spotted the butterfly the words of the learned soul echoed to him, “happiness is like a butterfly” he went near the leaf carefully to catch the butterfly. As soon as was about to catch it the butterfly it flew away and sat on another plant. The King did not give up he was determined to catch it he followed the butterfly. Amazingly for him each time he was near to it the insect flew away and sat on another leaf, flower or a plant.

The King now took it up as a prestige issue and did not want to accept the inability to catch a butterfly that too in front of his queen.  An hour passed by, the king frustrated by his unsuccessful attempts, reconciled and sat on the bench in the garden exhausted. As he closed his eyes to relax, he felt a slender itch on his arm. Slowly he opened his eyes, the same butterfly which was all the time dodging him was now rested on his arm. King was amazed to look at the creature on his arm and just then a unique realization surged forth in his mind, “Yes the Learned Soul was indeed right. Happiness is like a butterfly, for when I intensely go after it, it eludes me and when I least expect it, it comes to me and hugs me and caresses me playfully.”

763.This is my HEART…….. Spiritual one!!!

Heart, the most important organ of my body is where the source of my existence flourishes on. Anatomically it is a blood pumping device to supply oxygen and nutrients to tissues and help remove carbon dioxide from my body. It is observed that my heart has electromagnetic field 5,000 times stronger than that of my brain. 

Is my heart just an organ like any other in my body???

No, feelings are my heart based experiences. Feelings are the union of my thoughts and my emotions. My heart is the epicentre for love, care, appreciation and compassion. Feelings of love, care, appreciation and compassion enhance the secretion of DHEA hormone in the adrenal glands. This hormone induces the “Josh” (Zeal) in me. Just a few moments of these feelings bring good health to me for the whole day. This good health keeps the rhythm of life called “Heart Beat” stable.  

The Electromagnetic field generated by every single heart beat communicates with that of my brain. When they both get coupled there is mental clarity and I receive more divine intuitions. This divine intuition induces “Hosh” (Awareness) in me. By intentionally engaging sincere heart feelings like love, care, appreciation and compassion, I do generate a clear heart beat rhythm pattern. The clearer the pattern is, the more receptive I become to this intuitions.

Divine intuition is a bridge that provides the transfer of knowledge and wisdom from what is to how I perceive. This is called “Living by the Spiritual Heart” by the dwellers of Himalayas. The moment I start living by the spiritual heart I am more assessable to intuitions and I am in a position to make better choice and take great decisions in life.  

These intuitions get clearer when I listen deeply to my heart. That unstuck sound vibrates each time the electromagnetic field is created. This helps me interpret messages I receive from the heart so that I can gain the deep perception needed to effectively manage my emotions. There are occasions where I fall prey to reactive emotions when I fail to get guided by the heart instead take the decision from my brain. And even so know that is also a driving force for me to see that I do not ignore my heart the next time. After all my heart was formed before my brain came into existence.  

762. Never lonely…… always connected!!!

The moment I came out of my mother’s womb I have been with people. My parents and sister when I was kid, teachers and friends at school and college, business associates, clients, vendors at workplace and the list goes on and on. Yet there is lonely feel which is felt time and again. There is none who can say they have never felt lonely at all. Some might have experienced it for a long period of time while some are in such mood occasionally.

Long lasting loneliness could breed depression at times making everything meaningless and everyone distant and it is then life becomes bland. We are so used to having people around by living in a society that we have lost sight of our individual and independent nature of bliss. It is a regular effort in most of us to substitute the inner void created by loneliness with external experiences like watching T.V or interacting on social media sites or shopping. Is it the right way??? These substitute activities drain us out; they make us forget about ourselves. Forgetting about ourselves is the same as ignoring ourselves. Ignoring our self is forgetting about the inner voice in us which is our real self.

It is this real self which make us to love and accept ourselves providing a sense of self-esteem and self-acceptance. We start to get in touch with our self, our talents and capabilities. With that we begin to get comfortable with our self and as that happens, the fear of loneliness disappears just as the morning mist dewdrops vanish as sun shines.

I am never lonely to myself when I gain a certain ease with my real self and then the need for external experience or the urge to be in touch with someone always diminishes. When I am not dependent on the external traits everything looks beautiful and there is a feel of fullness. I am not disconnected to anything at all.      

Once a rich man from city visited Himalayas and asked a Sadhu there how he could stay alone?

The Sadhu Maharaj replied, “I like being alone, but I am not lonely. Even if you are with people around you feel lonely, isn’t it?”  

“But, the place you live is too far.” said the rich man.

“Far from where?”Asked Sadhu Maharaj.

“Far from city.” said the Rich Man.

“Far, near, here and there are all relative words. To you city is far from here and Himalayas is far from there. Nothing is far to a person who basks in the bliss of solitude.” Said the Sadhu Maharaj.

761. Desire: from countless to ONE……..

It is quite natural for a human to desire what he is lacking. Human desire is unending, some say, looking at the countless desire one possess. Desire could be categorised as many, for example if one has to sate his hunger or quench his thirst it is taking care of the physical desire. To have a cosy companion is due to the emotional desire. Curious to know about unknown is owing to intellectual desire. If one tries to resist the physical, emotional and intellectual desire then his life cease to exist.

Sometimes a desire to have something would be resonating for the others people’s desire to be fulfilled. A farmer may desire to grow paddy though for financial gains but in a way he could be fulfilling the desire of many to feed on. Our culture in general and economy in particular thrive on desire of those things which we do not have. Kama, the desire which is one of the four Purusharthas (objectives of living) constitutes the true wealth of humanity. Sanatana Dharma has never considered desire a taboo, though it has cautioned the seeker to be aware of the consequences of the results obtained of that desire.     
                

Majority of us are born with countless desires. These countless desires are too many to pursue with conviction or dedication. While some ventures are successful because of the convictions there are few task undertaken without conviction. Any work done without dedication does not yield success in any field. So the expected result often swings from positive to negative making our life emotionally unstable. The emotions go up and down making us upset easily and calming us down quickly. None of these emotional situations stay very long, however; one of the great advantages of this is that we are never upset for very long because the things that upset us are not important. But neither are our satisfactions important nor enduring. Nothing lasts long, because nothing matters much. It is just living a living for the sake of living.

Further there are some people who are born with few desires. They are the one who lead what is considered successful and meaningful lives. No matter what field of endeavour they choose, they manage to accomplish at least modest goals, because they are able to focus on only some desires very passionately. They are not distracted with too many desires and are not upset as they take up one desire at a time to fulfil. They are not encompassed by the time frame for their desires to be fulfilled.  

Finally there are a fortunate few individuals who have only one desire. They go on to be called geniuses like we see many proficient scientists, great musicians and mesmerising poets and adorable public leaders. They have one and only one desire to ride on and they stamp their mark in whatever fields they are committed to with devotion.

To sum it up we have to move from having countless desires to few and from there to having one. This movement is transcending from emotion to passion to devotion. The journey from emotion to devotion will let us discover who we really are, and what really matters to us…….Am I right???

760. Is Greed Good?????

“Greed is Good” says Michael Douglas while playing the role of Gordon Gekko in the movie Wall Street. This thought is widely welcomed by those who appreciate capitalism. Here whoever put up thumbs up sign for the statement look at it from Self-Interest point of view.  Some say that this thought is better than having a selfish attitude. But we have observed that which starts as Self-Interest due to need will make an individual to be Selfish due to greed. This is the harsh reality which every one of us has to accept.

Greed is greed whether it is for need or otherwise. Some of us accept and agree to “Need based Greed” as a supportive catalyst to Self-Interest drive but start to hate when it grows and become “Greed based Need.” Greed is not good immaterial of need or otherwise as it hurts the basic fabric of the society called Wellness. Greed is seeking butter at the expense of others persons bread. Capitalism is based on this theory called Self Interest.   

Once there a salesman who travelled from one locality to other selling his product. He used to take rest under a huge tree in the afternoons everyday. One day while he was passing by the tree he saw a man with a hand held power hacksaw. He saw him cut the tree and the next day there was a shelter made with the wood cut from the tree. When the salesman wanted to sit under the shelter, the man who constructed that shelter demanded money. 

Now let’s analyse at this scenario. The salesman was taking shelter under the tree for free and a capitalist person cuts off the tree and uses the wood to build a shelter and puts a price tag for the cool shade. This is how a capitalist mind works. Yes it was the self-interest of the person who constructed the shelter. Anyhow cool shade was available free of cost for the salesman before the shelter came into existence. Isn't it???

Further this self-interest attitude of the capitalist has made them think one needs to make hay when sun shines. This making of hay while sun shines is also taken to the extreme. Unfortunately the extremity is experienced by those who become a victim of the situation, while for others it seems to be an act of Self-Interest. 

In a situation of disaster large section of the society will contributing liberally for the devastation and help pour in from all parts of the country but a few take this situation to fan their Self-Interest. How right is it to rob a brother by branding it as Self-Interest is the question? If Self-Interest is to be given prominence then are those who contributing liberally for the cause fools??? ……..just think…..what are we humans up to??? 

759. My makeshift home……….

Every living being has to build home for shelter or at least while breeding. Home is a place where one feels safe and secure. While all living thing except humans have a temporary living place, majority of us own a place to live while some of us live in rented temporary accommodation. Further one can observe that those who live in rented temporary homes thrive to make them more comfortable whereas those who own a home spend much more effort in maintaining and developing this property. Either way there is a constant up gradation on the place of accommodation.

We are to realize that our Sthula Deha (Gross Body) is also a temporary abode for our Sukshma Deha (Subtle Body). The Karana Deha (Casual Body) the threshold of Higher Consciousness arrives from the Eternal Abode to live in numerous bodies over many lifetimes. That is our permanent dwelling.

A Seeker has to know that the Gross Body is perishable and Subtle Body has no permanent abode and the Causal Body is the map template and sole cause of illumination for the Gross and Subtle Body. By understanding thus we spend less time on assets such as experiences, memories, knowledge, evolution and karma which belong to the Subtle and Gross Body combination.

Moveable and Immovable Property, Bank Balance, Relationships, Name and Fame are something that belongs to this combination and are left behind when we they both part. Just as we keep our home clean and comfortable it is better to maintain the Gross Body which is the temporary home so that the Subtle Body can accommodate well in it. However it is not wise to give total attention to the temporary home at the cost of our permanent dwelling. That is what spiritual practice is about -- first understanding ourselves and then giving priority to our permanent dwelling.

Whatever is earned here in the name of assets has to be regarded as a temporary convenience or means for excel only. Giving prominence to assets than they deserve is bound to lead to disappointment in much the same way as it happens if a tenant makes large investments on a rented property only to find that he has to leave it behind eventually.

Puranadara Dasaru one of the prominent patron of Kannada Dasa Sahitya has penned a song “Allide nammane illiruvudu summane” meaning: My “home” is “there”; I have come here only for namesake. The poet says what is “here”, in this world, is just an appearance, or my being here is just an appearance. That is what this write up is all about, it is to strengthening our permanent assets while not ignoring the temporary ones. Looking for improvements in this makeshift arrangement called “Earth” in a way that does not compromise the Self.