HAPPY PEOPLE
The promos of an upcoming television serial
were being aired incessantly by a TV channel. The plot seemed to revolve around
a young girl hailing from a family of bureaucrats, jurists, and police
officers, among others, who merely wished to be ‘happy’. Her academic
performance was way below par, verging on failure. When confronted about her
future plans by an unsettled family, she retorted by saying that her only
desire in life was to be ‘simply happy’.
A
person assumes the human form and arrives on planet Earth. He or she grows up,
gets educated, then the family and the individual in question are in pursuit of
a high-ranking job.
On
securing the job the person is married off into as pretentious a family as
possible and soon begets children. Surely enough, he plans for the upbringing
of the off-spring, their future….
This
perennial cycle continues in an undisturbed manner. Whenever questioned as to
when he/she would choose to be happy, the answer is that upon the successful
completion of the next task or event in the sequence, he/she would unfailingly
find time to seek happiness.
Contrast
this with the emotions of a child, who is happy every moment, be it the prattle
or jibber-jabber, winking at the mother or devouring a piece of chocolate with
relish. The child is in the present moment and with gay abandon enjoys every
moment of life. That is why it is surmised to be childlike and not childish in
your approach to life. Childlike attitude symbolizes innocence, while being
childish signifies arrogance.
A Zen Master would be often accompanied by
his pet dog on his evening stroll. The Master would throw a stick and point to
it for the dog to fetch, which it did routinely. One evening the Master invited
his brightest tutee to join him. The student, was always doleful and
gloom-ridden. He was confronted with what he perceived to be contradictions in
the teachings of Buddhist doctrine.
The teacher compassionately explained that
words are mere signposts and symbols for the seeker. They should not act as a
road block in the spiritual progress and happiness of the student. To
illustrate the point, the Master asked the dog to fetch the moon shining in the
sky. The dog merely looked at the Master’s finger, and the teacher explained
that the spiritual progress and happiness of the canine was limited to certain
symbols, whereas the mentee needed to transcend the symbols, and discover the
eternal truth, which is nothing but happiness.
To
be in a cheery state, an individual should eschew misery from his cognitive
framework of mind.
Humans
who wish to be happy should share their moments of happiness and joy and not
their woebegone moments. By the law of nature and the universe, happiness would
grow manifold. Sharing gloom only magnifies despondency among the individual
and people surrounding him. Over time, he would become a loner, lost and
friendless.
Individuals
as a habit realize that negative moments in life are infinitesimal in
comparison with the problems confronting the world. And say by undertaking acts
of service, people can overcome their gloom-ridden moments. Enlightened Masters
emphasize that performing service transforms our inner self, which deepens the
quality of meditation. And meditation leads to contentment and increased joy.
It
is important for individuals to take full responsibility for their actions and
inaction too. Taking up responsibility empowers us and ignites the spark of
happiness and joy and remain happy.
“Happiness
is when what you think, what you say, and what you do are in harmony,” rightly
said the Mahatma
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