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Source: The Hindu (http://www.the-hindu.com)

 

Self, the source of happiness

 

CHENNAI, JAN. 11. The prevailing materialistic culture

perpetuates the notion that acquisition of wealth is the key to

happiness in life. Those who take the secular stand believe that

with removal of poverty there will be all-round happiness, though

it is common knowledge that there are any number of examples of

societies which are wealthy but they are certainly not happy as

they only have different problems. The religious person looks to

God to solve his problems forgetting the fact he can reap only

according to what he sows.

 

This is the reason why even a monarch can be very unhappy. This

should make one pause to find out what is the root cause of the

problems human beings face. Happiness is a state of mind and

cannot be found in objects. Material objects are necessary for

leading a comfortable life but one should not make the mistake of

thinking that the object per se gives happiness. Everything in

the world has its use but man is not dependent on them for his

happiness.

 

In his lecture, Swami Suddhananda said that the world was all the

time announcing the ephemerality of life in it. Though human life

is uncertain, it is at the same time precious because it affords

the opportunity to realise the bliss of one's essential nature

(the Self). This leads to the question what gives an individual

his sense of self-identity.

 

The ``I'' is a bunch of tags comprising one's name, secular and

religious identities. No one is born with them and hence must not

leave the world also with these tags. Instead of identifying with

the real ``I'' (the Self) one makes the mistake of identifying

oneself with one's educational qualifications, wealth, status,

gender and age thus alienating oneself from one's real Self.

 

True happiness can be realised by questioning oneself ``Do I love

and respect myself for what I am or what I have?'' and answering

it truthfully. The quest to discover one's true Self is then a

matter of shifting one's identity from what one is accustomed to

- the mind-body personality. The body, though it undergoes

changes with age, does not feel happy or sad. It is the mind

which feels and hence the thoughts that arise in the mind are

responsible for one's feelings. The ``I'' picks up every thought

and identifies with it and hence the identity crisis man faces is

at the level of the mind.

 

By going to the source of the ``I'' in which all thoughts

subside, the Self can be discovered. When the Self is known then

all the mistaken notions drop away on their own, as the awareness

of the Self's blissful nature and immortality becomes the abiding

consciousness underlying one's thoughts and actions.

 

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