"As I was coming to the Hall, many devotees greeted me with the words, "Happy Birthday"! They should wish for "happy birthdays" for those who are not happy. I do not need your birthday greetings. The Divine is perennially in bliss (nithyaanandam).
Swami is always happy. Swami does not need your happiness. You be happy. Happiness is union with God. If you want to be happy, join God. Then you can be happy."
- Sri Sathya Sai Baba -
Be Happy!
Happiness is actually natural to human beings. Since our beings consist of consciousness-energy, the nature of which is well-being, happiness is our nature. We don’t need good fortune or any new circumstances to be happy, and we don’t need material goods, fun activities or success or power. It’s possible for us just to be happy, without any reason at all, because happiness is just there, inside us, in the same way that the sky and the air are outside us.
In one of his most famous poems the Indian mystic Kabir compares human beings to fish who complain about being thirsty, without realising that they can drink the water they're swimming in. 'You wander restlessly from forest to forest,' he tells us, 'while the reality is within your own dwelling. The truth is here!'
Many of us spend our lives looking for happiness from external things, and all the time, while we go to the ends of the earth in search of it, it’s nearer to us than anything else: in our own being. Once we turn our attention in the opposite direction, however, and begin to change ourselves rather than our circumstances, we realise that it was always with us, and always will be.
In one of his most famous poems the Indian mystic Kabir compares human beings to fish who complain about being thirsty, without realising that they can drink the water they're swimming in. 'You wander restlessly from forest to forest,' he tells us, 'while the reality is within your own dwelling. The truth is here!'
Many of us spend our lives looking for happiness from external things, and all the time, while we go to the ends of the earth in search of it, it’s nearer to us than anything else: in our own being. Once we turn our attention in the opposite direction, however, and begin to change ourselves rather than our circumstances, we realise that it was always with us, and always will be.
At the beginning of every year millions of people wish one another a happy and prosperous new year which raises the question as to what is meant and understood by happiness and prosperity? No doubt various interpretations exist but for most people it is limited and restricted to the acquisition of worldly benefits and achievements of one kind or another such as good health, financial security, matromonial contentment, friendships, success in studies, business, profession, legal affairs, acquisition of propoerty, etc.
Certainly the attainment of worldly aspirations leads to material prosperity and a measure of happiness which should be properly appreciated. They are, indeed, blessings for which one should be ever grateful to God
There is, however, the experience of spiritual happiness and prosperity which far excels that of worldly satisfaction. It is this kind of happy prosperity which one should seek to attain. While it comes only through the Grace of God, He has provided ways and means by which one may recieve this gift from Him. It is the way of God that He helps those who help themselves
A further requirement for attaining spiritual propserity and happiness is self-purification in thought, word and deed. It is true that no one is perfect but one should strive and be ever watchful in maintaining one's conduct and attitude towards everybody and everything free of blemish. One should eradicate all feelings of resentment, malice, jealousy, impatience, pride, revenge, envy, injustice, scorn and all kinds of ill-feelings towards others. On the other hand, one should cultivate feelings of love, kindness, sympathy, forbearance, humility, patience, charity, justice, courtesy, helpfulness, understanding and other pleasing virtues. It has been truly stated:
He alone is happy who is free from hatred and malice and has his passions under controil. (Bhagwat Gita)
THE BUDDHA ONCE EXPLAINED that as one matures spiritually, one comes to understand that there is more to life than pleasure through the five senses. He used the metaphor of a tender little baby tied down by thin strings in five places: both wrists, both ankles, and the throat. Just as these five strings—the five sense pleasures—can hold down a baby but not a mature adult, who easily breaks free, so a discerning person breaks free from the idea that indulging the five senses makes life meaningful and "happy".
So, how can we tap into this true inner happiness in our everyday life, no matter how challenging the circumstances? Sathya Sai Baba gives us clear guidance:
"Cultivate good qualities and strive for the promotion of dharma (righteousness) in the world. This will give you more enduring happiness than the acquisition of perishable worldly things."
"Cultivate good qualities and strive for the promotion of dharma (righteousness) in the world. This will give you more enduring happiness than the acquisition of perishable worldly things."
"Everyone should make efforts to overcome worries and enjoy everlasting happiness". "Man makes varied efforts to experience happiness. You can find few in this world who do not want to be happy. But one must understand that happiness cannot be acquired from outside. It originates from the heart. Heart is the source of bliss. The happiness we enjoy in the external world is only a reaction, reflection and resound of the happiness within. Very few are to understand this truth. The apparent joy that one experiences today is artificial and temporary. Only the happiness that springs from the heart is permanent." "Happiness cannot be purchased in a market nor can it be acquired by worldly means. It should manifest from within." - Sai Baba
Happiness will come in the same measure as your love for God. Immeasurable happiness can be obtained through loving God without limit.
- Sai Baba (Discourse, December 25, 1995) -
