In Search of Happiness ─ Part 1 of 3
Ānanda Mīmāṁsā ─ Inquiry into Happiness
We have all heard the phrase "Happiness is within you".
Brahman is satchitananta
Ānanda Mīmāṁsā ─ Inquiry into Happiness
We have all heard the phrase "Happiness is within you".
- Where exactly is the happiness hidden within us?
- Why am I not happy all the time?
- Can I become happy by going to the heaven?
Brahman is satchitananta
| Taittrīya Upaniśad defines brahman as satyam, jnanam and anantam. सत्यं ज्ञानमनन्तं ब्रह्म। satyaṁ jñānamanantaṁ brahma | |
Brahman is satchitananta swarūpam. Sat - existence, Chit - consciousness and Anantam - limitless is Brahman. Anantam means limitless - infinite.
Anantam is limitless in terms of all factors that cause limitation, namely, time, space and object. In other words, it is fullness or pūrnatvam in every sense. Śruti often uses the word ānanda in the place of anantam since what is ananta is ānanda.
Chandogya Upaniśad 7-23-1 says: That is ānanda which indeed is the infinite. There is no ānanda in the finite. The infinite alone is ānandam. When something is infinite and lacks nothing, there is no want and so there is no unhappiness.
Status of Our Happiness
The happiness that we experience is of various degrees. The words priyam, moda and pramoda are used to describe happy, happier and the happiest.
Vedanta says that whatever ānanda that we experience is a reflection of original ānanda in our mind. Experiential ānanda is called Reflected Ānanda - Pratibimba Ānanda in vedanta. Whereas the original ānanda is called Bimba Ānanda.
Sun - Principle of Light represents Original Bimba Ananda.
Relection in the Water represents Pratibimba Ananda.
As in the picture above when the original ānanda is reflected in our mind, we experience ānanda - happiness. When the mind is contented, it is able to reflect ānanda brightly and we experience a better degree of happiness. When the mind is disturbed the reflection of ānanda is dull and we feel unhappy.
Please listen to five minutes of Swami Paramarthananda's commentary on dṛg dṛśya viveka Verse 20 as per the link below.
Brahman is ātmānanda
| दृग् दृश्य विवेक dṛg dṛśya viveka Verse 20 अस्ति भाति प्रियं रूपं नाम चेत्यंशपञ्चकम्। आद्यं त्रयं ब्रह्मरूपं जगद्रूपं ततो द्व्यम्॥ asti bhāti priyaṁ rūpaṁ nāma cetyaṁśapañcakam | ādyaṁ trayaṁ brahmarūpaṁ jagadrūpaṁ tato dvyam || Every entity has five characteristics: existence, consciousness, ānanda, form and name. Of these the first three belongs to Brahman and the other two belong to the world. |
The above verse restates the definition of brahman as asti - existence, bhāti - consciousness and priyaṁ - pleasing. Brahman is infinite, so the original ānanda is changeless and infinite. This original source of ānanda is called ātmanānda or bimbānanda. The original source of ānanda is without any limits. Whereas ānanda that is experienced by us - experiential ānanda is always finite. When our mind fluctuates, the pratibimbānanda - reflected ānanda also fluctuates. The mind can be sātvic, rājasic or tāmasic. So the reflection varies and we get various degrees of ānanda. The ānanda which manifests in our mind is never uniform and always changing.
Fruits of Vairāgya
Vairāgya is the only way leading to fearlessness. Vairāgya also enables a person to enjoy the very same level of pratibimbānanda- experiential ānanda as experienced by the residents and the ruler of the heaven. A human being can experience the very maximum happiness that is practically possible, in this world itself by developing sufficient vairāgya.
Taittrīya Upaniśad lists eleven levels of experiential ānanda. Part 2 of Ananda Mimasa will cover that and we shall see how a person of vairāgya attains the same degrees of ānanda as celestial beings.