Almost every human activity is directed towards one single aim; happiness. Though one does many functions for himself, for his family, society and country, he does it all for the sake of his own happiness. Ultimately, all actions, whether material or even spiritual, are traced back to one’s own inherent urge for happiness. Seeking happiness for one’s own self may sound like a selfish desire, but it does not. In his preface to his translation of Adi Sankara’s ‘Viveka Chudamani’, the author says: “Everyone cherishes the greatest love for his Self which is natural and this love is not possible in the absence of happiness.” It is rightly said that our search for happiness is an unconscious search for our own true Self.
However, since life passes through different stages, the concept of happiness undergoes change. A student is happy when he has completed his course successfully. He then sets another goal for placement for another state of happiness. Once settled in life, his aspirations soar for more happiness. According to Sri Ramana Maharshi, if he has got from outside everything that he aspired for, his happiness should have been ended but still he feels deficient and incomplete. The real happiness has been eluding him because he has been seeking it from outside where it is unavailable and not from within where it is available. When a disciple of Adi Sankara found his master searching for something outside his hut, he asked the saint “what was lost?”. Sankara replied that he lost the needle but not able to find it. When the disciple asked where exactly he lost it, Sankara said that he lost it inside the hut. The baffled disciple asked how an article lost inside can be found outside. Sankara said “Is not that exactly we do? We search for happiness in the world outside while it is very much available within.”
Happiness is not a state of mind; it is a state beyond mind. Sri Ramana Maharshi often cited the example of deep sleep to substantiate that happiness comes from within. Perhaps, it is to remind us how we can attain the real happiness, without much effort on our part; we have been blessed with the state of sleep (Sushupti) on a daily basis. One experiences the bliss during the deep sleep because at that time the mind has withdrawn. Deep sleep gives us the indication that real happiness comes only when the mind is still and silent’
The perception of happiness based on the input given by the mind is not real because mind is subject to vicissitudes of thoughts and images. Sri Ramana Maharshi has narrated the story of two friends to explain how the mind often fails to give the right knowledge. It happened many years ago. The duo went to Kasi for livelihood. While one of them died on the way to Kasi, the other went to Kasi and established himself. He met a pilgrim who was going to South and requested him to convey the message of the death of the friend and his own welfare to the concerned parents. The pilgrim located the village and met the parents but by mistake he mixed up the names. The parents, whose son was fine, were told that their son had died and the parents whose son had died were told that their son was very fine. While parents who should have been smiling in happiness were crying and the parents who should have been crying were smiling in happiness. Happiness or misery derived from the mind has no relation to reality. Real happiness is not a state of mind but a state of being in pure Consciousness.
When a devotee posed a question to Bhagavan how he will find eternal happiness, Bhagavan replied: “Instead of finding out ‘how’, find out ‘who’ wants happiness.” Unless one knows himself, he may not know what exactly he wants. If he knows his real Self, he would realize that he is already in happiness because happiness is his very nature. Happiness is one’s natural state. It is disturbed only by our identification with the mind and body. Maharshi has given us the right remedy, the Vichara Marga (Self enquiry). As he negates all the peripheral elements, he realizes that he is the ever-existing Atman, ever conscious, pure and free (Nitya Sudha Buddha Mukta) and that his very nature is Ananda and peace. He finds no need to seek happiness elsewhere when it is very much present within.
Happiness is one’s own real nature. He loses it when he comes under different identifications. He therefore yearns for the happiness that he has lost. “One who has headache tries to get rid of it because he has known a time when he had no headache and yearns to go back to that state. So too, one tries to go back to his natural state where he was really happy. All that the individual should do is to look within, introspect and dissolve the mind into the Self.
In his illuminating works, “Happiness and the Art of Being”, Michael James says; “The word ‘Atma Swarupa’ means the true nature of our Self which is our consciousness of being, expressed as ‘I AM’. The mind is our false self, a spurious form of consciousness which we mistake as ourself. We can dissolve it only by fixing our attention firmly in our real Self, the innermost core of our being, which we always experience as our fundamental and essential consciousness. When we dissolve our mind thus in our own Self, the true nature of our Self will reveal itself as mere being, which is silent, peaceful, devoid of any movement or activity and ever in peace and bliss.” This realization paves the way for eternal happiness, peace and tranquillity, where there is no sorrow, no desire, no attachment and no fear. This is the state which is beyond time and space and beyond any difference and beyond duality and in transcendent bliss. In his reply to the question on Consciousness posed by Sri Sivaprakasam Pillai, Bhagavan had said: “This is the state of Sat-Chit-Ananda (being-consciousness-bliss) in which there is not even the slightest trace of the ‘I’ thought, where Self alone exists as real while the trinity of world, ego and God are mere illusions.”
The real happiness, which comes out of Jnana, is gained through the three process of learning; listening and reflecting upon (Sravana, Manana and Nididhyasana). Bhagavan said “Sravana removes the illusion of the Self being one with the body. Manana, the reflection makes it clear that knowledge is Self. One pointed–ness reveals the Self as being Infinite and blissful. It is said that frequent visit to Sri Ramanasramam would also pave way for Jnana. Bhagavan once said: “Having come to Ramanasramam, no one goes back empty-handed. The non-believer becomes a believer, the believer becomes a devotee, a devotee becomes knowledgeable and the knowledgeable becomes a Jnani.
The very act of being near to Bhagavan paves the way for Jnana and the resultant Ananda. While many saints, sages and devotees came from far and near to experience the happiness of being with Bhagavan for few seconds, think of one who had the rare privilege of growing under the shadow of Bhagavan and be with Bhagavan for 14 years. He is the grandson of Bhagavan’s brother, the author of ‘Moments Remembered”, an embodiment of Jnana, Sri V. Ganesan. In his immortal works, ‘Ramana Periya Puranam’, Sri Ganesan has described the detachment, dispassion and dedication of Bhagavan’s disciples. Out of 75 devotees he described, here we single out the experience of just one devotee, that of Sri Venkatesa Sastri. The name Sastri signified his in-depth knowledge of Sastras. He dedicated himself to do Puja to the deity and service to Ashram. During his last days, Sastri Mama, as he used to be called, fell from the cot and his leg was fractured. Out of concern, Sri Ganesa Anna asked Sastri Mama in Tamil: “Is the leg (Kaal) paining much”? Prompt came the reply: “Why do you see the ‘Kaal”, better see the ‘Mukkal”. The Tamil word for leg is ‘Kaal” which also means a quarter. Mukkal means three forth. What Sastri Mama meant was not to see the one-forth Kaal but see the rest three-forth (Mukkal) and in other words, not to see the part but to see the whole. “As a whole, I am in bliss” he said. Despite the pain in the body, he was in ecstasy. Later, when Sri Ganesan requested Sastri Mama to suggest a suitable name for the house he has constructed in Tiruvannamalai, Sastri Mama promptly came up with the name, “Ananda Ramana”, the name that stuck not only in front of his house but deep in the heart of all devotees. Residing at “Ananda Ramana” as Stitha Prajna, Sri Ganesa Anna radiates his light of knowledge and continues to highlight the teachings of Bhagavan Sri Ramana. ……
The root cause for unhappiness is desire. There are different kind of desires like desire for material wealth, for sense gratification, for name and fame. Fulfilment of one desire leads to generation of another and it multiplies. Thirumular said: “Discard desires, discard desires, even if it is for the grace of God. The more one desires, the more miseries and the more one discards, the more Ananda. (Aasai aruminkal, aasaiaruminkal, Eesanodayinum, Aasai Aruminkal ….(Thirumanthram 2554). True happiness comes not in gaining something but in losing the instincts for desire. A King was returning with huge acquisitions after attaining victory in a battle. He happened to see a saint sitting in the shade of a tree. Looking at his serene and pleasant face, the King was impressed and asked: “I find you extremely happy and please tell me what makes you so happy?” The saint said “I am happy not because of what I have but because of what I am.” In his Vairagya Shatakam, Saint Bhartruhari says: “Even if wealth stays with us for some time, they would certainly leave us one day. Then, what difference does it make if we discard them now itself by our own choice? When we renounce them voluntarily, such self-control gives us infinite bliss.”
Ananda or bliss, the ultimate state of Jnana, symbolizes truth and consciousness. Ananda is another name of the Jnani and that is why we find Ananda as the suffix to the name of many saints and even to Ashrams. The word ‘Ananda Ramana’ is very appropriate because the very remembrance of Bhagavan brings Ananda. It was Ganapathi Muni who gave Bhagavan’s younger brother, Nagasundaram, the name Niranjanananda, the name that symbolizes eternal bliss.
