Mohanji answers the question How to Attain A State of Permanent Happiness
We all know deep inside, chasing the paltry pleasures of life, is not life. We know there is something deeper. We all know, we all feel that there is something deeper and profound in this existence and many times we feel that what we are doing is not the right thing. That’s why people ask the question: “What’s the purpose of my life?”
Well, karmically, the purpose of your life is the experience of every moment. The waking state experience, dream state experience and deep sleep state experience. Sum total is life. We express what we are to the world outside and that’s also part of the purpose of our existence. But, we know deep within, we feel that this is not what the whole thing is about. These pleasures are temporary, they come and go, and then we crave for more, then it becomes a habit, and then becomes an addiction, like that it goes. Going round and round, it doesn’t evolve. We go for familiar likes and dislikes. We have this continuous need for pleasures. But at the same time, we are not happy. We are happy when pleasures are accomplished. Familiar situations make us happy, comfortable zones make us happy, and we crave for it because, if that’s taken away we feel like a fish out of water. That’s a very scary feeling. People become restless and people become insecure. If we are experiencing a situation like that, now, with this lockdown happening, we do not know what to do, we don’t have the usual freedom which we’ve been used to for a long time. How do we handle this?
It’s a very good time to get back to yourself and ask this question. It is a good time to ask a good question. What is a good question?
What makes me really happy? What is happiness?
None of these recurring needs for certain pleasures are making us happy. They are making us feel okay. But that’s not happiness. Happiness is a permanent state. That question raises in everybody’s mind at some point in time and this is an inevitable question. When the great masters would go deep inside exploring this question, over time, again and again, they realized a few things. One of the major things is the cause of sorrows. And the cause of sorrows they narrowed down to dependencies, deep expectations and fears. These are the causes of sorrows, major causes of sorrows. There are many minor causes but the major causes of sorrows are expectations and dependencies as well as fears. And then, they started working on them.
First and foremost, what are dependencies?
We are dependent on so many things in life including the dress we wear, the food we eat, the places we are used to, the relationships that we have, and to the environment, spaces, time, and so many other factors. These are the things that are detrimental to our efforts of leaving the usual patterns and reaching a state of freedom – no patterns. What they found through contemplation, they could also correct through contemplation: by tackling everything individually, facing each fear, understanding each dependency, accepting each expectation. So, while understanding each dependency, they realized that they are all connected to certain notions of pleasure. If I have this person with me, I am happy. If the person goes away, I feel insecure. If I have this relationship, and if the person is not happy with me, I’m sad. Like that, there are so many permutations and combinations which we have created for ourselves. All these relationships have an element of conditionality, which they found… they realized that so many relationships are conditional and related to a certain time, space, moods, so many factors. So there is no continuity there.
How can you change that?
To make all relationships unconditional, that solves that issue. That means less expectations. Usually, you give more, than you require more. But, if you require less from people, less from relations, then you are free. Freedom is connected to expectations of a certain nature. If expectations are lessened we have more freedom.
Fears.
Many fears that we have, have no root. They are connected to certain notions, certain beliefs and certain things which we have picked up from society, from education, from people, from religion. These fears, they bind you because you don’t do anything about them. The great masters realized that it is good to face those fears, address them, look them into the eyes and accept them. The moment you start looking into your fears, you are not afraid of your fears any more, fears wither away. Every dependency, every addiction, every pattern, there are all kind of staying there because we don’t address them. Individually, contemplation has a lot of value. We contemplate on it and we come to terms with it. We start accepting ourselves more and more, and we start doing things in a non-reactive way. We don’t react at all. We respond and we do not resist, instead, we accept. This became a great help and that’s the way they guided the following generations. These masters guided the next generations to accept themselves, assimilate themselves and have permanent happiness and freedom.
Permanent happiness is a possibility when there is less dependencies, less expectations, more acceptance, less fears or when fears are taken care of. If we go into that kind of mode, then we do have a possibility of a permanent state of happiness. Permanent happiness is when the mind is not running after needs, requirements, wants, when the mind is stable and peaceful. That’s when permanent happiness happens.
Permanent happiness is a state definitely achievable by every individual. To achieve this, the step to take is not meditation, it’s contemplation, introspection, acceptance.
About Mohanji: Mohanji has dedicated his life towards a sole purpose of Adding Value to Society with the conviction that the world should be a better place because we have lived. Mohanji stands for humanity and the true human values of kindness, compassion and selflessness. Unity, harmony and unconditional love are the pillars on which he advocates a non-violent lifestyle in thoughts, words and actions. His teachings reach over 25 countries through the Mohanji Foundations and his message of unconditional love and selfless service is expressed through Ammucare (named after his daughter Ammu) and ACT foundation which delivers humanitarian work globally.
Find out more at www.mohanji.org
Prepared: Nirupma Chowdhary
Editor: Eni Buljubašić