{"id":2944,"date":"2026-07-01T01:28:36","date_gmt":"2026-07-01T01:28:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.thiruppugazh.org\/?p=2944"},"modified":"2026-07-01T01:29:25","modified_gmt":"2026-07-01T01:29:25","slug":"happiness-now-and-for-ever","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.thiruppugazh.org\/?p=2944","title":{"rendered":"Happiness, Now and for Ever"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

Almost every human activity is directed towards one single aim; happiness. Though <\/em>one does many functions for himself, for his family, society and country, he does it all for the sake of his own happiness.\u00a0 Ultimately, all actions, whether material or even spiritual, are traced back to one\u2019s own inherent urge for happiness.\u00a0 \u00a0Seeking happiness for one\u2019s own self may sound like a selfish desire, but it does not.\u00a0 In his preface to his translation of Adi Sankara\u2019s \u2018Viveka Chudamani\u2019, the author says:\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cEveryone cherishes the greatest love for his Self which is natural and this love is not possible in the absence of happiness.\u201d It is rightly said that our search for happiness is an unconscious search for our own true Self.\u00a0 <\/em>\u00a0<\/em><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

However, since life passes through different stages, the concept of happiness <\/em>undergoes change.\u00a0 <\/em>\u00a0A student <\/em>is happy when he has completed his course successfully. He then sets another goal for placement for another state of happiness.\u00a0 Once settled in life, his aspirations soar for more happiness.\u00a0 \u00a0According to Sri Ramana Maharshi,\u00a0 <\/em>\u00a0if he has got from outside everything that he aspired for, his happiness should have been <\/em>ended but still he feels <\/em>deficient and incomplete<\/em>.\u00a0 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.\u00a0 <\/em>\u00a0When a disciple of Adi Sankara found his master searching for something outside his hut, he asked the saint \u201cwhat was lost?\u201d.\u00a0 Sankara replied that he lost the needle but not able to find it.\u00a0 When the disciple asked where exactly he lost it, Sankara said that he lost it inside the hut.\u00a0 The baffled disciple asked how an article lost inside can be found outside.\u00a0 Sankara said \u201cIs not that exactly we do?\u00a0 We search for happiness in the world outside while it is very much available within.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/em><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Happiness is not a state of mind; it is a state beyond mind.\u00a0 Sri Ramana Maharshi <\/em>often cited the example of deep sleep to substantiate that\u00a0 happiness comes from within.\u00a0 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. <\/em>One experiences the bliss during the deep sleep because at that time the mind has withdrawn.\u00a0 Deep sleep gives us the indication that real happiness comes only when the mind is still and silent\u2019\u00a0 <\/em>\u00a0<\/em><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

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.\u00a0 \u00a0Sri Ramana Maharshi\u00a0 has<\/em> narrated the story of two friends<\/em> to explain how the mind often fails to give the right knowledge.\u00a0 It happened many years ago.\u00a0 The duo <\/em>went to Kasi for livelihood<\/em>.\u00a0 <\/em>While one of them died on the way to Kasi, the other went to Kasi and established himself.\u00a0 He met a pilgrim who was going to South and requested him to convey the message of <\/em>the death of the friend and his own welfare to the concerned parents.\u00a0 <\/em>The pilgrim located the village and met the parents but by mistake he mixed up the names.\u00a0 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.\u00a0 While parents who should have been smiling in happiness were crying and the parents who should have been crying were smiling in happiness. <\/em>\u00a0Happiness or misery derived from the mind has no relation to reality.\u00a0 <\/em>Real happiness is not a state of mind but a state of being in pure Consciousness. <\/em>\u00a0<\/em><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

When a devotee posed a question to Bhagavan how he will find eternal happiness, Bhagavan replied: \u201cInstead of finding out \u2018how\u2019, find out \u2018who\u2019 wants happiness.\u201d\u00a0 Unless one knows himself, he may not know what exactly he wants.\u00a0 If he knows his real Self, he would realize that he is already in happiness because happiness is his very nature. <\/em>Happiness is one\u2019s natural state.\u00a0 It is disturbed only by our identification with the mind and body.\u00a0 Maharshi has given us the right remedy, the Vichara Marga (Self enquiry).\u00a0\u00a0 <\/em>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.\u00a0 He finds no need to seek happiness elsewhere when it is very much present within.\u00a0 <\/em><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Happiness is one\u2019s own real nature.\u00a0 He loses it when he comes under different identifications.\u00a0 He therefore yearns for the happiness that he has lost.\u00a0 <\/em>\u00a0\u201cOne 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.\u00a0 So too, one <\/em>tries to go back to his natural state where he was really happy.\u00a0 <\/em>All that\u00a0 <\/em>the individual <\/em>should do is to look within, introspect and dissolve the mind into the Self. <\/em>\u00a0<\/em><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

In his illuminating works, \u201cHappiness and the Art of Being\u201d, Michael James says; \u201cThe word \u2018Atma Swarupa\u2019 means the true nature of our Self which is our consciousness of being, expressed as \u2018I AM\u2019.\u00a0 The mind is our false self, a spurious form of consciousness which we mistake as ourself.\u00a0 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.\u00a0\u00a0 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.\u201d\u00a0 This realization paves the way for eternal happiness, peace and tranquillity, where there is no sorrow, no desire, no attachment and no fear.\u00a0 This is the state which is beyond time and space and beyond any difference and beyond duality and in transcendent bliss.\u00a0 In his reply to the question on\u00a0 Consciousness posed by Sri Sivaprakasam Pillai, Bhagavan had said:\u00a0 \u201cThis is the state of Sat-Chit-Ananda (being-consciousness-bliss) in which there is not even the slightest trace of the \u2018I\u2019 thought, where Self alone exists as real while the trinity of world, ego and God are mere illusions.\u201d\u00a0 <\/em><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

The real happiness, which comes out of Jnana, is gained through the three process of learning<\/em>;<\/em> listening and reflecting upon (Sravana, Manana and Nididhyasana).\u00a0 Bhagavan said \u201cSravana removes the illusion of the Self being one with the body.\u00a0 Manana, the reflection makes it clear that knowledge is Self.\u00a0 One pointed<\/em>–<\/em>ness reveals the Self as being Infinite and blissful.\u00a0\u00a0 It is said that frequent visit to Sri Ramanasramam would also pave way for Jnana.\u00a0 Bhagavan once said: \u201cHaving come to Ramanasramam, no one goes back empty-handed.\u00a0 The non-believer becomes a believer, the believer becomes a devotee, a devotee becomes knowledgeable and the knowledgeable becomes a Jnani.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/em><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

The very act of being near to Bhagavan paves the way for Jnana and the resultant Ananda.\u00a0 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.\u00a0 He is the grandson of Bhagavan\u2019s brother, the author of \u2018Moments Remembered\u201d, an embodiment of Jnana, Sri V. Ganesan.\u00a0 In his immortal works, \u2018Ramana Periya Puranam\u2019, Sri Ganesan has described the detachment, dispassion and dedication of Bhagavan\u2019s disciples.\u00a0 Out of 75 devotees he described, here we single out the experience of just one devotee, that of Sri Venkatesa Sastri.\u00a0 The name Sastri signified his in-depth knowledge of Sastras.\u00a0 He dedicated himself to do Puja to the deity and service to Ashram.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 During his last days, Sastri Mama, as he used to be called, fell from the cot and his leg was fractured.\u00a0 Out of concern, Sri Ganesa Anna asked Sastri Mama in Tamil:\u00a0 \u201cIs the leg (Kaal) paining much\u201d?\u00a0 Prompt came the reply: \u201cWhy do you see the \u2018Kaal\u201d, better see the \u2018Mukkal\u201d.\u00a0 The Tamil word for leg is \u2018Kaal\u201d which also means a quarter<\/em>.\u00a0 \u00a0Mukkal means three forth.<\/em> What Sastri Mama meant was not to see the one-forth Kaal but see the rest three-forth <\/em>(Mukkal) and in other words, not to<\/em> see the part but to see the whole. \u201cAs a whole, I am in bliss\u201d he said.\u00a0 Despite the pain in the body, he was in ecstasy.\u00a0 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, \u201cAnanda Ramana\u201d, the name that stuck not only in front of his house but deep in the heart of all devotees. Residing at \u201cAnanda Ramana\u201d as Stitha Prajna, Sri Ganesa Anna radiates his light of knowledge and continues to highlight the teachings of Bhagavan Sri Ramana.\u00a0 \u00a0<\/em>\u2026\u2026<\/em><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

The root cause for unhappiness is desire.\u00a0 There are different kind of desires like desire for material wealth, for sense gratification, for name and fame.\u00a0\u00a0 Fulfilment of one desire leads to generation of another and it multiplies.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Thirumular said: \u201cDiscard desires, discard desires, even if it is for the grace of God.\u00a0 The more one desires, the more miseries and the more one discards,\u00a0 the more Ananda.\u00a0 (Aasai aruminkal, aasaiaruminkal, Eesanodayinum, Aasai Aruminkal ….(Thirumanthram 2554).\u00a0 True happiness comes not in gaining something but in losing the instincts for desire.\u00a0 A King was returning with huge acquisitions after attaining victory in a battle.\u00a0 He happened to see a saint sitting in the shade of a tree.\u00a0 Looking at his serene and pleasant face, the King was impressed and asked: \u201cI find you extremely happy and please tell me what makes you so happy?\u201d\u00a0 The saint said \u201cI am happy not because of what I have but because of what I am.\u201d\u00a0 In his Vairagya Shatakam, Saint Bhartruhari says: \u201cEven if wealth stays with us for some time, they would certainly leave us one day.\u00a0 Then, what difference does it make if we discard them now itself by our own choice?\u00a0 When we renounce them voluntarily, such self-control gives us infinite bliss.\u201d<\/em>\u00a0<\/em><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Ananda or bliss, the ultimate state of Jnana, symbolizes truth and consciousness.\u00a0 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.\u00a0 The word \u2018Ananda Ramana\u2019 is very appropriate because the very remembrance of Bhagavan brings Ananda.\u00a0\u00a0 <\/em>I<\/em>t was Ganapathi Muni who gave Bhagavan\u2019s younger brother, Nagasundaram, the name Niranjanananda, the name that symbolizes eternal bliss.\u00a0<\/em><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u00a0 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.\u00a0 Ultimately, all actions, whether… Continue Reading →<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2944","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-categorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.thiruppugazh.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2944","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.thiruppugazh.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.thiruppugazh.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.thiruppugazh.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.thiruppugazh.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2944"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/www.thiruppugazh.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2944\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2946,"href":"http:\/\/www.thiruppugazh.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2944\/revisions\/2946"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.thiruppugazh.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2944"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.thiruppugazh.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2944"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.thiruppugazh.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2944"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}