Secret of Happiness
Published By Sirshree Tejparkhi at Smashwords
Copyright: Tejgyan Global Foundation, 2011.
All Rights Reserved.
Tejgyan Global Foundation is a charitable organization having its headquarters in Pune, India.
Published by: Tejgyan Global Foundation
Smashwords Edition: Nov 2011
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Table of Contents
Chapter 1 - Seven Levels of Happiness
Chapter 2 - Understanding Happiness And Unhappiness
Chapter 3 - Fulfillment of Desires Is Not The Real Cause of Happiness
Chapter 4 - Dacoits of Happiness
Chapter 5 - Let Us Attain Causeless Happiness
Chapter 6 - First Step To Attain Instant Happiness
Chapter 7 - Second Step To Attain Instant Happiness
Chapter 8 - Third Step To Attain Instant Happiness
Chapter 9 - Learning More About Accepting
Chapter 10 - Practical Steps for Accepting
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Preface
There was a person named Mr. Unhappy. His wife was going to her mother’s place for the first time after marriage. She thought, “Before leaving for my home, let me buy something new... like a sari or a dress or something else.” Mr. Unhappy gave his consent for it. But then his wife insisted for more and said, “People will appreciate me a lot better at my parent’s home if I had a gold necklace.” Mr. Unhappy replied, “I don’t have that much money, what should I do?” His wife came up with an idea – “I have two gold bangles. Take them with you and get me a beautiful necklace in exchange.”
He went to a goldsmith. The goldsmith said, “How can a necklace be made out of just two bangles? It requires a lot of money.” “What should I do now?” asked Mr. Unhappy. The goldsmith showed him some imitation necklaces that appeared to be of gold and offered one to Mr. Unhappy saying, “This will solve your purpose.” Mr. Unhappy had no choice and so he agreed.
Thus with the same money he bought a beautiful, genuine looking necklace. He told the reality to his wife, “It’s an artificial necklace. Please make do with this now. I shall buy you a genuine gold one in the future.” The wife accepted.
She went to her parents’ home wearing a fake necklace. However, there she told everyone that the necklace was a real one as she did not wish to lower her pride. Otherwise how would she feel contented? On her arrival there, her sister-in-law (her brother’s wife) saw the necklace and instantly fell in love with it. Now she demanded a necklace from her husband. The husband had to comply although he too did not have enough money to buy it. He went to a goldsmith. The goldsmith told him, “Look, these days imitation jewelry is quite in fashion, why don’t you buy it, she may probably like it.” Therefore, he too, due to shortage of money, chose one imitation necklace, which was quite similar in appearance. He brought it home and explained to his wife, “Look, although it is an imitation, but right now it will serve your purpose. You will not be envious of my sister’s necklace anymore.” The wife reluctantly agreed.
One day Mr. Unhappy’s wife went for a bath leaving her necklace behind on the dressing table. Seizing the opportunity, her sister-in-law exchanged the necklace with her own. She felt very happy thinking, “Now I have a genuine gold necklace.” The second day Mr. Unhappy’s wife got an opportunity and she too exchanged the necklace because she had thought that her sister-in-law had a real one. She was pleased with the thought that now she had a gold necklace. Thus, both of them remained in this illusion throughout their lives. Each one thought, “I have a real gold necklace.” However, you know that both of them had fake necklaces. They wasted their whole lives acquiring some false happiness.
On listening to this example you feel how foolish they were! However, many people spend all their lives trying to acquire such false happiness. They never find out what real happiness is. Do you also wish for such contentment, which although appears to be true, is actually false? You will see that people all around are completely involved in this kind of fake happiness. But the real bliss, eternal happiness, which is permanent, is always within us. The need does not arise to exchange it for something else because it is genuine. If you find such contentment, then it is bliss, it is real happiness.
...Sirshree
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CHAPTER 1
SEVEN LEVELS OF HAPPINESS
Everyone desires happiness. Happiness is our true nature. But in our lives happiness is temporary. The quest of spirituality is the quest for permanent happiness, the quest for true happiness – a kind of bliss that does not diminish with time. Man seeks this permanent happiness in his day to day life, but in the process gets entangled in illusory happiness or false happiness.
False happiness is found in indulging the palate.
False happiness is what you derive out of winning a lottery.
False happiness is what you derive when you get a promotion.
False happiness is found in taunting or even in harming others.
False happiness is seeking happiness in praise and appreciation.
Transforming the way you derive happiness is the first step in spiritual transformation. There are seven levels of happiness. All the examples of false happiness mentioned above are categorized in the lower levels of happiness. As you spiritually transform, you derive happiness from higher levels.
First level of happiness – Artificial Happiness
Artificial happiness means that where ignorance prevails and where happiness actually does not even exist. Where it does not even occur to one that a fake object is being considered to be an authentic one and our entire life is spent thinking it to be true. What does a person do in this artificial happiness? Let us try to understand it through the examples given below:
A person is traveling by bus. He succeeds in making the journey without buying the ticket. Now he is very happy thinking that he has saved Rs. 3, which was the cost of the ticket. This is artificial happiness. It is pointless. Just a little pondering over it would make it clear that there is nothing to be happy about, although at that time it appeared to be real happiness and felt very pleasurable. However, he does not know that due to this false happiness derived from having saved Rs. 3, he perhaps may have created a blockage in money flow in his life amounting to Rs. 300…or Rs. 3000… Rs. 30,000…or maybe even Rs. 300,000. This means even a pebble in the pipeline can reduce the flow of water. Money was being generated in our life and happiness was on the cards for us. But because of some blocks or false pleasures, they were not reaching us. Even small pebbles obstruct the flow of water in the water pipe. In order to attain artificial happiness in life, we create blocks; these prevent a lot of things from coming towards us. Those who are not aware of the principles of life keep indulging in artificial happiness due to their ignorance.
A man went to watch a movie. He bought a ticket. By mistake, the ticket clerk handed over two tickets instead of one. Sometimes such mistakes do occur that one may get two tickets instead of one if they are stuck together. Now this man is very pleased that he got two tickets at the price of one. He sells the extra ticket at a higher price and while returning home after watching the movie, he thinks, ‘Today I had a great time. I got to watch a movie free, plus I had free snacks...it was wonderful…I enjoyed very much.’
A man had taken money on credit from a friend but was not willing to return it. When asked by the friend, “Hey pal! When are you going to return my money?” He replies, “How do I know? Am I a fortune teller that you are asking me?” In this way, many people don’t repay their debts.
These are artificial kinds of happiness. If one is using unfair and deceitful means to save money, then it is artificial happiness. Let us move towards genuine happiness without indulging in such things.
Second level of happiness – Second hand happiness
There is a market for second-hand cars where you can buy used cars. However, second-hand vehicles or objects usually don’t last long. Similarly, there is second hand happiness, which is derived by using others or having fun at the expense of others. In this type a person likes to enjoy by teasing, taunting, bullying or troubling others. He feels good about it. He likes to make fun of others; it gives him a kind of pleasure. It is just like some friends get together to harass someone and enjoy it. In every school or college, such scenes of ragging are common. This is second hand happiness. Back home you find that brothers and sisters often tease, taunt, and quarrel with each other. And when the dispute grows out of proportion, they patch up by asking for forgiveness from each other, and then throw parties and enjoy themselves. This is the way people nowadays try to find some pleasure and happiness in their lives. When man does not know what is real happiness, he indulges in such kind of happiness. Whenever we feel happy, we must question ourselves as to what type of happiness it really is.
Third level of happiness – Stimulation Happiness
The third level of happiness is known as stimulation happiness; this happiness is aroused by excitement. For instance a person attending a social gathering or a celebration finds much hustle and bustle happening around. This creates excitement and stimulation. Following are some examples of stimulation happiness :
A cricket match is being played and is going to reach the climax…an excitement is created, Oh!! What is going to happen…what will be the final result?…The titillation and anticipation associated with the sport creates a thrill.
Some people feel stimulated while watching a suspense movie. Until the secret unfolds, the mind is filled with eagerness and excitement.
Happiness gained due to parties, picnics, festivals, celebrations, etc. is stimulation happiness. The whole society today is a prey to this kind of happiness, and it is on the increase day by day. What happens owing to this stimulation and excitement? Suppose now at this time a party is thrown in, and you attend it and return home in a very cheerful mood. You enjoyed thoroughly. But what happens next? On the second day?…On the third day?...Suddenly you find yourself feeling dull and bored. You get bewildered thinking : Why do I feel dull and lifeless on some days? Why do I find myself depressed? Why do I get bored? However, what you don’t realize is that what you are feeling today is the result of the party you attended three days back. The body got all excited, all the nerves were tingling, you felt a thrill, you felt alive – “Oh! Something feels new…something feels different…” Then after a few days all that excitement is gone. How do you feel now? Dull…How do you feel now? Burdened…How do you feel now? All alone…lonely…How is this life? Depressing.
The person, who finds out what is the source of boredom, will search for real happiness, he will investigate about it. Those who are completely unaware of real happiness, what will they do? ‘Oh! No! Boredom has set in…How can we get back the same enjoyment that we got at the party the other day?’ This is what they will think about. So again they will search for a new excitement. “Now what next? What else can I do now?” They will then call up someone and say, “Hey! Let’s have a party some day…or let’s meet…let’s do this…let’s do that…” This means no sooner does one excitement get over than the desire for another arises, which creates a new excitement. If there is no such thing, not even a festival, not even a party nor a picnic…then what will they do? Subsequently they will fantasize about such things. You come across many people who keep on fantasizing so as to get stimulated and feel the excitement again. However such gratification is momentary, whether it is due to being in a pub, a gambling den or on a racecourse. As soon as that moment is gone, the same situation continues to persist – of boredom and dullness. A person tries to fight boredom, misery and distress by creating excitement. What he never realizes is, that very excitement in turn leads to even more boredom, misery and distress.
Let us understand this. Whenever excitement is produced in the nervous system, it stimulates the body and makes it energetic. People even tend to get angry many a times because the whole body gets vibrated due to the anger that is generated in the body; and they like it.
For instance when someone scratches himself due to itching, he feels a kind of pleasure as well. But he is not aware that due to scratching, the itch keeps on increasing and the skin disease is worsening. But at that moment he likes it. It is the same with excitement – it feels good when it arises, but as soon as it starts declining, it feels dull, and in the end it feels worse than ever. Then again he will arrange for a party, meet new friends, would wish for something new, so as to feel stimulated and excited again. A higher level of excitement is required the next time around. He may even turn to gambling or some addiction or something else. In this way, his whole life is spent away. He continues to indulge in such kind of pleasures, which has been called as stimulation happiness.
Fourth level of happiness – Formula Happiness
This kind of happiness is created by applying a formula. The meaning of formula is that by combining two things, one formula emerges. Linking two types of pleasures, a formula for happiness is created. When we combine two elements it makes a formula such as x+y=z. Students are taught such formulae in schools. Each and every person has devised some formula in his life so as to feel some happiness. If everything goes well as per his formula, he is very happy. For many, the formula is “Sunday morning newspaper + A cigarette + Coffee.” For some, the formula is “Saturday night party + A new date every time.” For children, the formula could be “A whole day of play + A movie to end the day.” For ladies, it could be “Gift + Gold = Happiness.”
All these are examples of formula happiness. It does not mean that all this is wrong. However, it reveals the fact that people are not aware of real joy, due to which they indulge in such kind of pleasures.
As you progress further, you will rise above artificial happiness, second hand happiness, stimulation happiness and formula happiness. Then a time will come when you would want to go towards the higher levels. And on approaching the ultimate, what kinds of happiness you will receive has been described below.
Fifth level of Happiness – Happiness through service
This is the first amongst the higher levels of happiness, where an individual derives happiness out of serving others. Some people render service by being instrumental for others in achieving happiness. After recovering from their own maladies and disorders, and after coming out of their own anxieties, they start serving the destitute, the deprived, the aged, and work for the welfare of the society. They get contentment and happiness due to such service.
There are many people who are associated with some voluntary service. They know what immense happiness they attain when they serve others or when they become instrumental for others. However, if the ego does not get dissolved in the process of rendering service, then the service is not achieving its complete objective. ‘True service is one in which there is no doer.’ It implies that the one who is serving, i.e. the individual ego, the feeling of doership, should dissolve and get eliminated. During the process of service, the dissolving of the ego effectively also results in happiness. This is the happiness that can be attained only through servitude.
The law of nature that states ‘Whatever you become a medium for, will multiply in your life’ starts paying rich dividends at this level. So, the more one serves, the more happy one becomes, the more Nature rewards him…one really begins to enjoy this virtuous cycle. Many a time, this also leads to bloated egos and high expectations from others. It doesn’t take long therefore to fall to the depths of unhappiness from the heights of happiness derived at this level.
Sixth level of Happiness – Divine happiness
At this level of happiness, a person experiences joy due to his devotion to God. Here there is no place for entertainment type of devotion – a lot many things other than worship are being done today in the name of devotion. One such particular occasion is called as Jaagran (a religious ceremony carried out in some parts of India). During Jaagran, people sing devotional songs and eat and drink throughout the night. And then some people make a pledge : “If this particular desire of ours gets fulfilled, we promise to hold this event at our place next year...” This kind of devotion is either just a kind of entertainment or a business transaction with God. This is the same as is customary in business deals – “You do me a favor, and in return I will do something for you.” This type of worship is just a business type of worship; which has got nothing to do with devotion or real happiness. Joy achieved from business type devotion or wavering devotion is not in reality the happiness that is derived through divine veneration. Happiness through worship is gained through intense divine ardour, which is totally different from business or wavering type of devotion. Wavering devotion means the faith that falters when your wishes are not granted by praying to the deities. Consequently, all faith is lost. Then someone advises saying, “There is another deity, let us try that one now.” In this way, business devotion is ever persistent. This kind of worship is not at all divine veneration, as there is no awareness of the divine. There is no understanding of what is God. It is just entertainment kind of worship, or devotion that is adulterated with hypocrisy and deceitfulness, or business type of devotion, or wavering faith, or worshipping God for the purpose of atonement. True happiness cannot be derived from such types of devotion. If devotion is done to attain real happiness, only then it is divine devotion.
Happiness acquired from divine devotion is the sixth level of happiness. At this level, man is in love with the Creator. He sings the praises of God and admires everything created by God. Everything that happens in his life is fully acceptable to him. He says, “If God desires to keep me in this state, then I am happy as I am.” He believes, “If this is what God desires, then I have no objection to it. If God is making me cry, then I shall cry with happiness...” It is a very beautiful state born out of surrender. There is a level of understanding and spiritual growth out of which this happiness emanates. One is always in a feeling of gratitude and devotion at this level.
Those who know what is divine devotion, they can understand the ultimate happiness. Divine devotion is unconditional. In this type of devotion, our faith, our love for God does not diminish even if our desires are not fulfilled. But if our desire does get fulfilled, then that is a bonus. We are not worshiping in order to get bonus (material gains). We are worshipping for the sake of devotion, for the love of God that has awakened, for the Divinity within, which we have recognized. If divine devotion gets aroused in our hearts, we are bound to get this happiness. Many who are on the path of devotion are working towards it but due to lack of understanding, it results in worshipping blindly, therefore there should not be blind worship. Those who are following the path of devotion should also realize as to what understanding should be combined with it so that their devotion can become divine devotion, and devotion itself should become the ultimate goal. In this kind of veneration, God loves those who love Him. This is the joy of Tej** love. This is divine happiness.
(Word Tej** signifies beyond two, i.e. beyond two polarities. For instance Tej love implies love which is beyond love and hate. Tej Gyan implies knowledge which is beyond knowledge and ignorance. Tej happiness implies happiness which is beyond joys and sorrows)
Seventh level of happiness – Eternal Bliss
This kind of happiness differs from all other kinds of joys. This happiness is attained when a person is free from all false beliefs and misconceptions, and he knows the answer to, “Who am I?” He attains this happiness after he has realized his true self (self-realization). This happiness arises out of the experience of the Self or the sense of being. It is causeless, unremitting, pure joy that never diminishes and never ends. It is permenant happiness. Each one of us bears the eternal bliss within, but we are not aware of it. Yet everyone does get a glimpse of this joy. When you are in deep sleep and neither the mind is awake nor dreaming, nor are you aware of the body, then you are in connection with that eternal state. So every night when you are in deep sleep, where do you think you are - amidst absolute bliss, aren’t you? In the morning when you wake up, you say, “I had wonderful sleep.” What did you feel in sleep that makes you say so? Where and in which blissful state were you in that deep sleep? And certainly you were in a state of ecstasy. Each and every person in this universe loves going to sleep. Some even take pills in order to get sleep. All the miseries and sorrows, all the aches and pains of the body simply vanish in deep sleep. So what is it that happens during sleep? If we are able to get that ‘something’ in the wakeful state which happens in deep slumber, then we can get the taste of true happiness.
Every child until the age of 2½ years (before the contrast mind begins to develop) is established in the above mentioned state of awareness, in the experience of the Self, in eternal bliss. He sees every joy from that state. As soon as the child grows older, his contrast mind begins to develop. Contrast mind is distinct from the simple or instinctive mind. It signifies that mind which judges, compares, evaluates and splits everything into two – black or white. Just as there is a contrast control system in television, similarly a mind is formed within us which discriminates between black and white. After seeing anything, it says – this is good, that is bad. For instance, when you are listening to someone or watching or reading something, a commentary is always going on in your mind – “This that has been said is good…this wasn’t anything special…well I already know this…” In this way some or the other commentary is constantly on in the mind. This is known as the contrast mind. Until and unless it attains understanding, it cannot sit quiet.
Today people are agonized due to their thoughts, due to their minds. If a thought arises, it refuses to budge. The same thought recurs again and again; the same stress, the same pressure continues – “Oh no! Am I going to fail?…Oh! What will happen if I do not get a promotion?…What will happen tomorrow?…What should I do about this thing?…If guests arrive now, what will I do?…. How will I complete all the tasks? So many thoughts rush in all at once and no brakes can be applied to them. And we can see that it is thoughts that lead to misery; and it keeps on increasing. Hence the contrast mind needs training. If this contrast mind gets training to become a child again, then the same mind will be the cause for happiness
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CHAPTER 2
UNDERSTANDING HAPPINESS AND UNHAPPINESS
Training to become a child again
Every child remains in the experience of the true Self (absolute bliss) till the age of 2½ years. If you have a child at home, observe him closely. If you don’t have any kids at home, you can observe the children in your neighborhood. Observe as to how they see things – they see a body opposite to them, but they are totally unaware that they too have a body. They feel that only other people have a body, they don’t feel that they themselves also have a body.
You show a toy rattle to an infant in a cradle. And showing him toys, he is being trained that “Come out of your experience of Self; come out of that bliss. Become fit to live in our community, in our society. Otherwise if you remain in that state, you will be useless, you will be no good.” It is in this society that we have to raise that child. So it is necessary to bring him out from that state. But he never again gets the chance to return within. In this situation, that child becomes old even before he grows up.
But now the time has come – to become a child again, to return to that experience of the Self, that sense of being, that eternal bliss. That experience which every child experiences, even you have experienced it. No one can say that I was never a child. Every person was initially a child and was in that experience. There the experience was ‘There is a body opposite to me, but on my side there is no body.’ He is watching everything from a state of witnessing, there is nothing other than that. Then gradually he becomes aware that he has a body. People tell him, “This body is you.” And then he forgets his real state, the Self experience, the eternal bliss.
Hence if you want to experience your true self, you have to become a child again. In Tej Gyan Foundation, you are given training to become a child. On reading this, no one should jump to the conclusion that here they make us a child again, that means we will have to begin babbling like a child. It is not so. One has to get stabilized in that experience of the Self, that sense of being, which the child experiences. And being in that state, you will take all your decisions. If we are not in that experience of life, our decisions are that of an individual (involving ego, fear, greed, hatred, jealousy, etc.). Decisions are taken by believing ourself to be a separate entity, i.e. separate from all other people.
An exercise to understand our own self
Observe your hands for a minute. Ask yourself : Am I this hand? Answer this from your feeling right now. How do you relate yourself with your hand? Observe intently what you feel. Here two types of feelings may arise. Some people may feel, “Yes, I am this hand” and others may answer, “I am not this hand.”
Those whose answer is “I am this hand” should think: “If this hand is cut, then will I be no more? Or will I cease to exist? Is that so?” The answer is no, it is not so. Even if your hands are cut off, yet you are there and you are complete. The feeling within you, the experience says, “I am complete.” For example, in an accident if someone loses his limbs, he still says, “I am complete.” He never says, “I was complete earlier and now I am incomplete.” Because when the body is cut, you do not get cut. When you start experiencing this truth, then you will understand. For this, you will first have to understand through the intellect as to what you are not. Then you will have to understand “Who are you?” You will have to understand this in a step-by-step manner. (Perform the same exercise with each part of the body as to whether I am this eye… am I these feet… am I this skin… am I this face…). Instant happiness is attained as soon as you come to know who you really are.
Cause of unhappiness – false beliefs and misconceptions
Many false beliefs and misconceptions are deeply ingrained in your minds. It is due to these beliefs that troublesome thoughts keep recurring in your mind. Some people believe that if a cat crosses the road, it is a bad omen for the one who goes further. But does it actually happen or is it just a belief? You should ask yourselves seriously as to what happens if a cat crosses the road? Some believe that they will receive plenty of money if they get an itching sensation in the palms of their hands. Let us ponder seriously over such beliefs – does it really happen or is it just a notion? Because when these beliefs came into existence, the circumstances, the environment and the people were different from today. At that time electricity had not been discovered yet. Also in those days, different communities had different beliefs. In a certain community the date 13 is considered as very unlucky, hence all people in that community believe the date 13 to be ill-fated and do everything fearfully on that date. But just come to think of it, is it true that the date 13 is ominous or is it only one of our erroneous beliefs? Some believe that fluttering of eyes, wearing black clothes, or breaking of a mirror is inauspicious. Some also believe that if someone has a haircut or his beard trimmed on a particular day, then something bad will happen to him. There are many such beliefs that you must have heard of. So, is there any truth in them or are they just your beliefs? In fact, these are all just the suppositions and superstitions of the mind. These are just a few of them that were brought to light but the whole world is full of beliefs and misconceptions. Each person must be having a different set of beliefs, due to which he attracts a lot of trouble, unhappiness and suffering in his life. People do not even know that they have become withdrawn and closed due to these mistaken beliefs.
Everything in our life is related to beliefs and the way you have been brought up to see those beliefs. Your fears, your sorrows, your joys, your successes, your failures, your life, your death... everything is based on your beliefs. Beliefs are something that you believe in, but are actually not true. Some beliefs have been devised by people to suit their conveniences, but you laugh and cry according to them. In fact, you lead your entire life according to them. We need to come out of these beliefs.
Why are we not getting happiness? We have to find the actual reason for this. Our happiness lies within ourselves. We don’t need to go to a theatre or an amusement park for that. We don’t need to wait for any promotion or for a party. We just need to search for it. In spite of having happiness within ourselves, we are not feeling it. The reason is we have become withdrawn and closed. If we open up, only then will that happiness manifest. Therefore, we need to find out the cause behind mankind becoming withdrawn and closed. After knowing that, we have to understand how to get instant happiness. We are going to understand this subject step by step. Up till now we have understood the cause of unhappiness and the seven levels of happiness. The secret of real happiness was revealed as the seventh kind of happiness. We will understand this in more detail through an analogy in the next chapter.
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CHAPTER 3
FULFILLMENT OF DESIRES IS NOT THE REAL CAUSE OF HAPPINESS
The Greatest Misunderstanding
Man lives under the illusion that happiness is obtained by fulfillment of desires. But let us understand the hidden missing link behind it. In order to illustrate this clearly, four pictures have been displayed.
In the first picture, there is a person standing in front of a wall and on the other side of the wall, there is a light. You may call it God or Light of Truth, some may call it Allah, Truth, Lord, or Self – different names have been given by different people. It is the real source of all happiness.
This wall is the ‘Wall of Desires’. The person in the picture is you. After looking at it do not think, “My face is not like this…I am a woman, this picture is of a man.” This picture is a depiction of you; in fact it is a depiction of all of us.
In this picture, a wall is built with the many desires of man. Each desire denotes a stone block in the wall. Someone wants a car, someone desires a ranch, someone
wants status or a job or a promotion, and so on. Whatever the desires, all are written on the stone blocks. And there is something at the back of the wall, which has got covered and hidden, that which is within us. It merely needs to be revealed, it needs to be uncovered. Only after attaining it and realizing it, can we attain real happiness.
In the next picture you can see that a person is continuously repeating in his mind just like chanting a mantra on a rosary – I want a car…I want a car…I wish I have a car…I want to have a car…I want a promotion…I want a promotion…I want a pet...I want a pet….and he keeps on counting the beads repeatedly. The mind is filled up with those desires. Then suddenly one day he gets a car, a promotion, or a pet – whatever he desired. As soon as he got it, the block of that desire disappeared, and as you see in the second picture – the
God hidden behind is seen, i.e. real happiness manifests. You saw a small part of it, a little glimpse, and you felt happy. But this was misinterpreted and you thought that you felt happy because you got the object of your desire. Man falls a victim to this great misunderstanding that happiness results from the fulfillment of desires. And then he spends his entire life in the pursuit of fulfillment of his desires. In the process, he has acquired the habit of craving for desires. Now there cannot be a greater loss than this. This is similar to the one who has the habit of scratching himself : even without any itching he will keep on scratching and worsening the disease. In the same way one gets habituated to having desires. It becomes an obsessive compulsion for him. Even if all wishes of man are fulfilled, still he will think, ‘Now what else should I have?’ He will just not be able to sit quiet without any desires. He will try to awaken new desires and in this manner this cycle will continue. He is never able to understand that the mind, which was filled with a desire, suddenly got emptied because that desire was fulfilled. And in that emptiness, in that ‘nothingness’, in that state of ‘no mind’ – real happiness manifested. ‘No mind’ signifies the state when there is no mind or the mind is blank, i.e. there are no desires, no thoughts, nothing. The meaning of mind is a sack or bundle of all the desires put together. That is the mind. The accumulation of all thoughts and all desires is mind.
Thus, the mind is full of desires. One desire of it gets fulfilled and happiness (God) manifests. Whatever may be the definition of God for you, it may differ for different people, but we shouldn’t get stuck with words and assume that this is being told for the Hindus. Here we are not speaking about Hindus, Muslims, Sikhs, Christians or Jews, but the real happiness, which is within all of us.
Each person desires real happiness. Whatever you do, ask yourself the question, “Why am I doing this?” Initially the answers will be, “I am doing this for the sake of my friend or I am doing it for my family.” Then think about it further: “If my family becomes happy then what will happen?” – “I will feel relaxed, I will feel content, then I will get happiness.” You will see that finally the answer will be : “I will get happiness.”
The intention behind everything we do is contentment and real happiness. This is the only thing that each and every one desires, but does not know how to get it. Therefore we have to understand this secret.
You can see in the third picture that one more desire has awakened – “I want a house.” This desire has taken the place of the earlier desire for a car. Now because of this desire, once again the happiness gets obscured. Subsequently again some desire will get fulfilled, once more happiness (God) will come into sight. Thus after fulfillment of each desire, happiness arises because of attainment of the real thing (Truth, Self, God). This is the secret that you should know. Until now no matter how many joys you have received, they have all been due to the manifestation of the Truth, and not due to achieving something or fulfillment of any desire. Each and every joy is attained due to the Truth that manifests from within. After you get this understanding, you will be able to see God and experience the bliss whenever you like.
In the last picture you will see that all the stone blocks of desires have disappeared and real happiness (God) is fully manifest. Here a picture depicting God is shown; it is just symbolic. People imagine about the appearance of God – we have two hands, so he may be having four. Those who had attained self-realization had created idols of God in order to make the masses understand. So that people should be able to prostrate before the idols and surrender, and get rid of the mind, and achieve a state of ‘no mind’. Idols were created for helping us, but instead there is violence and bloodshed in the name of temples and mosques (between those who worship idols and those who don't).
Those who had built temples, mosques or churches had a higher objective in mind. Today the real meaning
of it is lost. By going to a temple, mosque or a church, we had to learn about how to get the state of ‘no mind’, how to attain liberation from the Wall of Desires. We have forgotten that motive today. Therefore to attain the seventh type of happiness, we have to think about : How to demolish this wall? How to attain that inner experience, that sense of being, that absolute bliss which we experienced as a child? The state that was experienced in deep sleep, how to achieve the same experience in the wakeful state? How energetic and how fresh you feel after sleep! You will be transformed if you are able to achieve the experience that you get during deep sleep in your wakeful state. You will be amazed to find that there is so much power within you that you were not even aware of. It was just that the mind had consumed all that energy, which can now be saved by staying in the state of experience of Self, and all the tasks will be dealt with easily.
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CHAPTER 4
DACOITS OF HAPPINESS
Beware of the dacoits within you
As soon as you open your eyes in the morning, what kind of thought enters your mind? You see a body opposite you. ‘I am a body and the opposite person is also a body’ – this misconception enters the mind. The beginning itself is made with false beliefs. You believe yourself to be a body and live a fearful, restricted and closed life. Tendencies are formed due to beliefs. A belief goes in the mind and a tendency is formed and that becomes a habit. For example, the moment you wake up, thoughts start arising within you…Now I have to do this…now I have to do that…today I have to complete this project…I have to prepare breakfast…I have to get my children ready for school…So many thoughts come rushing in, due to which tendencies or patterns are formed. What happens due to these tendencies, let us understand this through the following example.
The moment you open your eyes in the morning, thoughts rush in. This has been likened to dacoits invading the mind. And you know very well what happens when the dacoits rush in, you may have seen such type of scenes in movies. In movies you see scenes of a carnival and then the dacoits come rushing in on horses. The next scene shows that the dacoits have left and the scene of the carnival is shown again in which you see that the assailants have destroyed everything and have left. It is exactly the same thing that happens with you. In the morning no sooner you open your eyes than the dacoits of thoughts force their way in and destroy everything within you and leave. Consequently, the repair work continues throughout the day to put back together everything that had been damaged by the dacoits of thoughts in the morning. So, when will you attain real happiness?
Why don’t we have any control over these dacoits of thoughts? Why do these dacoits come in? What is it within you that invites them? Let us understand this. There is an informer or a spy (mind) within you. This informer sends out information. As you must be knowing there is such a person in the Police Department who is planted by the enemy. He divulges all information and all plans to the opponent. All information is passed on to the enemy. As soon as you open the window (eyes), all the horses (thoughts) rush in. And then those thoughts create misery, and with that misery a person gets down from the bed. He perhaps may have listened to K.G. (kindergarten) kind of spiritualism. There are so many types of 'spiritual' activities happening around, where using some fear or some enticement, people are taught, “You should carry out your actions in this particular manner. What is happening with you now is the result of your deeds in your previous birth. Now if you perform these specific actions in this birth, then these actions will bear fruit in your next life. Nothing substantial is going to happen in this birth, you will have to take seven more births, only then will you attain liberation. Your salvation is not possible in this life. If you perform these many deeds, then you will be saved from the agony of seven more rebirths. And if you perform this particular ritual, then you will be spared from one more birth...” This is the kindergarten spiritual knowledge that is being wrongly taught to all. They will even tell you to put your right foot down first as you get off from the bed in the morning so that you can have a nice day ahead.
Perhaps you have risen above your false beliefs but if you still believe that “I am this body. All these tasks are my responsibilities. I am the doer. Nothing can be accomplished without me. The world does not function without me. If I won’t go to this place now, everything will come to a standstill.” With all such kinds of beliefs, even if you put forth the right foot while alighting from the bed, it will be as good as the left (wrong) one. But as soon as you open your eyes and ask yourself, “Who am I?” and with this understanding of your true self even if you put forth your left foot first, yet it will be right (correct). Therefore, on opening your eyes in the morning, observe how is your state of mind. If a lot of thoughts are entering your mind, then what should you do? Understand this through an example:
In the morning after opening your eyes, you open the doors and windows of your house. As soon as the window is opened, a storm comes rushing in. But if you already know that there is a storm outside, then you place all objects in the house appropriately before opening the window. Initially you arrange your possessions in a certain manner to protect them. Then you open the window a little to check the force of the storm. If it is okay, only then you fully open the window. In the same way when we open our eyes in the morning, what do we do? We open the window of our eyes, don’t we? But before opening the window, wait for a little while, and tell yourself, “Now I am going to open the window, and these specific kinds of beliefs will come rushing in and will trouble me a lot, such as : Today is a bad day…today is not such a good day…today those new guests are going to arrive… today I have do this...” All distressing thoughts start arising. At that time you should tell those thoughts: “Stop!” And before opening your eyes ask yourself, “How do I want to start my day? How do I want to live today’s day? What do I have to accept today? What kind of miracles do I want to expect? How are my thoughts? Are they happy thoughts or not? Am I going to start my day with negative thoughts today?” In this way you should prepare yourself from within and only then begin the day. This is how you will be putting your best foot forward while alighting from the bed. Then you will find only miracles happening in your life. Then you will open your window (eyes) in the right direction (with understanding). Then there won’t be any storm because you have opened the window in the right direction.
Awakening in truth
So when we open our eyes, in which direction should we open our eyes? It is very important to know this. Because we can direct our body and mind the way we want to. We had first opened our window towards Maya (the world of illusion), now we can open it towards the Truth – just the direction is changed. Change of direction in this way can lead to a miracle. Then thoughts of nothing but the Truth will arise from you.
Now from today onwards when we open our eyes in the morning, our awakening shall be in Truth (sense of being) because during the entire night we were with that Truth. We were with the God that was present behind the wall, which you have seen in the picture. It is explained with the help of pictures. You have to be transformed into a child again. You have been shown some pictures and some new pictures have to be shown to you. When you were being taught alphabets in school, you have seen and learnt many pictures, i.e. A for Apple, B for Bat... But now a new era has set in, now the time has come to see Truth in the right perspective. We have to come out of our idea of the Truth, it’s time to leave such imaginations aside and come out of it. Then while alighting down from the bed whichever foot you put down, it will be with the understanding of “Who has put the foot down?”
Get rid of patterns
Whichever thoughts arise in our minds, have we ever questioned ourselves that these thoughts that crop up within me, why don’t they arise in my friend’s mind? The thoughts that arise within you, do not arise within your friend’s mind, because you have a different set of beliefs as compared to him. All the incidents that have occurred with you since your childhood are different from his. You have become closed and withdrawn due to those experiences, and that too in your own way. We have to work on ourselves. We have to ask ourself, “What should I do so that the window opens in the right direction? Which are the patterns that I have to get rid off so that I can become more open?” Patterns mean the tendencies and habits. These too are the dacoits of our happiness. Some patterns have been described below:
Fire pattern: Those who possess the fire pattern scream and shout over every little thing. Even if such people speak softly, still it feels like they are shouting. People of fire pattern respond to each and every situation with anger and rage. In fact this becomes their habit. How will the thoughts of Truth arise in such a person? Thoughts of Truth will not arise as long as there is an informer, a spy – the mind – present within that invites such thoughts. If that informer stops working, thoughts of fire pattern will also cease.
Fear pattern: Those who possess the fear pattern always live in fear and are therefore always withdrawn and closed. Wherever they go, they have this fear that someone is watching them, and hence they become withdrawn and closed. Even if these people want to tell something about themselves, they are unable to talk and communicate with others. They are just not able to speak. They can never ask anything from others. This is Fear pattern.
Liar Pattern: Those who possess the liar pattern are very deceitful. Such people lie in every situation. They have the habit of speaking lies. Even when there is absolutely no necessity to lie, yet they resort to lying. This is Liar Pattern, a pattern of deceit.
Blamer Pattern: If you say anything to people having the blamer pattern, they will say, “He did this, therefore this has happened… she has done this, so that has occurred… it is because of rain today that this has taken place… today it is chilly, hence this has happened… someone else is responsible for my unhappiness… somebody is doing something, that is why I am unhappy.” If you ask, “Why haven’t you done this work?” They will immediately reply, “What happened is … and that is why… he...” No sooner do these people get an excuse than they stop working. They sit to study, there is a power failure. Now they have an excuse. Any excuse is enough to deter them from working on anything. These people always blame others for everything they do or don’t do.
Breaker Pattern: Those who possess the breaker pattern do begin a task, but leave it incomplete. Most of their tasks are left in the lurch.
Blaster Pattern: Some people have a blaster pattern. Supposing someone is going on talking something nasty and this person is bearing everything calmly. For months together, he does not react to it, he goes on suppressing all his anger within. Then one fine day, he explodes. He screams, shouts, says many a spiteful things, creates a havoc, throws objects and destroys everything. This type of a pattern has been called as a Blaster Pattern.
Miser Pattern: Some people have a miser pattern, i.e. they are miserly or stingy. They are tightfisted about everything. Even when they laugh, they do it sparingly. If someone tells them a joke, these people will laugh in a miserly way; they think that they will go home and then laugh a little bit more. They have become closed due to this pattern. They do not know what their possibilities are. We have attained a human body, so what are the unlimited possibilities that we have? And what has happened due to this miserliness? Stinginess that is exercised in money matters also extends to each and every aspect of life. Even if they want to become happy, they raise a doubt on happiness thinking, “It is temporary, so why be happy at all? This reason for happiness will end, so why should we feel happy? Okay, there is something to laugh about; but then why laugh so much?” They won’t laugh. But when these people open up, it is only then that they realize, “Oh! We were losing out on such tremendous joy. We were getting such a great opportunity to become a child again and we were losing it.”
Timer Pattern: Some people have the timer pattern. These people never reach anywhere on time. They start from home at the right time but do not reach their destination on time. Even if they start an hour or even two hours earlier, they will come across someone on the way, or something or the other will happen, due to which they will be late. Because of this they have developed the pattern of always being late.
Patterns signify predisposition, tendencies, habits, inclinations – things that we do repeatedly and compulsively, sometimes consciously and sometimes unconsciously. Many a time we know our patterns and do not like them, but we still repeat them because we have become programmed for them. Some examples of patterns have been explained above. Because of patterns many a people have become slaves of their destinies. The lines of their palms show what will happen in their future. These people live life mechanically.
Whatever the lines of their hands indicate, the same happens with them.
Who is the real fortunate one
What do the lines on the palms indicate? They indicate the tendencies, habits, patterns – this person belongs to this type of pattern, so this is what is definitely going to happen with him, this is his destiny. But when he opens up, when he attains wisdom, it is then that he rises above his lines. The real fortunate is the one who gets liberation from his destiny. Attaining liberation from one’s destiny is opening up a great possibility; and this possibility is present in all of us. But unless we get rid of our patterns, our false beliefs and preconceived ideologies, we will never be able to fully open up and blossom. A belief is just a thought; a thought such as: “People are bad,” “The world has gone to the dogs,” “I shall always remain a failure,” “Resources are scarce, so I shouldn’t give anything to others…” We are living with many such kinds of thoughts, but God has created everything in abundance. There is no dearth of anything, everything is abundant. However, when man began to accumulate due to his greed, consequently it became less for some people. If each and every person of the universe became open and honest, then there will never be a dearth of anything – neither food, nor money or anything else. Therefore let us get rid of these patterns and beliefs, cast aside our closed and withdrawn existence, and live openly and fully
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CHAPTER 5
LET US ATTAIN CAUSELESS HAPPINESS
Man, due to his fear and feeling of insecurity, keeps on creating blocks. He creates a borderline that this is my country and that is yours, this is my home and that is yours, this is my body and that is yours. He becomes closed and stops opening up. Now the time has come to open up. We should open up and see what happiness we have within us. For that purpose we will perform an exercise.
Close your eyes for a minute and recall any one occasion of happiness that had occurred in your life. See in your mind one such moment when you were extremely happy. Bring to your mind such a picture and recall the feelings of that joyous moment. Whichever cherished ecstatic moment you have in your life, feel its ecstasy. Do this exercise for a few moments and then open your eyes. Now the question is that you felt happy, but was there any reason behind it? Had any such event occurred due to which you had felt happy?
Different answers can be given to this question but the fact is that you had not felt happy without a reason. There was some reason that had made you happy. Now just eliminate that reason, whatever it was – you had won a lottery, you had received a promotion, you had met someone who made you feel very happy... Just remove the reason or cause. That happiness which you felt, if you can get the same happiness without any cause, how will that be? If you can attain that same joy whenever you want and that too without any reason, then how will your life be? That is what is being tried to convey to you – about how to attain happiness without a reason. Because if you want to attain happiness which is due to some reason then that happiness will not be permanent. That will be temporary happiness, which is dependent on a cause or reason. If you want to attain instant happiness then you will have to understand how we receive happiness without a cause.
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