Namaste.
As we continue on the Bhagavad Gita series,
In this lecture I'd like to speak on the concept of happiness.
Because so many of us are confused about how can we be happy?
Where do we turn to to find this eternal happiness that all of us are truly seeking for?
And in the Bhagavad Gita,
Krishna speaks on happiness in chapter 18 verse 37 and 38.
Krishna says that happiness based on spirituality is like poison in the beginning but eventually becomes like nectar.
It arises from a serene state of mind and leads to one knowing the self.
While material happiness however is like nectar in the beginning and ends in poison,
It arises from the senses contacting their sense objects.
So here Krishna classifies happiness in two ways.
He says if we look to the world to be happy,
If we look for material things to make us happy,
Objects,
People,
Situations,
Most of the time we do get an initial moment of happiness from that interaction.
But that happiness does not last for a long time,
It quickly fades away.
It's like when we are with somebody.
In the beginning we might experience deep sense of happiness but over time that happiness fades away when either we become so attached to them that they leave us or they do something that goes beyond our expectations of what we want from them.
And in the same way we see that when we attach ourselves of the things of the world to make us happy that we're never able to hold on to it for a long time.
Even when we drink alcohol,
When we do drugs we get a momentary hit of happiness but after it wears away we start to become depressed or anxious or sad.
We even have physical body pains when we come down from that momentary happiness.
So that's why Krishna says that material happiness provides pleasure at first but then it turns into poison because the poison of attachment,
The poison of expectation continues to force us to look for other things of this world to make us happy.
But he says spiritual happiness is completely different.
It says it is like poison in the beginning but eventually becomes like nectar.
So why does Krishna say it is like poison in the beginning?
This is because when we first go on the spiritual journey all of the negativity inside of us come up.
All of our limitations,
All of the things that we suppress,
That we've been suppressing not only in this life but in many lives they all come to the surface.
So in the beginning it requires a lot of work,
A lot of strength and faith and consistency to work through these negative qualities.
But once we work through these qualities a beautiful thing happens.
We start to drop from the mind to the heart and we connect to our true self,
That eternal Atma inside of us.
And it is said that the very nature of the Atma is bliss and that bliss is eternal.
So when we connect to that very nature inside of us we access this bliss or this nectar and this bliss is not dependent on anything outside and it's constantly flowing and it is eternal.
And so in that way if we attach ourselves to the things of the world to make us happy we become a slave to the world.
We become dependent on the world and most of the time we don't have control over what happens to us in the world.
Tomorrow we can be hit by a bus,
The day after somebody can cheat on us,
The day after we might get fired.
But when we connect to our true self inside of us it does not matter what happens,
Ups and downs they come and they go.
But we will constantly be in that state of bliss because we understand that this is a world of duality and we've come here to experience it,
The good and the bad.
But in reality we are not this but something eternal.
And in that state even if bad things happen to us we will still be in the bliss of the Atma inside of ourselves.
And this is where all of the great yogis strive to reach,
That state of serenity inside of us.
So with that I hope that you strive towards spiritual happiness and you start to become more and more aware that while it's okay to enjoy the things of this world that we should not be attached to it and that should not be our main motivation.
So with that much love and connect again very soon.
Take care.
