It would be almost precise to say that happiness is one thing we all live for. I’ve now been a philosopher/thinker (self proclaimed :P) since probably, umm, class eighth. Around that time I had the privilege of being in the company of one of the best friends I have ever had, and thanks to destiny, when children of our age were probably in front of TV sets and teenagers busy in eve teasing, we were mapping Marine Drive up and down round and round, trying to unfold the mysteries of human life.
It took me a good 4 years I guess to get to this basic point, the statement I opened this blog with. I guess it was ought to come some day, probably it came to me a little earlier than others, probably later… But the timing wasn’t important. The conclusion was!
Well, the conclusion was very nice for a few months, because being happy was easy back then. Actually, as far as I recall, I didn’t knew what unhappiness meant till 10th. There were moments which were low, but surprisingly, nothing could shake you back then! Everything was momentary, a cricket match, a board result, a street fight, a bad day, everything! Not a father’s death though, and then I started learning what permanence is, and how much it matters.
Then permanence gained prominence! It was almost a shocker, something I really had tough time coping up with. Permanence was desired, in career, in love, in freedom, in finances, in security… the word unfolded the true, outside world, something that you see only when you go beyond parental love. And permanence demanded planning, it demanded sacrifices, it gave responsibilities. But it came with a beautiful promise, a promise of perpetual happiness and comfort. And the offer was attractive, so I fell for it!
Today, I come back to the basic question. Happiness we all desire, happiness we want perennially, but how do we get it? Seven years of everything show no correlation between happiness and permanence! Everything, yes I literally mean everything!
Career successes! Music! Movies! Booze! Philosophy! School! Fun trips! Good friends! Leisure times! Techfest! Internship! Bandstand!
So, back to square one! Seven years of experimentation showed no correlation of happiness with permanence, with security, with hard work, with relations, with creativity, nothing at all! Time to rethink? What options do we have anyways:
- Happiness can’t be permanent?
- Accept cycles of happiness and sadness, and be happy whenever you can be :P.
- Happiness is no ultimate aim, neutrality (shunyata) is!!
Can someone help, other than the Buddha himself !!!!
1 comment:
when i was li'l kid,
my father had said one day that happiness is a state of mind..
and whenever i used to get sad (quite often) i used to remember what my dad had said and used to get happy instantly just by changing state of my mind.
but as i grew up..i realized..the level of complexity has incresed beyond my mind to control the state of my mind..
do we make ourselves complicated or is it a natural process?? i fail to understand!!
good blog!!
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