What is the nature of this happiness that we have been seeking constantly? Do we want to be happy during early morning - and not bother about it the rest of the day. No. Do we want to be happy the whole day, today or tomorrow; or the whole of the next year? No. We want to be happy every moment starting right now and for ever afterwards. We seek eternal happiness. That is our real goal.
If we are happy in one place today and more happy at some other place tomorrow, we like the second place much better. If we find another place, which is even happier than the second, we want that only - and not the earlier ones. It is so with objects and persons. Thus, we not only want the eternal happiness - but we also want the maximum happiness. For this purpose, we seek changes in time, circumstances, people, objects, status, or all of them together to gain maximum happiness. By changing all of them, our desire for happiness does not end. It will only end when we get the eternal and maximum happiness. Where is this eternal and maximum happiness?
If this happiness is in an object, then every one must find the same object giving him equally maximum happiness. For instance, it is the nature of sugar to be sweet; every particle of sugar is sweet. Does this happiness reside in a car? If it is the nature of the car to give happiness, then every car must give equal happiness to every one. If you have a Maruti car, however, you want a luxury car like Benz. Is it not? If you have a Benz car, you are still not happy. For instance, my daughter had a craving for an “Infinity” car but she does not like it any more. She wants a Lexus, which is even more expensive and luxurious. Her children want an auto ricksha! They come to India anticipating a ride in an auto riksha; or even better, in a cycle riksha. If we take them in a car, they do not like it – they do not find happiness in it!
Everyone wants to be happy; no one wants to be unhappy. Thus, most of us seek to become happy through families and friends, in successful careers, in social life, in gourmet foods, in gambling, in sports, in liquor, in women, in tranquilizers, in drugs and in many other similar objects and activities, which comprise man’s unending quest for happiness. Some others seek happiness in politics, in arts, in business, in academics or in research studies, in hobbies, in philanthropy, in welfare work, and so on.
Every day, research finds more and more about how the human mind and body function. The scientific material available in the modern high technological age about man’s body and mind far outstrips that of all previous generations. And yet, is man any the happier today. Far from that. In fact, technology has spoiled man so much that more technology would only make him a slave of modern comforts and temptations. If so, what is the solution to this problem of the modern generations?
The basic problem of man in his search for happiness is that his sources of pleasure and happiness are very limited. The most fundamental sources of the pleasures for man are food, liquor and sex. But these can only occupy a few moments (limited hours) of his daily life. After that, the bodies and mind thwart all our efforts to enjoy more of the same. After all, you can only eat so much before you either feel disgusted with food; if not disgusted, you will certainly become ill from continuous wrong eating or continuous overeating.
Man’s fascination for new products of enjoyment will end only – when he would seek more fundamental sources of happiness. This is what happened to the Beatles, to the Rolling stones and many other celebrities of the Hollywood, Bollywood, etc. They had everything going nicely for them – and yet, they were very unhappy persons. They discovered in the end that the Yoga from revered Gurus in India could give them some happiness. There are any number of examples of rich and famous persons from Europe and the American continent thronging to Putaparti in Andhra Pradesh, India, where there is the Prashanti Nilayam and Sai Baaba – to seek peace and happiness, which their riches and technologically advanced counties could not provide.
The next thought is “About happiness and unhappiness”
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