In Search of Happiness

Q: If whatever we do is in search of happiness, then why is there so much pain and misery in the world?

Sri Sri: Whole our life we keep on running behind things with the hope of getting something. We keep on looking for some kind of profit. How would such person experience happiness? Neither does a greedy person get happiness nor does a person who is bombarded with too many desires.

The one who relaxes in his consciousness, is happy. One who is centered, experiences the true happiness. I am not saying there is no happiness in the outer world, but the happiness you get when you go within is incomparable.

The world is running in search of happiness. The body gets baked, the mind gets baked, the intellect gets deluded but still we keep on getting stuck in the same repetitive cycle. When you meet the Guru, you come to know that you are the source of happiness. Then the mind calms down, and you realize that you are the one in whose search you kept on running here and there.

Whatever is essentially sought after by every human being is called purusartha in Sanskrit.  The universal search of happiness, the human goals are called as pursartha.

All our pursuits can be grouped into the following four categories.

artha                      securities;

kama                      pleasures;

dharma                  ethics;

moksa                    liberation.

All four are collectively called purusartha that which is longed for by human beings. Purusa, the human being, struggles for these goals.

Although each individual seeks something peculiar, there are four ends that everyone seeks. The universal ends most commonly sought after are security and pleasure - artha and kama.

Seeking pleasure is a purusartha, called kama. We are in search of things that are pleasing to us and which will make us happy. This purusartha is called kama. Kama can be sensory pleasures, intellectual pleasures or pleasure when we appreciate nature, art or music.

That which gives you any kind of security - emotional, economical, or social, is called artha.  We want to protect our assets and possessions and keep them secure. This pursuit is artha.

There is a third purusartha, dharma, that is neither artha nor kama. We seek kama and artha in an ethical, legitimate and dharmic way. Dharma is a means of seeking kama and artha.

We feel happy when we help somebody, alleviate somebody’s sufferings or do charitable actions. Dharma refers to the pleasure born of harmony with nature and the society, the pleasure derived from friendship, sharing, helping another person, and so on.

The pleasurable rewards of punya, are often reserved for heaven. The rituals and other kinds of action that will take one to heaven are told in the first section of the Veda.  After death, a person likes to go to heaven. In such a case, this person seeks dharma as a goal. So dharma is a means as well as a goal.

When we do a puja, during sanklapa  we chant -

धर्मार्थ काम मोक्ष चतुर्विध फल पुरुशार्थ सिद्ध्यर्थं।

dharmārtha kāma mokṣa caturvidha phala puruśārtha siddhyarthaṁ |

It is important to note that sastra allows legitimate pursuit of purushartha and provides many means to reach these goals.

Without violating dharma, doing what is to be done, you pursue artha and kama, security and pleasure. This is how these three universal human pursuits are to be understood.

Sastra says that all our accomplishments of pursuing kama, artha and dharma have the following three dosas - defects or limitations.

1. bandakatvam - These achievements cause bondage. We find that we are unable to remain happy without these objects. We are bound to our wealth, our families and our relationships.

2. atriptikaratvam  - These accomplishments do not satisfy us fully. The happiness that we get by our ends are only fleeting and mercurial in nature. We get bored and look for something else. The same item does not satisfy us any more after some time.

Sastra says that going to heaven is not a final solution. When one exhausts his punya, that person to take another birth again!

Note that philosophies other than advaita would assert that heaven is a permanently happy place.

3. dukha misri tattvam - The happiness that we get when we achieve something is always mixed with sorrow. While enjoying an ice cream, we are worried about the calories, catching the cold or the fact that as we eat, the ice cream is reducing. Acaryas go to the extent that all our ends are only full of sorrow.

On analysis, we find that our gains are also impermanent. We examine all our experiences and find that we are still unhappy, except for some fleeting moments. Then we develop a vairagya - dispassion towards dharma, artha and kama.

Mundakopanisad 1.2.12 says that a qualified person who has investigated into the nature of anityatvam - impermanence of the worldly pleasures should approach a traditional teacher who is a srotriya - well versed in scriptures and a brahma nista - has a clear knowledge about brahman.

Mundaka 1 - Khanda 2 - Mantra 12
परीक्ष्य लोकान्‌ कर्मचितान्‌ ब्राह्मणः निर्वेदमायाद् नास्त्यकृतः कृतेन। तद्विज्ञानार्थं स गुरुमेवाभिगच्छेत्‌ समित्पाणिः श्रोत्रियं ब्रह्मनिष्ठम्‌॥
parīkṣya lokān karmacitān brāhmaṇaḥ nirvedamāyād nāstyakṛtaḥ kṛtena | tadvijñānārthaṁ sa gurumevābhigacchet samitpāṇiḥ śrotriyaṁ brahmaniṣṭham ||
karmacitan - gained by doing actions (and meditation); lokan - the experiences; pariksya - examining; brahmanah - discriminative person; nirvedam ayat - may discover dispassion; akrtah - moksa which is not created; krtena -through the action or meditation; na asti - not there; tat -that; vijnanartham - to know; sah - he; gurum - to a teacher; eva - only; abhigacchet - must go; srotriyam - one who is well-versed in scriptures; brahmanistham - one who has clarity about Brahman; samitpanih - with sacrificial twigs in hand
‘Examining the experiences gained by doing actions and meditation, may the discriminative person discover dispassion. Moksa, which is not created, cannot be gained through action. Therefore, to gain the knowledge of Brahman, he must go with sacrificial twigs in hand to a teacher who is well-versed in scriptures and who has clear knowledge about Brahman.’

Bhagavan Sri Krishna taught Bhagavad Gita in order to remove the pain and misery of Arjuna. A qualified person should study Bhagavad Gita sastram well under a live competent guru for a length of time.