The Secret Of Inner Happiness
Humanity is at crossroads today. With enormous achievements in the domains of knowledge, politics, diplomacy, economics, culture, science and technology, human beings are surrounded by the threats and problems of terrorism, Dharma (religion) should be instrumental in bringing about our emotional and qualitative growth. The fruit of dharma is compassion (Karuna). Let us awaken our consciousness of compassion and equanimity towards all living beings. Bereft of compassion, consciousness and equanimity towards all living beings. Bereft of compassion and sensitivity, a question mark arises over our religiousness. Dharma should lead to the transformation of our consciousness and improvement in human relationship. If a person is devoid of compassion the principle of human rights is of no avail. It is imperative that religious leaders, administrators and chiefs are imbued with compassion and sympathy. These qualities should also be reflected in their behaviour. If there is compassion in society, it will remain healthy. Dharma is being defiled and degraded in many communities on account of their contradictory norms of conduct and social practices. Where there is cruelty, we can not build a healthy society. In order to understand the true nature of dharma, one will have to purge one's mind of a feeling of cruelty.
Today man's greed for wealth has increased to such an extent that it will be better for us to call him arthapurusha (one who hankers after wealth) instead of dharmapurush (religious person). Material objects are necessary for a person's living but it is not right to develop excessive attachment towards them. Owning a material object is not parigraha (possessiveness) but it is one's covetousness for it that can be described as parigraha . It is of two kinds – dravya parigraha (material possession) and bhava parigraha (deep attachment to a material possession). In other words a feeling of attachment for a material object or what we call wealth pieces of land, houses, cattle etc. is bhav parigraha . It is this form of parigraha that is at the root of violence. Cruelty is too associated with this sort of possessiveness.
Human rights can be preserved only if human relations improve. The problems that we see in the world today emanate from an unjust and unfair economic system. For the solution of these problems, it is imperative that we effect changes and improvements in our economic coordination.
The balance between the four pursuits – Dharma (righteousness), Artha (wealth), Kama (desire) and Mokhsa (liberation)-has been upset. The whole world is now dominated by wealth and desire. To restore this balance it is necessary that we try to understand the nature of dharma. Let us also reflect on the question as to what dharma is giving us. This trend of thinking can change the course of our life.
The fruit of dharma is inner happiness. A person may follow the path of dharma but if he is not intrinsically happy, we can conclude that dharma has not become an integral part of his or her life. Joy and happiness are the two different states of human mind. Joy and sorrow go together. Happiness is different from both of them. There is neither joy nor sorrow in this state of one's mind. One doesn't feel exhilarated when one meets favourable circumstances, nor does one feel sad when one finds oneself in adverse circumstances, inner happiness is the purest state of consciousness. Joy and sorrow are not connected with the incident. They are associated with one's emotions. The cycle of joy and sorrow has been going on incessantly. This process disrupts the balance between human mind and human health.
Inner happiness is an experiment in spirituality. Let us try to keep our soul happy. In a state of inner happiness, a person thinks positively and evinces concern for the welfare of others. His behaviour and conduct appear radically different. In the words of Maharishi Patanjali happiness is what we experience in a state of thoughtlessness. A person is able to commune with the soul when his mind stops wavering and is empties of thoughts. But the mind is so fickle and restless that the waves of thought continue to arise in it ceaselessly. More than thirty three vibrations of thought occur in a second.
A person who has learnt to stay in this state of emptiness even for five minutes is able to seek answers to his questions. It is a state of absolute emptiness: no memory, no thinking, no imagination. It is a state beyond the three stages of time – past, present and future. He who has learnt to stay in this state of mind achieves inner happiness. His sorrows come to an end. He who is free from attachment and hatred and only uses his senses dispassionately experiences true happiness. There are only two components that obstruct a person's inner happiness: attachment and hatred. What is expected is that we learn how to remain naturally happy. All spiritual activities lead to true happiness. Come! Let us follow the path of spirituality and try to exercise restraint on our passions of attachment and hatred in order to be really happy.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Rule For Success : Acceptance Of Possibilities
Man becomes disappointed because he does not know the rules of anekanta. He forgets that no condition is permanent : -
There are infinite modes. Within us a lot of potential possibilities are hidden. Coal can turn into diamond. Today this is a definite fact that coal can become a diamond. The potential to become a diamond is latent within coal. Everything has the ability to become anything. This is the belief of anekanta. Few things are impossible. Sentience cannot become insentience and insentience cannot become sentience. Other than this everything else is possible. There is no rule which prevents change from one to another or from becoming another. One can become anything and everything. All the possibilities are there. In one small grain of sand all its properties of smell, colour and touch are there. One particle of sand is infinitely sweeter than one particle of sugar.
We are engaged in meditation only with the acceptance of possibilities. Within us there is infinite conssciousness, infinite knowledge. There is enlightenment (kevallya) within us. We have infinite strength within us, infinite bliss. Acknowledging the possibility of manifesting all this, we perform our special meditation. If these possibilities did not exist then who would spend so much time on them? Who would withstand such trouble and, in spite of being a sensory being, give up al the pleasure of the senses? If we sit huddled away from the world spending five to six hours in meditation and kayotsarg, it is only because we know these possibilities. They are know. It is also know that from the above means they can become manifest.
Illness is a condition. It manifests and man becomes ill. To be healthy or ill is a condition. It is within us. Its possibilities are there. With its manifestation, disease disappears. We have infinite possibilities of good health within us. With their expression, disease disappears.
Man becomes disappointed because he does not know the rules of anekanta. He forgets that no condition is permanent. Each condition keeps changing. If the condition of disease is presenting itself. We can turn it into a condition of health with our effort. if today the condition of sorrow is being manifested, then tomorrow it can be the condition of joy. One, who has the ability to accept this possibility will never face sorrow, will never fall ill. He will never spend his life in bed. He will awaken his dormant energy.
There is a story in Sanskrit literature. A learned man came and told the king, "Your majesty, accept my greetings. I have come as your guest." The king said, "Who invited you? Who invited such a tattered looking man?" The man said, "Your majesty, I am your brother. Why do I need an invitation?" The king was shocked. "How are you may brother? You are a fool. You are mad." The man replied, "Your majesty, you have not recognized me. I am a cousin on your maternal side, not your brother." The king said he did not understand. The man said,
Apada ca mama mata, tave mata ca sampada
apat sampada bhaginyau tenaham tava bandhavah
"Your majesty! My mother's name is misfortune and your mother's name is fortune. Both misfortune and fortune are sisters. I am your mother's sister's son. Sir, I am your cousin." The king was extremely pleased with what the Brahmin had said and gave him many gifts and embraced him as one would a brother.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
New Man ; New World
Likewise, the body and the universe have been deemed to be related in philosophy. In simple language, we can use the terms ‘man’ and the ‘world’. The latter is a totality comprising not only man, but also other beings and material objects.
In order to understand one individual, the whole world will have to be understood and vice versa. They are so internally related and interactive that one cannot be interpreted without the other. Even if an atom is to be understood, the whole world will have to be understood. Mahavira said: “He who knows one, knows all and he who knows all, knows everyone”.
Externally, all appear separate, but internally all are inter-related. I have a piece of cloth in my hand. Even though it is very small, it is related to the whole world. Space is associated with it – this is related to another part and so on. It is a whole series. A quiver in this piece of cloth creates vibrations in the whole world.
Two doctrines were prevalent in the world of philosophy — dualism and monism. The former has two elements: animate and inanimate. Both are independent. The latter posits only one element, viz, the animate. The other does not exist. In reality, the two doctrines cannot be separated.
Anekantvad (the doctrine of non-absolutism or manifold aspects) explains both man and the world. If we interpret man to suit our own convenience then we is implying something about the development of individual consciousness. If we interpret the world, then there are implications for the development of a group or collective consciousness.
Each man’s consciousness needs two dimensions. Anuvrat is the principle of the development of individual consciousness. Fraud and deceit prevail and problems arise where group consciousness is sought to be developed without first developing individual consciousness.
Political ideologues tried to develop socialism and communism. The motive was not bad; in fact it was sublime and compassionate. But one thing was forgotten. They tried to develop ‘group consciousness’ and forgot ‘individual consciousness’.
The noble aim was defeated, purity was lost. Social consciousness will not arise if it is not based on the purity of individual consciousness.