Thought 111: Worldly happiness

Everyone wants to be happy; no one, no one at all, wants to be unhappy. But do you know any one who is really happy! Happiness is generally conspicuous by its absence. Is it not amazing to observe that most people are unhappy most of the time – although they all crave to be happy all the time. The reason for people not being happy is simple; they do not have the know-how for happiness.

People have no concept of happiness. Most people think that pleasures are happiness. Bhagavad Gita says that (18.38) “pleasures, which are derived from the contact of your senses with their objects, are short-lived. They may seem like nectar in the beginning, but would turn out to be like poison later”. It is easy to derive these sensual pleasures - because they are purely perceptual. It is so easy that even an animal can pick up this kind of pleasures. You do not have to do much - and you certainly do not have to strain yourself for gaining this kind of pleasures. Pleasures like smoking, wine, women, drugs, gambling, etc, are addictive and for this reason, they debilitate you - by making you a slave to them. There are any number of examples of people, who ruined their lives, because they have not been able to apply the breaks in time – in the pursuit of such pleasures.

Power may get you many things, but it seldom gets you happiness. Take any powerful person, like Barrack Obama. Is he happy? He may have his brief moments of happiness, but most of the time, he is a harassed and unhappy individual. Lack of money causes misery – poverty is the worst thing that can happen to any individual. Money can get you many things but not happiness. Take any rich person like the queen of England. Is she happy? She may have her fleeting moments of happiness but most of the time she is a harassed and unhappy person. People think that buying a good car like a Lexus or a LCD big screen TV, etc, would give them happiness. Happiness does not inhere in these devices; they are after all pieces of inert material. How can they give you happiness? They con you into thinking for a brief period that they bring you happiness. But most of the time, they cause you a lot of unhappiness or anxiety; you are worried all the time that some one will scratch your expensive new car. If not that, you are worried that some clever thief would steal it.

One may have many things, but he or she is still unhappy, because he or she does not have some other things. People always want what they do not have and agonize over it – instead of feeling happy about what they already have.

The next thought is about “Worldly happiness (Continued)”