Infinite Happiness – Myth or Reality? A question that has surfaced in all of us, time and again…. Were we finally going to get an answer? The banners and the whatsapp messages staring at us said so…. there was only one way to know. We had to be right where the action was planned! And thus, on the evening of 4th February, 2017, the Community Hall of Yash Paradise Housing Society in Airoli saw a 100-odd gathering waiting for the winsome, young and dynamic Br. Ved Chaitanya ji of Chinmaya Mission Navi Mumbai, to address them.
What followed was an hour and more of pointers to the path towards Happiness. If questions could be answered by more questions, Vedji did just that! He made us think by asking to reflect aloud on
- Do we have a choice to live life as we want to?
- For believers in destiny, what if God has written in your destiny, “You may do as you wish!”?
- How do we evaluate the degree of our happiness?
As the crowd started offering varied replies, Vedji added some clarity to these by stressing that whether we succeeded or failed in any endeavour, we should be consistent while attributing it to our efforts or to destiny. He also said that just like we need to eat when hungry or take medicines when ill (no one else can do that on our behalf), so also the onus of living our life best rests on us. Vedji then took us on mathematical route to happiness by giving a formula for that!
Happiness = Number of desires fulfilled/Total number of desires entertained.
This made it pretty obvious that the only way we could hope for infinite happiness was to reduce the denominator to zero!
In fact, the Sutra goes like this: Praptasya upekshaayam, Apraptasya Apekshaayam, Dukkhasya Suraksha! That is, when we ignore what we have, and desire what we don’t, Sorrow is ensured! So. the tip for Happy Living is to appreciate what we already have. Vedji suggested that we list all that we have and read it daily, which would indeed give happiness!
By now, the audience was hanging onto every word…and the tips flowed on…
“Don’t work without resting, don’t rest without working!”
“Don’t act without thinking, don’t think without acting!”
“Change the things that you can, accept the things that you can’t…and move ahead!”
“Clearly distinguish between needs and desires, fulfill only the former!”
“Thoughtful Life alone is Happiness, Thoughtless life is Sorrow!”
“Selfish desires bring sorrow, Selfless desire brings progress!”
And finally, of course, the Vedantin’s declaration, “Knowledge alone can bring Happiness!”
The audience was left longing for more. The talk was interspersed with stories, pertinent examples and Vedji’s trademark humour! But like all good things, this too had to pass! The time was up and Vedji made his way to the children waiting in another hall upstairs. After a Balvihar session, they were given Gurudev’s coins to treasure, a fitting end to a happy evening.
Gurudev had yet again reached the hearts and awakened the minds of the masses, the Chinmaya Mission way…
