B eing Calm and Happy

 

 

 

 

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B

 eing Calm and Happy

 

Jeffery  Howard  Archer,  the  iconic  British  author,  has written  more  than  thirty  novels, books  and  essays, besides writing  speeches  for  Margaret  Thatcher  and  John  Major, former Prime Ministers of England. However, the celebrated author had his moment of infamy when he was imprisoned for four years on charges of fraudulent practices, transgression, misdemeanour and acts of perjury.

He loves the game of cricket and admires Virat Kohli, the current Indian cricket captain, expecting him to surpass Sachin Tendulkar’s monumental tally. Only time will tell. Can we be assured that all the above-mentioned people are in a calm and happy frame of mind? Can they perpetually and everlastingly remain gleeful and beaming? Perhaps ‘no’ would be an obvious answer.

Kane  and Abel  is Jeffery Archer’s priceless trophy. It is the only novel of a living author in recorded history to run into a hundred editions. An incredible feat and a moment of triumph!

Let us contrast him with the much-acclaimed Pulitzer winning American author, Harper Lee. She wrote To Kill a Mockingbird, for which she was awarded the estimable prize.

 

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This novel, too, ran into a hundred editions, but unfortunately reached this milestone after the author’s death.

She wrote one more novel titled Go Set a Watchman, published on July 14th 2015. Interestingly and ironically, the publishers had asked Harper Lee to pen To Kill a Mockingbird aeons before her second novel, which was the original draft of To Kill a Mockingbird, hit the stands. Despite acquiring fame at a relatively young age she lived a life of anonymity and was a recluse all her life. Strange are the twists of fate. One served a prison term and the other cocooned herself.

Did the latter maintain jollity and calm; is Jeffery Archer blithe and joyous? On a subterranean level, one can presume that though To Kill a Mockingbird deals with issues pertaining to rape and racism, there are several nuggets of humour and warmth in the novel. Therefore, the author was not entirely unhappy. But the tenor of Go Set a Watchman is a more complex and repressed, and deals with a psychic conflict. Was Harper Lee an unhappy person because of certain events she witnessed in her neighbourhood at the tender age of ten? Or is Jeffery Archer more cheery and radiant in comparison with Harper Lee?

Such are the vicissitudes of life, where strangely a sequel becomes the prequel. Life too is full of synodic curves where there is no perpetual state of achievement and happiness or joy.

Therefore, one is intrigued to dissect: are happiness and calmness transitory states of mind and are they inextricably interlinked with gloom-ridden thoughts and misadventures in life.

H.H. Sri Sri Ravi Shankar in his aphorism states that, “Opposite values are complementary.”

As per the esoteric Upanishads:

 

26 | Make the mind Mt. Kailasa

 

Ishhasyamidam sarvam yatkinch jagatyam jagat

Tain tyaktain bhunjitha ma gridah kasya svid dhanam

This implies whatever exists in the universe is associated and intrinsically related with the divinity of almighty God. Keeping God and divinity with the self, enjoy existence with abandon. Do not get attached to the mundane.To whom can the worldly treasures belong?

In essence, an individual can revel in, luxuriate and relish physical possessions provided one is not attached, addicted, or dependent upon them. Dependence will only trigger misery and eventually the person would remain unhappy.

Man, since time immemorial has always attempted to banish antipathetic thoughts and adopt efficacious thoughts to be happy, calm and contented. Quietening the mind to remain happy and calm appears to be an arduous task. Happiness needs to be distinguished from pleasure. Pleasures are like electric currents.These are transitory and ephemeral in nature, whereas happiness is a buoyant state, more robust and enduring. For happiness to ensure calm and tranquillity depends on the state of the human mind. Happiness and calm increase our level of prana and energy and encompass our beings, spreading joy all around like a positive aura.

It needs to be appreciated that only an aerobicized mind and body can blossom. If the mind is rigid and immutable it can never be peaceful, happy or calm. To attain a perfect state of health, an individual needs to be mentally calm, steady and emotionally tender. This state of health emanates from the inner core of our being and manifests to the outward self, destroying all false glass ceilings.

Such a state in Sanskrit has been termed as swathya. It embodies both physical and mental health and significantly

 

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connects with the cosmic consciousness or cosmic mind. Erudite scholars even term this as Indra.

Humans act as the biggest impediment in achieving a state of equanimity. In the Mahabharata war, Arjuna’s mind became fuzzy and foggy as he could not distinguish his relatives from adversaries. These Sisyphean and nugatory thoughts were annihilated by Lord Krishna by revealing his Vishwaroopa Darshan.

He displayed that Narayana alone was the creator and destructor of negative attributes and beings. Therefore, unflinching surrender to the Lord banishes destructive thoughts whereby an individual can be truly happy, tranquil, joyous and calm.

Answers to these questions cannot be quantified, but only appreciated through experience and experiential feelings.

The lives of Jeffrey Archer and Harper Lee were highly contrasting in nature. Both celebrated authors were shackled in prisons of their own creation. Is Jeffrey Archer calm and happy with the material success he has obtained despite the ignominy he faced? Or Harper Lee, who did not produce prodigious work; did she attain happiness and calmness in her solitude? This is a paradoxical situation, which the former can perhaps answer but the latter has taken this secret to the grave.