Words From The Master - 05 May 2008

Happiness without reason

Two friends met after a long time. They decided to have lunch out. One was an actor, the other a psychiatrist. They were talking about what they had been doing after they had left college.

The actor was a very happy man. He said, “I have never been worried about anything. By God’s grace I am happily settled in life.”

The psychiatrist was listening. He asked, “How long have you been like this?”

Happiness is categorised with other emotions. We try to frame it in space and time.

We cannot understand the emotion when someone says that he is happy! It is difficult for us to believe him.

Great happiness and joy is ours. Enlightened masters are in this state all the time.

Happiness is the core of existence, of nature that surrounds us. But man somehow needs a reason to be happy.

If we are successful in say, business today, we are happy.

Then again if someone says something nice about us, we are happy. If we visit new places, we are happy.

But the moment you need a reason to be happy, it means that you do not know what real happiness is.

We choose to suffer because our ego is solid. When we are happy, our ego is threatened.

When we are happy without a reason, when there is no suffering, the ego is under threat. So we go back to our suffering. The ego revives. We believe there is a reason to live when we suffer.

Of course, each one of us has problems. But if you deal with them happily, in a grateful and prayerful mood, you will find that the problem simply disappearing in front of your eyes. But if you allow the problem to make you dull and depressed, you will remain in this mood.

Real happiness is the result of overflowing gratitude in oneself towards nothing in particular.

You may be grateful towards the Whole, towards Existence. This is real happiness; this is bliss.

This kind of happiness is happiness without choice.

The moment you are allowed to choose, you will choose between happiness and sorrow.

But to have no choice is Bliss. To choose is to suffer.

Real happiness can never be taken away from you because it came without reason.

If there is a reason behind happiness then something can happen, and can be taken away from you.

But because it has no reason it can never be taken away from you.

When you have found this kind of happiness, you have found the way to permanent happiness.