Blissful Happiness!

I was watching a TV program recently where a 'Guru' was explaining about how he attained 'enlightenment'.  According to him, he had sat upon a hill one day and suddenly had a very strange indescribable feeling. This he explained was attaining 'enlightenment'.  He explained how this enlightenment had transformed him from being a hip-hop western minded individual into a 'Guru'.

What he mentioned sounded like some special powers descended upon him on that day, and then on wards, he became eternally wise and worthy of preaching ignorant people and guiding them out of their miseries.

What was more interesting was the sheer number of people who surrounded him. They listened to his words intently with awe and attention. There were probably thousands of them, all of them with folded hands and utmost reverence.

This brought about a question, Why were there so many people around him? What were they seeking? What really attracted them to this man?

The simple answer to this question should be 'Happiness' - right?; Every human being on the earth is on an eternal search - of happiness. 

If we look at it carefully, the main reason for human suffering and human grief is Self-ignorance. The only solution to be Happy is to understand more about one's own self and to gain Self-knowledge. Where exactly is this happiness? Is happiness inwards i.e in our own nature ? or is it something that can be dervied from external circumstances?

And how does one obtain Self knowledge? Can deep contemplation on questions such as Who am I? why do I exist? help get us this knowledge. May be.

Here is a simpler suggestion. There are very good spiritual scriptures already available. Taking some time and doing a systematic study of these scriptures helps. I'm not proposing one religious scripture over another. I believe all religious scriptures fundamentally preach the same thing - to find peace within yourself.

Let me give you an example, this quote is from the Gita, (chapter 6, verse 5)

uddharedaatmanaatmaanam naatmaanamavasaadayeth |

aatmaiva hyaatmano bandhuraatmaiva ripuraatmanah ||

This means, Let a man raise himself by his own efforts. Let him not degrade himself.

Because a person’s best friend or his worst enemy is none other than his own self.

This verse talks about how one should never entertain self - diffidence, never be too self-critical, never to be pessimistic. As man has freewill, freewill will contribute to actions, and the actions determine happiness. The body-mind-intellect complex of a human being is the ultimate toolkit of man. The kato-upanishad talks about how the mind is the steering of the vehicle, the intellect is the driver and the wheels of the vehicle are our sense organs. To be healthy, all these need to be well coordinated. Parents, teachers, well-wishers and God even can help only those people who help themselves. Once we realise that we are in full control of our state of mind and our own happiness, there will be eternal happiness, eternal peace with oneself.

Most of these scriptures are very obscure. These writings have a literal meaning and an esoteric, inner deep meaning. A person who can help you understand these scriptures is whom I call a "Guru". Self knowledge comes from reading scriptures (Shravanam), understanding them rightly (Mananam) and assimilating the knowledge internally (Nididhyasanam). And finally putting the assimilated knowledge into practice in the daily walk of life.

There is no short cut to gaining Self-knowledge. Enlightenment or awakening does not descend from the sky, it happens after a systematic and rigorous Shravanam-Mananam and Nidhidhyasanam.  Other forms of sadhanas such as chanting, prayers or even meditation only aid the process, these cannot produce knowledge. Meditation for example helps assimilating knowledge, however knowledge itself needs to be acquired first. There is no other way to attaining happiness in the world - other than to realize that you are yourself the true blissful happiness!