Search for Happiness

1. Ananda mayo bhasayat (Vedanta sutra), by nature everybody is a pleasure seeker. It includes everyone, all species, all 2. Definition of anand “Yovai bhuma tat sukham” which is 1) unlimited in nature and 2) stays forever. MH is limited and temporary. 3. Maslo hierarchy needs based on the concept of happiness. 4. Happiness is of two types 1. Material happiness 2. Spiritual happiness. 5. MH, is all about eating,sleeping,sex life and Defending.(that too with struggle),try but don’t cry. 6. All 8.4 million species are running after it. Satisfaction of the senses.EX. garlanding a venomous snake for it coolness, senses are like snakes,their satisfaction is harmful in along run. 7. MH is based on the the influence of the 3 modes of material nature. 8. Pleasure of being in ignorance – intoxication, sleep,cheating,stealing,harming others a. Based on charvak philosophy,eat drik and be merry, no life afterwards 9. Pleasure of being in passion – success,winning,influence, power,dreams,familyetc.

10. Pleasure of being in goodness – satisfaction, responsibility,peace,philanthrophy 11. MH is mixed with pain, competition, and temporary, frustration, stressful, limited and not guarantees the satisfaction. Ex.Arjuna thought battle will not make him happy in anyways, EX. MH is Comparative, doctor is happy where as you are in pain, SH is real happiness. 12. MH is like mrig trishna,MH will come by itself as miseries come(1.5.18),MH is like a drop in an ocean, it can hardly satisfy us(great arrangement but no happiness 7.9.43) 13. SH or transcendental happiness is of two types 1 Brahmananda 2 Premanamda 14. SH is concerned with the integral nature of the soul, happiness of the soul 15. Comparative happiness of 14 planetary systems, good quality material happiness lies as a result of Vedic yajnas.

16. Search for happiness where it lies. Ex. search the key where it fell. 17. Examples of great people sufferings… Md. Ali, Christopher Reed(Superman), Stephen Hawkins 18. Ocean of birth, disease, old age and death, where is the question of happiness 19. 3 miseries, adi devik(higher powers,devas), adibhautik(other jivas),and adhytmik(mind and soul) 20. People find pleasure in hiding thing, make ups, fashions, ones should solve the problem and not hide it Ex. Fish out of water can never be happy 21. Happiness lies in serving, but whom? Ans: Supreme lord, factually happiness lies in obeying the lord. Act according to superior advice for higher happiness. 22. Happiness is with Krishna. You can take it by force, can’t steal it, can ask (cry) for it.

Search for happiness and the total universe
All living creatures are making a great endeavor, struggling, to attain real everlasting happiness. However, as the Vedas explain, worldly things cannot give us happiness. Regardless of the position a person may hold, he or she remains unfulfilled. Even if one is wealthy, young, beautiful, educated, famous and influential, he still looks for something more to make him happy. Even the presidents and prime ministers of great nations remain unsatisfied. Throughout history it has been revealed that rich and powerful persons, like Napoleon and the kings and queens of England, France and Germany, were deeply unhappy despite their seemingly advantageous positions. In modern times, we can see this in the lives of Princess Diana and Bill Clinton, to name a few.

The little happiness we receive in this world is momentary and mixed with suffering. It is not continuous and eternal, nor is it complete and pure. From the lowest material planet to the highest, there are so many types of misery and no real eternal happiness. No soul identifying with a material body can be happy. This human life is meant for finding a way out of the prison of this body, which is destined to grow old and die. We want to be happy by satisfying our material bodies, but old age very quickly overtakes us and we lament. The material happiness we receive is not really happiness; it is condensed misery. We do not understand that the soul, which is different from the body and mind, is spiritual, eternal, and full of knowledge and bliss. We can therefore only be truly satisfied by that which is also spiritual, eternal, and full of knowledge and bliss – the Supreme Personality of Godhead and our loving relationship with Him. Nowadays we are making many inventions and discoveries in areas such as medicine, transportation and comm

unication. We can easily travel from one side of the world to the other in just a few hours. By sitting in our living room we can see what is happening on the other side of the world. We can watch cricket being played in Australia or India and we can see the President of America speaking in the White House in Washington. And, if a person’s eyes are defective, surgeons can repair them with parts of eyes taken from a dead body. However, despite these and other advances, people are suffering more than ever before. We are still not able to prevent old age and death; and we cannot prevent war and terrorism, or the spread of disease. New diseases continue to appear.

The advances in science and technology have not brought us happiness. Rather, we have become more fearful, materialistic and greedy. Why is modern science failing us? The reason is that it is not, in fact, very developed. Scientists cannot see the soul, which has a transcendental form; and they cannot even see the mind, which is material. We think that we are very advanced due to developments in technology, but all we have done is increase the needs of the material body and neglect the Needs of the soul. We do not care to love the Supreme Lord, and thus we do not have any real love and affection for each other. We trust our dogs and cats more than we trust our families and friends. Husbands and wives do not remain together and divorce is common. Parents reject their children and children reject their parents. Almost everyone is interested only in gratifying his own body and mind. Persons who want to control the endless chain of birth, disease, old age and death can learn to do so from the ancient Vedic culture. Studying modern scientific knowledge will not help. When scientific knowledge develops to a more sophisticated level, people may finally be able to control old age and death. But to attain this level, modern society must learn, from our Vedic culture. So, primarily we can say, Happiness (2 types)

Material

Gross and subtle levels

Spiritual

Happiness

Maslo hierarchy of needs

QUOTES

Prem- anand
(costitutional)
Brahmanand, escapism

What the material scholars say about happiness
Joy can be real only if people look upon their life as a service, and have a definite object in life outside themselves and their personal happiness. ….Leo Tolstoy Hope is itself a species of happiness, and perhaps, the chief happiness which this world affords. …Samuel Johnson Most people are about as happy as they make up their minds to be. – Abraham Lincoln

My life has no purpose, no direction, no aim, no meaning, and yet I’m happy. I can’t figure it out. What am I doing right? – Charles Schulz What everyone wants from life is continuous and genuine happiness. – Baruch Spinoza The basic thing is that everyone wants happiness, no one wants suffering. And happiness mainly comes from our own attitude, rather than from external factors. If your own mental attitude is correct, even if you remain in a hostile atmosphere, you feel happy. – Tenzin Gyatso, 14th Dalai Lama Happiness cannot be traveled to, owned, earned, worn or consumed. Happiness is the spiritual experience of living every minute with love, grace and gratitude.

– Denis Waitley Happiness comes when your work and words are of benefit to yourself and others. – Buddha If only we’d stop trying to be happy we’d have a pretty good time. – Edith Wharton Success is not the key to happiness. Happiness is the key to success. If you love what you are doing, you will be successful. – Albert Schweitzer It’s pretty hard to tell what does bring happiness. Poverty an’ wealth have both failed. – Kin Hubbard Happiness is nothing more than a good health and a bad memory.

If we see happiness how do they define?
The most important is that we should go for the best and try to gain prerequisite required for it. That we understand what is available and what we should choose. And inspire others also to go for it, so that the society remain peaceful

Nature inflicts threefold misery on us. The threefold misery are: (a) Miseries pertaining to “Atma” or the body and the mind such as heat, cold, diseases, sorrows, losses, invalidity, hunger, thirst, old age, death, etc. (b) Miseries pertaining to the “Bhuta” or other entities such as troubles inflicted by enemies, animals, insects, etc., and (c) Miseries pertaining to the disturbances by the “Devas” or the controlling gods such as famine, flood, war, pestilence, cyclone, earthquake etc. Main miseries : JANMA(birth), MRITU(Death) JARA (old age), VAYADHI(disease)

Ill effects of science
Science gives us temporary solution and many ill effects, like 1) Pollution, global warming, disappearance of the beauty of nature.2) Congestion of population.3) Accidents are a frequent occurrences nowadays.4) Nuclear and atom bombs have destroyed lakhs of lives.5) Bad effects of medicines.5) in the wars weapons are used which has affected our relationships with other human beings.

COMPARITIVE HAPPINESS IN THE MATERIAL WORLD
Successful Human being – 100 times manushya Gandharva loka Manushya gandharva loka – devi gandharva loka Devi gandharva loka – 100 times pittarloka Pittar loka – 100 ajana deva loka
Ajana deva loka – 100 karma deva loka
Karma deva loka – 100 deva loka
Deva loka – 100 times Indra

Indra – 100 brihaspathloka
Brihaspati – 100 prajapati loka
Prajapati – Brahmaloka
Brahma loka- 100 times Brahmananda
Brahmanand- million times Premananda

Verses
BG 8.15 After attaining Me, the great souls, who are yogis in devotion, never return to this temporary world, which is full of miseries, because they have attained the highest perfection. BG 13.9 the perception of the evil of birth, death, old age and disease; BG2.51 By thus engaging in devotional service to the Lord, great sages or devotees free themselves from the results of work in the material world. In this way they become free from the cycle of birth and death and attain the state beyond all miseries [by going back to Godhead] SB 2.2.27 In that planet of Satyaloka, there is neither bereavement, nor old age nor death. There is no pain of any kind, and therefore there are no anxieties, save that sometimes, due to consciousness, there is a feeling of compassion for those unaware of the process of devotional service, who are subjected to unsurpassable miseries in the material world SB 3.5.40 O Father, O Lord, O Personality of Godhead, the living entities in the material world can never have any happiness because they are overwhelmed by the three kinds of miseries.

Therefore they take shelter of the shade of Your lotus feet, which are full of knowledge, and we also thus take shelter of them. SB 4.23.28 Any person who engages himself within this material world in performing activities that necessitate great struggle, and who, after obtaining a human form of life—which is a chance to attain liberation from miseries—undertakes the difficult tasks of furtive activities, must be considered to be cheated and envious of his own self. 5.5.7 Even though one may be very learned and wise, he is mad if he does not understand that the endeavor for sense gratification is a useless waste of time.

Being forgetful of his own interest, he tries to be happy in the material world, centering his interests around his home, Which is based on sexual intercourse and which brings him all kinds of material miseries? In this way one is no better than a foolish animal 5.14.33 In this material world, when the conditioned soul forgets his relationship with the Supreme Personality of Godhead and does not care for Krishna consciousness, he simply engages in different types of mischievous and sinful activities. He is then subjected to the threefold miseries, and, out of fear of the elephant of death, he falls into the darkness found in a mountain cave SB 5.14.38 The path of this material world is full of material miseries and various troubles disturb the conditioned souls. Sometimes he loses, and sometimes he gains. In either case, the path is full of danger.

Sometimes the conditioned soul is separated from his father by death or other circumstances. Leaving him aside he gradually becomes attached to others, such as his children. In this way, the conditioned soul is sometimes illusioned and afraid. Sometimes he cries loudly out of fear. Sometimes he is happy maintaining his family, and sometimes he is overjoyed and sings melodiously. In this way he becomes entangled and forgets his separation from the Supreme Personality of Godhead since time immemorial. Thus he traverses the dangerous path of material existence, and on this path he is not at all happy. Those who are self-realized simply take shelter of the Supreme Personality of Godhead in order to get out of this dangerous material existence. Without accepting the devotional path, one cannot get out of the clutches of material existence. The conclusion is that no one can be happy in material life.

One must take to KRISHNA consciousness. SB 6.15.25 The living entity in the bodily conception of life is absorbed in the body, which is a combination of the physical elements, the five senses for gathering knowledge, and the five senses of action, along with the mind. Through the mind the living entity suffers three kinds of tribulations—adhibhautika, adhidaivika and adhyätmika. Therefore this body is a source of all miseries SB 7.5.31 Persons who are strongly entrapped by the consciousness of enjoying material life, and who have therefore accepted as their leader or guru a similar blind man attached to external sense objects, cannot understand that the goal of life is to return home, back to Godhead, and engage in the service of Lord Vishnu. As blind men guided by another blind man miss the right path and fall into a ditch, materially attached men led by another materially attached man are bound by the ropes of fruitive labor, which are made of very strong cords, and they continue again and again in materialistic life, suffering the threefold misery.

SB 7.6.14 One who is too attached cannot understand that he is wasting his valuable life for the maintenance of his family. He also fails to understand that the purpose of human life, a life suitable for realization of the Absolute Truth, is being imperceptibly spoiled. However, he is very cleverly attentive to seeing that not a single farthing is lost by mismanagement. Thus Although an attached person in material existence always suffers from threefold misery, he does not develop distaste for the way of material existence. SB 7.9.17 O great one, O Supreme Lord, because of combination with pleasing and displeasing circumstances and because of separation from them, one is placed in a most regrettable position, within heavenly or hellish planets, as if burning in a fire of lamentation. Although there are many remedies by which to get out of miserable life, any such remedies in the material world are more miserable than the miseries themselves.

Therefore I think that the only remedy is to engage in your service. Kindly instruct me in such service SB 7.13.28 In this way the conditioned soul living within the body forgets his self-interest because he identifies himself with the body. Because the body is material, his natural tendency is to be attracted by the varieties of the material world. Thus the living entity suffers the miseries of material existence SB 10.14.22 Therefore this entire universe, which like a dream is by nature unreal, nevertheless appears real, and thus it covers one’s consciousness and assails one with repeated miseries. This universe appears real because it is manifested by the potency of illusion emanating from You, whose unlimited transcendental forms are full of eternal happiness and knowledge SB 10.14.58

For those who have accepted the boat of the lotus feet of the Lord, who is the shelter of the cosmic manifestation and is famous as Murari, the enemy of the Mura demon, the ocean of the material world is like the water contained in a calf’s hoof-print. Their goal is param padam, Vaikuntha, the place where there are no material miseries, not the place where there is danger at every step. SB 12.4.40 For a person who is suffering in the fire of countless miseries and who desires to cross the insurmountable ocean of material existence, there is no suitable boat except that of cultivating devotion to the transcendental taste for the narrations of the Supreme Personality of Godhead’s pastimes. CC MADHYA 20.102 “Who am I? Why do the threefold miseries always give me trouble? If I do not know this, how can I be benefited?

CC MADHYA 20.114 “‘O King, the kñetra-jïa-çakti is the living entity. Although he has the facility to live in either the material or the spiritual world, he suffers the threefold miseries of material existence because he is influenced by the avidyä [nescience] potency, which covers his constitutional position. Cc Madhya 22.13 “Due to his being opposed to Krishna consciousness, the conditioned soul is punished by the witch of the external energy, mäyä. He is thus ready to suffer the threefold miseries—miseries brought about by the body and mind, the inimical behavior of other living entities and natural disturbances caused by the demigods. ahara-nidra-bhaya-maithunam ca samanam etat pasubhir naranam

dharmo hi tesam adhiko viseso
dharmena hina pasubhir samanm.
Eating, sleeping, sex, and defense—these four principles are common to both human beings and animals. The distinction between human life and animal life is that a man can search after God but an animal cannot. That is the difference. Therefore a man without that urge for searching after God is no better than an animal(mahabharat Bhisma parva) Secret/ learning We should engage all energies in attaining the spiritual happiness and not the material pleasures which will deceive us at the end, so be careful in as what type of happiness you are going after.