Spirituality for leading a Happy Life

Spirituality  for happy life

Yesterday I was travelling with one of my learned lawyer friends and we were discussing the legal system of the country. Generally it is believed that legal system in the country is honest and just by at least by villagers. However, truth is not so. No section of society, including the judiciary, has remained ring- fenced from corruption, favoritism, terrorizing etc., this cannot be because all these systems are manned by human beings, whose basic nature has become greed. It is said animals will kill other animals for food only when they are hungry. But human being kills for no reason or for any reason, thus worse than the animals. That is greed and greed can never be satisfied.

Today if you look around, there is tremendous amount of stress everywhere. Some People are chasing material well being, wealth, position. Some of them are constrained by ethical boundaries created around their thinking by their own mind. Whereas some of them have no value system like things coming in their way. They perceive success / failure at different levels. But, what is the yard stick for measuring success? Wealth? name and Fame?There are still some others who have amassed lot of wealth and now feel the need to give away and are creating charitable trusts, donating for good causes etc.,

Now, if you start pondering what is right, what is ethical, what is sin etc., this can be debated for decades. Vegetarians think that those eating non veg have no concern about life of these animals and the pain they go through when being butchered. But, on the other side, the person while eating justifies to him by arguments like I have not killed the animal. I eat it or not, he will kill, it is his livelihood, animals are meant as food for others  etc. again he restricts to his eating habit not bothered about the macro picture of the universe, Because that is convenient for him to be happy. Finally, ones aim is to be happy.

Human nature is to justify whatever he does irrespective of right or wrong. Probably the concept /perception of right or wrong about an act/thought may be again subjective/relative and is in our mind. Then beyond mind, thought and perception, there is something more vital which has no attachment of right/wrong, sin etc., How to understand that, realize that and stay in the state of that realization. This is where lot of practice required which sages call  “SADHANA” .  From continuous practice of such awareness above the body, mind, consciousness, one achieves the state of nirvana , i.e relief from or staying above the pains and pleasures. He realizes then that pain , pleasure everything is the experience my body and mind is having and I am not be attached to these. I am above this and I am on a journey to reach back my natural abode.

This brings us to the concept of rebirth and moksha. As Shankar Acharya mentioned in the treatise on Upanishad, I am the whole like the almighty. Birth and death is like taking a bucket of water from sea and then pouring it back into the sea. The water taken from sea is very small portion, but the quality and nature of the water is no way different from the water in that vast ocean.  It has it’s identity and all the qualities of it’s whole ( ocean) . Once poured back, loses its existence and becomes one with sea. However, before pouring back , there is need for removing all the impurities acquired during the life away from ocean? Else, it will be put in some other vessel based on the nature of impurities for cleansing before pouring back ( new life) ? This is how advaitha philosophy preaches the life and God relation. Here, the person believes/realizes he is God and staying in that state for long brings him out of all the earthly miseries.

But , living in this world, we always think of our responsibilities towards the family , children , society and worry about not able to do various things. This is, saints argue,  because of the MAYA surrounding us which is hiding our reality from us. The MAYA is nothing but the experiences our mind has accumulated around it over the years or lives which influences his thought process. “ Manas” , “ Buddhi “ and  “Samskara” are the basic factors through which we accumulate the experiences and make decisions.  All our fears, greed, anger, perceptions are the outcome of our seeing and responding in the light of these accumulated experience over the years or lives. May be the sub-conscious mind is the store house of all these experiences.

Where is the way out and how to lead a happy life on this earth? Happy life does not mean not having pain or pleasure. As long as body and mind is attached to us , we cannot avoid pain. However, the attitude to accept the things /results as it is without crying is the solution. This can happen only with knowledge, knowledge of the self. That needs continuously reminding our mind on the realities discussed here. That is achieving siddhi state through knowledge and practice, popularly referred to as “ Jnana Yoga” . In such state we keep working as per our free will , but will not worry about the result because of our knowledge that we are working for the sake of working ( karma) , result whatever comes ok  or it is not in my hands. This state of karma keeps us always happy and avoids worry of failure. That is “ karma yoga”  or  “Nishkama Karma”.  It is not easy for average person to understand this knowledge and constantly live at that plane of consciousness.  For this, Lord Krishna provides the simplest way “Surrender everything to me “. Believe in one God or Guru and surrender to him and go as per his direction. This is “Bhakthi” which is pure love to God and complete surrender before him and seek his direction in every act, as Arjuna did before Krishna.

Thus, Indian Gurus have shown various paths for one’s happy life. It is for us to adopt any path for happiness.  The ultimate way for happiness is realizing that I am not doing this. I am only a weapon /puppet in the hands of some unknown force, of which I am also a part.

“Paropakaraya punyaya,  Paapaya Para peedana” – Veda vyasa on Gist of Mahabharat.

Helping others (staying near the almighty) is bliss and hurting others is sin. Only sin in this earth is hurting others. So touch stone to decide right or wrong of an act is to look at whether the act hurts someone or helps someone.

Let us realize our nature and let us lead a happy life.

Best of luck . Wish you a happy and prosperous year 2016.