HAPPINESS AND MISERY - 4

[Guest guest]

4. " If happiness is due to one's possessions, then it should

increase and decrease proportionately to their increase

and decrease, and becomes nil if one has nothing to

possess. But is this true? Does experience bear this out?

" In deep sleep one is devoid of possessions, including

one's own body; yet one then is supremely happy.

Everyone desires sound sleep. The conclusion is that

happiness is inherent in one's own self and is not due to

external causes. One must realise his Self in order to open

for oneself the store of unalloyed happiness. " (talk 3)

 

Note: This is plain common sense. The happiness of sleep

is patent to all. We call it rest, which is another word for

comfort, for peace, notwithstanding the fact that we are

then completely denuded of all possessions, including our

body. This bliss of sleep is the most precious heritage of

life: man, animal or plant, which have no property or wealth

of any kind. It is a bliss which does not come from any

external circumstance or condition, but from within oneself

- one's own being. This truth is open to every thoughtful

person to verify for himself, and does not require much

strain to arrive at.