What is spiritual journey? Can it lead to joy? Does the path of spirituality lead us to joy?
What is happiness…. Am I a happy person….
These are the questions in the mind of all human beings.
All of us are in search of happiness and joy. Happiness is defined as a positive mental state characterized by wellbeing and positive emotions like elation. The school of positive psychology, says that joy can arise from positive engagement and absorption in a valued and meaningful activity.
Is it that only when we are engaged in meaningful activity, one feels joy and not at other times...hmm we need to reflect on this.
Nowadays, with the advancement of technology, everything is measurable. How many steps have you walked in one day... is it good enough to burn calories. A person was commenting that he could walk only 5000 steps on one day, as he had other commitments. Normally he walks twice as much of that. He was not happy that he could walk in the open,in the fresh air. Instead he was thinking of how he walked less that day.
B.Gita gives us a beautiful shloka telling us to enjoy what we are doing, however small the job or activity it may be. When we enjoy doing and being in the activity,the Whole process of doing is joyful, and the result can be enjoyed now or later. In the process of doing things joyfully, there is no irritation and neither lack of concentration in what we are doing.we are in sync with what we do and no situation can disturb that. This helps us to be calm and be at peace.
Similarly, most of us, associate, joy, happiness with an object or person. As long as the object or person gives us the experience we are looking for we are happy. But with fast changing technology and new objects in the market every day. We always have the feeling of dissatisfaction, as if what we have is not good enough.
They say man has six major enemies, arishadvargas, Kama, krodha, lobha, Moha, mada, matsarya, namely , desire, anger, greed, infatuation, arrogance and jealousy. As we progress in our spiritual path these major enemies begin to reduce, and man can get to see his true self, full of joy and compassion.
What is a spiritual journey?
Being Human, is the journey towards spirituality. It helps to shed off our lower values, and see the greater values, like friendship, compassion, gladness and upeksha.
In times of hardship, we find that man comes together and help each other
irrespective of caste, creed etc. This has been noticed and witnessed then and again when natural calamities like flood, earthquakes occur. Why is man not aware of this at other times?
ध्यायतो विषयान्पुंसः सङ्गस्तेषूपजायते।
सङ्गात् संजायते कामः कामात्क्रोधोऽभिजायते।।2.62।।
क्रोधाद्भवति संमोहः संमोहात्स्मृतिविभ्रमः।
स्मृतिभ्रंशाद् बुद्धिनाशो बुद्धिनाशात्प्रणश्यति।।2.63।।
This is a beautiful shloka from B.Gita. Here , Sri Krishna says that , a person due to his greed and desire for objects gets attracted towards it and wants to possess it. If he gets it, he is happy till a new desire comes up. When the desire is not fulfilled, the man gets angry.He does not see reason and his memory starts failing him which brings about his downfall.
We have heard many instances when due to greed,man has brought about his own downfall.
Then what is Happiness..Ananda?
There are three kinds of Ananda, joy: the joy of worldly enjoyment, the joy of worship and the joy of Brahman. The joy of worldly enjoyment is the joy of women and gold, which people always enjoy, and which is short lived. The joy of worship is while chanting the name and glories of god. The joy of the Self, Brahman is the joy of god vision. Sri Ramakrishna lived in Brahmananda, the joy of god vision. And he taught it through his actions and words. He said that if one wants everlasting joy, one should seek God.
Sri Ramakrishna says that if through the chanting of the names, ones attachment to God grows day by day, and joy fills the soul then one has nothing to fear. The delirium will disappear and the grace of God will be upon us.
Everyone without exception wants happiness. At the immediate or far end of our plans and action it is happiness that we seek. Our ideas and methods of seeking happiness vary. Most of us, body- bound or earth bound that we are, have a very gross idea of what happiness is. Achieving worldly success, and becoming powerful and famous is considered to being happy. Happiness, in other words is the joy of worldly joy, Vishayananda.
In today's world of consumerism, popularised by media, we come across advertisements such as- Buy this product, Buy this gadget, and discover bliss! Messages such as these advocate that human life lies in acquiring and enjoying the objects of sense objects. Unbridled enjoyment of sense object has been a source of inner restlessness and emptiness of life.
Life consists of a pair of opposites , happiness- unhappiness, good- bad, hot- cold, ...and so on. Once we know the impermanent nature of the world, there arises within the awakened mind a call to search for the permanent, everlasting reality. This turning away from the world signifies, the turning towards the eternal joy. Then enters, peace in our life.
The Gita says, ‘ Where is joy without peace,? True joy and peace go together.
Sri Ramakrishna reminds us that all of us are ‘ Amritasya putrah’-we are all children of immortality’. He repeatedly emphasised through his own example.With his big and small actions and a never- ending smile playing on his lips, he emphasised that joy is our real nature. Life can be lived. This joy is to be found within.
When a person realises the inner bliss,he becomes quite intoxicated with it, and this joy is reflected in all his actions and words.
Sri Ramakrishna's message of inner joy is more relevant in today's world of increasing violence and unrest.
Is there a way out of this unrest?
Renounce!, is what Sri Ramakrishna taught over and over again.
His idea of renunciation is giving up the lower for the higher. But what is lower, and what is higher is a relative question. He emphasised renunciation for two kinds of people-the gradual path of enjoyment and renunciation for those who lacked sharp discrimination (Viveka ) and an immediate path of renunciation for those who were ready for it. By renunciation, he meant renunciation of lust and greed and development of an attitude of humility and service to others.
Spirituality means finding inner joy, through renunciation and spiritual practices. Yoga is one path by which we begin the path of our spiritual journey. There are numerous practices, but man can choose the different paths as per his personality. As mentioned in Bhagawad Gita and later made popular by Swami Vivekananda, the four paths of Raja yoga, the path of the will power and determination, Karma yoga , the path of work, Jnana Yoga , the path of knowledge and Bhakti Yoga, the path of devotion takes us through the path of yoga and towards spirituality.
In the path of yoga, one begins to realise our own true nature, which is pure joy, and bliss. The joy is within, and this joy is reflected in all the activities that we do.
Reference
B.Gita
Teachings of Sri Ramakrishna.
By
Vijaya Hariharan