We all know deep inside,
Chasing the paltry pleasures of life is not life.
We know there is something deeper.
We all know,
We all feel that there is something deeper and profound in this existence.
And many times we feel it that what we are doing is not the right thing.
That's why people ask the question,
What's the purpose of my life?
Well,
Karmically the purpose of your life is every moment experience.
The waking state experience,
Dream state experience and deep sleep state experience.
Some total is life.
We express what we are to the world outside and that's also part of the purpose of our existence.
But we know deep within,
We feel that this is not what the whole thing is about.
These pleasures are temporary.
They come and go.
And then we crave for more.
Then it becomes habit.
Then it becomes addiction.
Like that it goes,
Going round and round.
It doesn't evolve.
We go for familiar likes and dislikes.
So,
We have this continuous need for pleasures.
But at the same time,
We are not happy.
We are happy when the pleasures are accomplished.
Familiar situations makes us happy.
Comfort zones makes us happy.
And we crave for it.
Because if that's taken away,
We feel like a fish out of water.
That's a very,
Very scary feeling.
You know,
People become restless and people become insecure.
We are experiencing a situation like that now with this lockdown happening.
We do not know what to do.
We don't have the usual freedom which we are used to for a long time.
So,
We feel how do we handle this?
This is a very good time to get back to yourself and ask this question.
This is a good time to ask a good question.
What is the good question?
What makes me really happy?
What is happiness?
What makes me really happy?
None of these recurring needs for certain pleasures are making us happy.
They are making us feel okay.
But that's not happiness.
That's not happiness.
Happiness is a permanent state.
That question happened in everybody's mind at some point in time.
And this is an inevitable question.
And when the great masters,
They went deep inside exploring this question over time,
Again and again,
They realized a few things.
One of the major things is the cause of sorrows.
And the cause of sorrows,
They narrowed it down to dependencies,
Deep expectations and fears.
These are the cause of sorrows,
Major cause of sorrows.
There are many minor causes but major cause of sorrows are expectations and dependencies as well as fears.
And then they started working on them.
First and foremost,
What are dependencies?
We are dependent on so many things in life including the dress we wear,
The food we eat,
The places we are used to,
The relationships that we have and the environments,
Spaces,
Time,
So many factors.
And these are the things which are very detrimental for us to leave the usual patterns and reach a state of freedom.
No patterns.
What they found through contemplation,
They could correct also through contemplation.
By going individually,
Facing each fear,
Understanding each dependency,
Accepting each expectation.
So,
While understanding each dependency,
They realized that they are all connected to certain notions of pleasure.
If I have this person with me,
I am happy.
If the person goes away,
I feel insecure.
If I have this relationship,
If the person is happy with me,
I am happy.
If the person is not happy with me,
I am sad.
Like that there are so many permutation combinations which we have created for ourselves.
So,
All these relationships had an element of conditionality which they found that so many relationships are very conditional.
And it's related to certain time,
Space,
Moods,
So many factors.
So,
There is no continuity there.
How you can change that to make all relationships unconditional?
That solves that issue.
Means,
Less expectation.
Give more than you require more.
So,
If you require less from people,
From the relations,
You are free.
So,
Freedom is connected to expectations of certain nature.
So,
Expectations are less,
We have more freedom.
Likewise,
Fears.
Many fears that we have,
Have no root.
They are connected to certain notions,
Certain beliefs and certain things which we have picked up from the society,
From education,
From people,
From religion.
So,
These fears,
They bind you because you don't do anything about it.
Then they realized that it is good to face those fears,
Address them,
Look into the eyes and accept them.
The moment you start looking into your fears,
If you are not afraid of your fears anymore,
Fears wither away.
So,
Every dependency,
Every addiction,
Every pattern,
They are all kind of staying there because we don't address them.
So,
Individually,
Contemplation had a lot of value.
We contemplate on it and we come into terms with it.
We start accepting ourselves more and more and we start doing things in a non-reactive way.
We don't react.
We don't react at all.
We respond and we do not resist.
Instead,
We accept.
This became a big help.
And that's the way they guided the next generations.
These masters guided the next generations to accept themselves,
Assimilate themselves and have permanent happiness,
Freedom.
Permanent happiness is a possibility when the dependencies are less,
Expectations are less,
Acceptance is more,
Fears are less or fears are taken care of.
If we go into that kind of a mode,
Then we do have possibility of a permanent happiness state.
Permanent happiness is when the mind is not running after needs,
Requirements,
Wants.
When mind is stable and peaceful,
That's when the permanent happiness happens.
So,
Permanent happiness is a state which is definitely achievable to every individual.
For this,
The step is not meditation,
It's contemplation,
Introspection,
Acceptance.
