Our underlying essential purpose or aim of life is to be happy.
At the Annamaya level, happiness state is reached when the senses are one with their desired objects. Few examples are , when we hear music of our liking , we are happy. When we eat gulab jamon that we like, we touch happiness momentarily. Infact the act of eating is the most sensuous act where all senses are one with the object . To explain further, when we eat a mango, we see the fruit, we taste the fruit, we hear the chewing while eating, we enjoy the smell and we ofcourse touch the fruit. At this moment of enjoyment, there is a flash of universality of consciousness. This is called the experience of oneness .At this level, happiness is being one with the moment.
At the manonmaya level, happiness is experienced at the thought, imagination, feeling level. For example, whenever I imagine a thought that is desirable , like a thought where I have achieved my ambition, the mind enjoys happiness until the thought is there. Or a happy memory that is played back, makes us touch that happiness momentarily. At this level, happiness is experienced when we are one with the thought.
At the vignanamaya or the intellect level, happiness is a conscious choice to be in a state of completeness where we understand and realise the true nature of ourselves which is happiness or in other words Ananda. The guiding principle analyses and understands ,that Ananda is not from the objects of the senses. It is rather our inherent nature that is the same as the universal consciousness.When this is realised, then irrespective of the world outside, one can choose to be in the Ananda state. In that state, there is no I and YOU , there is no Yours and Mine. Everything is experienced as one. Again this state comes to each one of us rarely, as this calls for tremendous abhyasa, vairagya and tapas.
Most of the times , we ignore the guidance from the vignana maya and entangle ourselves into the object of senses and eventually conclude that happiness is in the outer world. Hence we constantly chase the state of Ananda at different layers depending on which level we are attached to, as individuals. This constant chase brings in sorrow, failure, fatigue , bondage and attachment. This vicious cycle is termed as ‘Samsara’ in Sanskrit.
Hence realising and establishing in the state of happiness is a long , sincere , committed journey and each one of us can start from where we are.
Happiness that comes out of engagement is because of putting in effort for anything that we like to do in a focussed manner. Hobbies,work, career come under happiness derived by engaging ourselves in hours and hours of hard work.
Beyond engagement, there is one more level that can be referred to as a meaningful or purposeful life. When meaning or purpose that is larger than the individual is discovered and worked towards , that gives happiness in a deeper sense. For example, taking up a social cause , helping the needy , bringing in difference in lives around. In short, when one finds meaning in life , the happiness turns into joy and the happiness is experienced for a longer time. ‘The joy of giving’ is an apt phrase indeed.
The above mentioned three levels of happiness ie , Pleasure, engagement, and purpose can be roughly mapped to Kama, Artha, Dharma accordingly. However , even after finding meaning in life, the search or seek for happiness does not end.
Happiness is a state of being one with the universal consciousness and forget the sense of I, as an identification of ourselves within the boundaries of space and time.Let us understand Happiness in the different layers(kosas) in us:
At the Annamaya level, happiness state is reached when the senses are one with their desired objects. Few examples are , when we hear music of our liking , we are happy. When we eat gulab jamon that we like, we touch happiness momentarily. Infact the act of eating is the most sensuous act where all senses are one with the object . To explain further, when we eat a mango, we see the fruit, we taste the fruit, we hear the chewing while eating, we enjoy the smell and we ofcourse touch the fruit. At this moment of enjoyment, there is a flash of universality of consciousness. This is called the experience of oneness .At this level, happiness is being one with the moment.
At the manonmaya level, happiness is experienced at the thought, imagination, feeling level. For example, whenever I imagine a thought that is desirable , like a thought where I have achieved my ambition, the mind enjoys happiness until the thought is there. Or a happy memory that is played back, makes us touch that happiness momentarily. At this level, happiness is experienced when we are one with the thought.
At the vignanamaya or the intellect level, happiness is a conscious choice to be in a state of completeness where we understand and realise the true nature of ourselves which is happiness or in other words Ananda. The guiding principle analyses and understands ,that Ananda is not from the objects of the senses. It is rather our inherent nature that is the same as the universal consciousness.When this is realised, then irrespective of the world outside, one can choose to be in the Ananda state. In that state, there is no I and YOU , there is no Yours and Mine. Everything is experienced as one. Again this state comes to each one of us rarely, as this calls for tremendous abhyasa, vairagya and tapas.
Most of the times , we ignore the guidance from the vignana maya and entangle ourselves into the object of senses and eventually conclude that happiness is in the outer world. Hence we constantly chase the state of Ananda at different layers depending on which level we are attached to, as individuals. This constant chase brings in sorrow, failure, fatigue , bondage and attachment. This vicious cycle is termed as ‘Samsara’ in Sanskrit.
Hence realising and establishing in the state of happiness is a long , sincere , committed journey and each one of us can start from where we are.
To understand where we are , there is a nice analysis and approach shared by Swami Sarvapriyananda.
As a process of seeking happiness , we all settle at different levels. Broadly the levels can be summarised as P(pleasure) , E (engage) , M (Meaningful)
H = P + E + M
Many Examples can be given for Pleasure that gets identified as happiness . Eating a Gulab jamun , enjoying a warm water bath or jacuzzi, enjoying in the company of good friends, watching a movie etc . All of the above can be categorised under sensual pleasures that is being conceived as happiness. Such happiness is short lived and for every repetition, the dosage expected is higher , just like a drug. Such short living pleasures are addictive.
As a process of seeking happiness , we all settle at different levels. Broadly the levels can be summarised as P(pleasure) , E (engage) , M (Meaningful)
H = P + E + M
Many Examples can be given for Pleasure that gets identified as happiness . Eating a Gulab jamun , enjoying a warm water bath or jacuzzi, enjoying in the company of good friends, watching a movie etc . All of the above can be categorised under sensual pleasures that is being conceived as happiness. Such happiness is short lived and for every repetition, the dosage expected is higher , just like a drug. Such short living pleasures are addictive.
Happiness that comes out of engagement is because of putting in effort for anything that we like to do in a focussed manner. Hobbies,work, career come under happiness derived by engaging ourselves in hours and hours of hard work.
Beyond engagement, there is one more level that can be referred to as a meaningful or purposeful life. When meaning or purpose that is larger than the individual is discovered and worked towards , that gives happiness in a deeper sense. For example, taking up a social cause , helping the needy , bringing in difference in lives around. In short, when one finds meaning in life , the happiness turns into joy and the happiness is experienced for a longer time. ‘The joy of giving’ is an apt phrase indeed.
The above mentioned three levels of happiness ie , Pleasure, engagement, and purpose can be roughly mapped to Kama, Artha, Dharma accordingly. However , even after finding meaning in life, the search or seek for happiness does not end.
The pursuit for eternal bliss is inherently present in every human being. YOGA leads one to the eternal bliss by letting the individual to discover himself and the truths in life.
-Balambika Raman
YIC 2017