Embrace happiness by transcending societal expectations and self-discovery
The promos of an upcoming television serial were being aired incessantly by a TV channel. The plot seemed to revolve around a young girl hailing from a family of bureaucrats, jurists, and police officers, among others, who merely wished to be ‘happy’. Her academic performance was way below par, verging on failure. When confronted about her plans by an unsettled family, she retorted by saying that her only desire in life was to be ‘simply happy’.
A person assumes the human form and arrives on planet Earth. He or she grows up and gets educated, then the family and the individual in question are in pursuit of a high-ranking job. On securing the job the person is married off into as pretentious a family as possible and soon begets children. Surely enough, he plans for the upbringing of the offspring and their future….
This perennial cycle continues in an undisturbed manner. Whenever questioned as to when he/she would choose to be happy, the answer is that upon the successful completion of the next task or event in the sequence, he/she would unfailingly find time to seek happiness.
Contrast this with the emotions of a child, who is happy every moment, be it the prattle or jibber-jabber, winking at the mother or devouring a piece of chocolate with relish. The child is in the present moment and with gay abandon enjoys every moment of life. That is why it is surmised to be childlike and not childish in your approach to life. A childlike attitude symbolizes innocence while being childish signifies arrogance.
A Zen Master would be often accompanied by his pet dog on his evening stroll. The Master would throw a stick and point to it for the dog to fetch, which it did routinely. One evening the Master invited his brightest tutee to join him. The student was always doleful and gloom-ridden. He was confronted with what he perceived to be contradictions in the teachings of Buddhist doctrine.
The teacher compassionately explained that words are mere signposts and symbols for the seeker. They should not act as a roadblock to the spiritual progress and happiness of the student. To illustrate the point, the Master asked the dog to fetch the moon shining in the sky. The dog merely looked at the Master’s finger, and the teacher explained that the spiritual progress and happiness of the canine were limited to certain symbols, whereas the mentee needed to transcend the symbols and discover the eternal truth, which is nothing but happiness. To be in a cheery state, an individual should eschew misery from his cognitive framework of mind.
Humans who wish to be happy should share their moments of happiness and joy and not their woebegone moments. By the law of nature and the universe, happiness would grow manifold. Sharing gloom only magnifies despondency among the individual and people surrounding him. Over time, he would become a loner, lost and friendless.
Individuals as a habit realize that negative moments in life are infinitesimal in comparison with the problems confronting the world. And say by undertaking acts of service, people can overcome their gloom-ridden moments. Enlightened Masters emphasize that performing service transforms our inner self, which deepens the quality of meditation. And meditation leads to contentment and increased joy.
Individuals need to take full responsibility for their actions and inaction too. Taking up responsibility empowers us and ignites the spark of happiness and joy and remain happy. “Happiness is when what you think, what you say, and what you do are in harmony,” rightly said the Mahatma.
(Ravi Valluri is the CEO of Chhattisgarh East Railway Ltd. and Chhattisgarh East West Railway Ltd. and is a faculty of the Art of Living, views are personal)
