If one wants to have infinite happiness, infinite bliss,
then we ought to minimise numbers of desires,
from more and more of it to less and less and finally,
if possible, to zero. Make peace with yourself.
So, we will talk today at length
not so much in detail, but some principles which govern the laws of happiness.
Let me start the session with a quote from German philosopher Schopenhauer.
He asked,
“How can we
determine
whether a man is happy or unhappy?”
He defines true happiness as the complete satisfaction of all desires.
Is it possible?
He could say that the happiness of a person can be described mathematically.
In one of those lighter moments, this equation came as an inspiration.
Like, if all the desires are fulfilled, let us say
you have ten desires
and out of these ten desires, all the ten desires are fulfilled. That means
ten divided by ten times hundred will be one hundred percent happiness. Is it not?
Let us say, if out of ten, only five are fulfilled, then it would be fifty percent
But think of an individual who says he has no desires
The total number would be zero
So, what would happen to this equation? Happiness is equal to
desires fulfilled divided by total number of desires.
When total number of desires tend to be zero,
anything you divide by zero remains indeterminant factor.
Earlier, we used to call it ‘infinite’.
In a desireless state, we do not expect anything
When we do not expect anything, we do not manipulate others.
Why would I have to even manipulate, or think about
having a better relationship, for example, for the sake of my happiness, for the sake of fulfilling my desires?
In that case, my happiness is dependent on outside
I will fail in my life, if I constantly, all through depend on others.
Human evolution is all about self-dependency,
though we interact in the society with lot of love.
We support each other at an emotional level.
Higher the emotional intelligence,
that person is considered to be more empathetic in nature.
He is more considerate. He is more compassionate.
And who can be more compassionate?
Can a heart, which is discontent, become compassionate?
When you expect nothing,
you accept everything.
Is it possible?
In a certain state,
no matter what happens around us,
when we realise that, “Something is beyond me,
I am pushed into a certain situation
where I have no other choice but to accept the scenario,”
that is a good situation.
Though
it can bring about a lot of turbulence and turmoil in life
But accepting whatever be the situation, helps us
Suppose, you do not accept a certain thing that has happened in the family
and you go on fighting, what will you learn out of this?
But the moment we learn things wisely,
we accept because our heart says so, because our heart feels that love.
Love makes us forget all kinds of defects in others
And it is out of this love that acceptance emerges, out of compassion.
How does one destroy the inner emotional state?
Our experience shows that when we are angry,
that is the moment when we lose this inner emotional balance
That happiness seems to simply disappear in a fit of anger.
And when does anger appear in the heart?
When certain things are happening against your will or against your desire.
So, such disappointments lead to anger.
Anger makes us lose our balance
and once we lose our mental equilibrium,
somehow we lose our humanity. Because
humanity, that human nature, human character,
it is all about humanness, which arises from the heart
When the heart is in a state of anger because a small desire was not fulfilled,
then it speaks a lot about our nature.
We need to change that inner nature, so that we
remain in a position to accept things.
If one wants to have infinite happiness, infinite bliss,
then we ought to minimise numbers of desires,
from more and more of it to less and less and finally,
if possible, to zero. Make peace with yourself.