Navigating Samsara: September 2017

Wednesday, September 20, 2017

Happiness

Happiness

Due to certain actions, we experience pleasure or grief. So, first let us understand where these experiences happen in us. So, what we need to understand is that it is only in our mind that we feel happy or sad etc., meaning all that happens to us from the external stimulus are processed by the mind and intellect which decides if it is good/bad, happiness/sadness etc.

So, what we can clearly understand is that the actual place where we feel happy or sad is in the arena of our mind!!!

Mind by nature is outgoing, what do we mean by this? It’s very simple mind by nature cannot sit silent and it keeps jumping from one activity to another and cannot remains silent. Because of which its works in an overdrive and intellect also functions in similar manner to keep the minds confusion and thoughts at check. If this is the situation, there is bound to be actions and reactions which affects the person and he experiences these dyads (happiness/sadness, pleasure/griefs etc.).

When such is the situation it is practically impossible to experience happiness all the time as the mind is completely occupied with activities in search of happiness from external sources, though happiness happens in the arena of the mind, it confuses itself by getting attached to the stimulus and thinks that it (stimulus) is the source of his/her happiness.

Lottery winning (Stimulus)-----------> Mind receives/processes information ----------> Experiences happiness within (experienced within).

Now in the above situation for a poor person, if he wins a lottery as above he will feel very happy, at the same time when a person who is not interested in money wins the lottery does he feel happiness? Absolutely Not.

So, from the above example we can clearly understand that happiness is within and not from outside as the person who is not interested in money does not feel any happiness. So, stimulus here does not decide on what we feel.

In simple context, the source of happiness is within us and we must look inwards to achieve a type of happiness that is unconditional and unaffected of the things that are happening and surrounding us.

Meaning the happiness that was experienced when one wins a lottery can be replicated without he winning the same lottery and enjoy same state of blissfulness. In fact, the inner bliss that we are discussing here is say 1000 times more potent than what you enjoyed when one had won the lottery.

It is this we call it as absolute happiness (in Vedanta it’s called Ananda), which is ever existent (Sat in Vedanta) and it is in the form of absolute awareness (Cit in Vedanta)

That’s the reason the nature of our true self is explained as Absolute existence, Absolute consciousness and Absolute Bliss which is nothing but Satchitanada.

Tuesday, September 12, 2017

Self/Brahman/God

Now the point that we have to understand is the concept of omnipresence of God/Brahman. It is very interesting Vedanta to note that God is Omnipresent, he is present in good or bad, gross or subtle etc. He is the subtlest of the subtle.

Many Upanishads's describe Brahman as biggest of the big and smallest of the small. So now how do we understand this then.

Let us understand it in this way, Brahman/Self is something which is there in your thought, in your dream or in whatever you see and finally it is within you. Self is this article that is written and the process of understanding is also the self.

So one thing that is very evident here is that Self is everywhere, hence we can negate the relative existence, that is the material world, as it arises out of the Self and merges back into it, It's like the waves of the ocean when there is a wave - material existence happen and when it falls back, it merges with the ocean, so material world merges back to the Self.

Further what we need to understand is that Self is the foundation of all, meaning Self is supported by Self and there is nothing beyond it, it the subtlest of the subtle, it is independent and everything else dependent on it. The only existence that we can validate is the Self and nothing else.