Tuesday 28 October 2014

Happiness & Peace

HAPPINESS   and   PEACE


If you ask anyone on this planet, what is the most desired state of being , the answer would invariably be – HAPPINESS. Each one of us want/desire  to be Happy for oneself and for the ones around us. It is the ultimate goal of every one. I think there is no denial in it. So, what is  Happiness  actually means. As per the dictionary meaning , basically it is feeling or emotion of well being experienced by an individual.  As all of us know that different people feel happy for different reasons and at different times. It depends entirely  on the individual concerned. We may feel happy with one thing today and the same thing/situation may bring sorrow the next day. The source of happiness in never a constant. And this source of happiness is always and  invariably from an outside source and not from within. We are not happy with one thing or a situation etc., continuously . It changes constantly. We feel happy , if one’s desire is fulfilled , and then desire for another , and for another and it goes on continuously, just like the waves of the sea. Happiness and suffering alternates each other . Happiness seems to be a mirage. So there is no permanence of happiness in this world. The only permanent thing a being can strive is for Peace , instead of the mirage called  Happiness.

Happiness is not peace, But peace is happiness. But first, lets see , what is peace at an individual level? Peace is a state of stillness, silence or serenity or absence of mental anxiety. It is also a state of being calm from within. In other words, it is the absence of suffering , that we experience , in the pursuit of happiness.   This state of peacefulness or stillness cannot be experienced, depending on the sources outside of oneself. That is dependency on an external factor/source material or more subtle ie., god, guru, rituals, etc., because,  when that external factor is removed , you are back to square one.  

Goutama Buddha has given / shown the way that no one has given/shown before or after till date. For the first time in the world’s history, he taught/showed that deliverance from suffering and attaining peace , must be wrought and fashioned by each one for himself and upon his own actions. Buddha has warned his disciples against shifting the burden to an external agency, a savior, a God, etc., and said that Truth is to be self-realized . Peacefulness can be  attained only through Self-realization. And Self-realization can come only to one, who is free to think out , his own problems, without let or hindrance. Each individual should make appropriate effort and break the shakles of existence by perseverance , self exertion and insight, and not through Prayer and petition to a Super-Being etc.,   

No comments:

Post a Comment