Know yourself to find true happiness Edit

Know yourself to find true happiness

The Indian Express Mumbai Newsline—January 29, 2001

AD Pradeep Kumar

"Arise, awake and stop not till the goal is reached"-Swami Vivekananda

This is an interesting question. Why should someone spend time and energy for understanding oneself. There are so many other things to do rather than wasting time on this subject. But the so-called many other things in the world will not give you what you are looking for. Nothing else other than understanding oneself is going to give you the perfect happiness you are searching for. Soul search is as essential as the air we breathe or the water we drink. Soul search is deep rooted in Indian soil. All great scriptures, works of art, literature evolved in India as the result of the soul search by the ancient Indian masters. The so-called practical man of world may say, "I am perfectly happy because I have a good wife, a job, a house, a car and so many other things to my credit. Then why should be I be unhappy. But think for a while. Are you really happy? Your happiness is dependent on many things. Any problem in the house, office or business completely affects you. When your wife starts nagging, you are dejected, when your boss fires you are depressed, your car is not working, you are agitated, your air conditioner is not functioning you are irritated, your neighbour buys a brand-new car, you feel uneasy. The so-called happiness is so fragile, dependent on many outside factors. You are relying on so many things outside for happiness. If only richness is the criteria for happiness, Bill Gates would have been the happiest man in the world, but can he claim to be the happiest man with all his richness. Why did Onasis' daughter attempt to commit suicide despite all her richness. We are completely carried away by the passing events in life. The past insults, injuries and future anxieties haunt us every moment and we are unable to live in the present. Sometimes we are so caught up in the past that we are even unable to learn new things. We are so intensely caught up in our likes, dislikes and complexes that we are not able to let go of these. It is told that a man does not outgrow the mindset of seven to 10 years even if he may be physically old. That is the fundamental problem. We are stuck up at the age of seven to ten. If we want to outgrow this immature mindset, we have to put in a lot of effort. I am reminded of an interesting scene in the film Beautiful People which shows how monkeys are trapped by the tribals. A monkey is caught by keeping some sweets in a jar which is tied to a tree. The monkey puts its hand inside the jar and catches hold of the sweets but cannot take out its hand because its palm is folded. If it lets go of the sweets, it can take away the hand and get out of the trap. But it never leaves hold of sweets. Likewise, we adamantly hold on to our likes, dislikes, fears anxieties, prejudices and close our eyes to inner light and cry without searching for inner guidance. Like the musk deer we search for the fragrance outside little realising that the fragrance is emanating from its own body. All answers we are seeking are within and not outside. For that we have to start searching inside.

The Indian Express Mumbai Newsline—February 5, 2001

Know yourself to find true happiness

SOUL SEARCH is a choiceless choice. The search for something missing is inherent in a human being. He either searches it outside or within. But sooner or later the search outside gives pain. Hence it is better to turn inside before the bitter experiences of the outside forces you to go within. A man cannot remain static. He has either to rise higher or fall down. Unless we consciously build up and educate our own mind, all chances are that we go down without us being aware of it. We feel that there is no way out and we are the victims of circumstances. But God has given us the power and wisdom to get out of all this. Among all innumerable beings in the world, only a human being is endowed with the power and awareness to transform his inner nature and free himself from his limits. A cow or dog does not have the awareness or choice to have this inner transformation.