Date Sent: January 12, 2013
Excellent piece by Swami Sivananda on Why Happiness is Elusive and will always remain so..until Self-Realization.
But before that, read the story of the Saint again...and again. This story is not a play of words but 100% truth. 1) Desires are the cause of unhappiness. 2) Ownership is the cause of Anxiety. 3) Wants will always lead to miseries. 4) Life is miserable without spirituality.
Any number of zeros have no value unless you add a ‘1’ before them. Similarly, even if you possess the wealth of the whole world, it is nothing if you do not lead a spiritual life, if you have no spiritual wealth, if you have no Self-realization.
Life is even more miserable in the initial stages of spirituality  ....because seeking happiness is also a "Desire" and "Desire WILL always lead to unhappiness". ...but one must go through if he (or she) is seeking eternal happiness.
Wants and desires can be eradicated by Self-Realization only...nothing else. Therefore, Bliss is only in Self-Realization...nothing else. Seek the Bliss ....he will help!
----- Story of a Saint - "Exactly. I'm nobody!"
----- Elusive Happiness
"Man wants happiness. He tries to get it from money, from power, from woman, from son, from position and so on. He rushes from one thing to another trying to find happiness. He gets knocks, blows, failure and disappointment. He laughs, dances, weeps and mourns. His senses get exhausted. He gets disgust for objects. Eventually he experiences that sense objects are illusory and that real lasting happiness cannot be found in them.
Man feels the need for a particular object. He tries to get it. If he succeeds he is delighted for a moment. If he fails he is sunk in despair and sorrow; he is gloomy and depressed. If he loses an object he becomes very miserable.
As soon as one want is gratified, another new want crops up. There is no end to his wants. Cares, worries, anxieties and fear co-exist with wants and desires. Want is the product or offspring of ignorance. Brahman is all-full. All wants are satisfied in Brahman.
The restlessness of the mind is kept up by all these wants. He who wants nothing is a mighty emperor of the world. Sri Sankara says: "That carefree saint who moves about with a kowpeen or loincloth only, without possessions, without the idea of ownership, without any wants, is the most happy person in the world." Wants and desires can be eradicated by Self-realization only.
Any number of zeros have no value unless you add a `1' before them. Similarly, even if you possess the wealth of the whole world, it is nothing if you do not lead a spiritual life, if you have no spiritual wealth, if you have no Self-realization.
You will have to add the Atman to the life here. That is why the Lord Jesus says: "Seek ye first the kingdom of heaven and its righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you."
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Mind is greater than the senses. Pure intellect is greater than the mind. Atman is greater than the intellect. There is nothing greater than Atman.
Brahman is without senses, mind, Prana. He is within and without all beings. He is immovable; he is extremely subtle. He is the light of all lights. --- By Swami Sivananda" |