Every human being in this world makes lifelong efforts to attain eternal happiness or constant and everlasting Peace. Man’s actions are directed towards the achievement of this goal. But the great turmoil and unrest in the world, despite all efforts, makes one ask: “What is the way to realise this universal aim?”
Very few of us know about the fact that the source of true happiness lies not merely in material objects; rather, it springs from the equanimity of the mind; it comes by stabilising the mind in the self. We all know well that if man’s mind is disturbed, then even the choicest dishes served to him, great honour showered on him and even a grand reception accorded to him, would be tast less to him.
Moreover, man’s indulgence in sense objects or his acts of consuming material things ‘consume’ him also in the process, for we all observe that, gradually, man’s physical organs become unserviceable, his frame becomes frail, his senses become feeble, his body becomes wearied and outworn, the sap of his life gets sipped up and the zest and vigour spent up.
We also notice that one man likes an object fondly whereas to another man this same thing is an anathema and he wants to get rid of it as soon as possible. Does this not prove that happiness is not dependent upon or proportionate to the material objects one can store up; rather, it has its bearing on one’s mental attitude and one’s inner state of being. Further, we observe that worldly objects are constantly changing; by their very nature, they are ephemeral. So, how can that which has no permanence, be a source of constant peace or permanent happiness?
Furthermore, we all know from our own experiences and experiences of others that man spends his whole lifetime acquiring objects, storing them up, making them fit for consumption, then consuming them up and, if by force of circumstances, arising from his past actions, he loses these objects, these same things become a cause for mental agony.
The above analysis is not meant to lead one to conclude that man should not work to fulfil his material needs! As long as one has physical existence, one will require such things as food, clothes, shelter, etc, and if one does not have these, the unfulfilled material needs can upset a man’s mind.
Further, passivity would gradually lead to sloth which is a vice too. So, what was meant to be conveyed in the foregoing para was that the pursuit of objects or amassing wealth alone does not lead one to the fulfilment of the urge for eternal and complete peace. Rather, one requires health, mental rest, calmness, and good relations with other beings also in one’s life. Deep reflection would lead one to conclude that all the above-said four kinds of happiness depend on what kind of actions we do. “As you sow, so shall you reap,” thus goes the well-known saying. Even atheists should have faith in the Law of Karma because this law is the spiritual version of what is called by the Scientists, as Newton’s Third Law of Motion. Action never goes to waste, i.e., without producing any effect.
Hence man cannot escape the result of what he has done. Whether one is a saint or a sinner, one has to reap his Karma — this is an inviolable rule. So, one can rightly conclude that the vices, or the sinful acts, committed in our past lives are the source of pain, and the root of it all lies in our mind. Experience has shown that Yoga Meditation is the only way that one can take to purify one’s mind, as it brings to mind calmness born of voicelessness.
It destroys the seeds of suffering that lie in the mind in the form of latencies.
By means of Yoga Meditation, one gets bliss and one also gets willpower whereby one’s old habits, which otherwise die very hard, now die easily and quickly. Yoga provides to man an inexhaustible source of supersensuous happiness which is not dependent on material objects. It also brings about transformation in man’s mental attitudes and, thus, enables him to have equanimity of mind under all circumstances.
(The writer is a spiritual educator & popular columnist. Views are personal)
