Dr. Shamanthakamani NarendranM.D. (Pead), Ph.D. (Yoga Science)

A sip of coffee thrills us, assorted dishes of our like bring great happiness, an orchestra or a music of our choice brings exotic experience of bliss.

It looks so obvious that happiness is contained in objects of enjoyments.

Can we deny such a simple experiential fact of life?

Seeking Happiness through Objects of Enjoyments

Yes, we have to break this mental block and as true scientists examine this very fundamental assumption which appears to be such an obvious face of our day-to-day experience.

Crisan’s choice was mangoes amongst fruits. He loved them so much that he came in his holidays to India to taste and enjoy assorted varieties of mangoes.

Saleem was peculiar. He hated fruits-mangoes, the worst of it.

Any day he would prefer hot tea if not a chicken fry with strong masala.

Some like sweets and many others would not enjoy sweets, they prefer hot stuff.

Some enjoy soft music but many find it too dull and want the jazz.

Any sense pleasure through the objects of enjoyment is subjective. It depends on the individual.

Often, the dish liked by one set of persons is not at all liked by another group.

This 3-week-long All India Camp was in currency in Kanyakumari.

The group from Maharashtra forming nearly 55% of the 100 strong camp missed their favorite ‘SRIKHAND’ for nearly 15 days.

The organisers heeded, their request and the ‘Srikhand’ was in front of them for the lunch the next day.

All the camp participants were anxious – the Mahastrians to enjoy ‘Srikhand’ and others to find out what that ‘dish’ is.

After minutes of anxious wait, when the Bhojana Mantra was chanted, the ‘go’ was given.

The participants from Maharashtra, Gujarat, etc. were thrilled at the finest ‘Srikhand’ they had ever eaten.

The group from Tamilnadu found it too peculiar for their taste.

Someone in the group just said, ‘Oh, what a nauseating combination of sweetness and sour.’

Yes, he was only voicing the feeling of almost the whole group from Tamilnadu.

The organisers could not swallow the insult of ‘Srikhand’ being thrown to waste by almost all the persons in Tamilnadu.

Happiness through sense pleasures varies from person to person.

What one group likes may not be the choice of another.

It is subjective, thus, our assumption is individualistic and subjective.

Now, let us move one step further in our analysis.

Consider a circumstance in which a ‘dish’, which we like, gives happiness.

Hari was all set for eating his favorite dish ‘LADDU’ at the marriage party of his closest friend Ramu.

His mouth started watering at the very sight of it on the table.

The pull to taste it was intense.

Yet, he had to wait for the ‘green signal’. He started immediately after the ‘go’ came

from Ramu’s father. He bit into the laddu and he was in raptures. He patted Ramu for the wonderful preparation. He took least notice of other items and

consumed laddu to his heart’s content. Ramu now forced Hari to have two more

laddus.

Hari took one with reluctance and the second he had to force it in.

It was too much. By then Ramu’s mother brought from within

two ‘hot’ laddus specially for Hari and dropped them in his plate in spite of Hari’s protest.

Hari just pushed it in – it was almost nauseating.

He almost vomited it! Others enjoyed his fate!

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Number of Repetitions

What about the first sip of drink, bite of a ‘laddu’, exposure of a movie Let us analyze again.

The road from Bangalore to Bannerghatta has been narrow for the latter half distance.

Lorries fully loaded with stones or bricks moved at high speed in this bad road.

Often the drunken drivers drove the vehicles crazily.

A few months ago, lorry was trying to overtake the fully loaded vehicle moving in front of it at 80 kms/hr.

Law of Diminishing Returns

When the driver was about to overtake, the front lorry moved to the right and didn’t allow the lorry to go past him.

The driver of the lorry at the back was furious. Near culvert on the way, the left part of the

road had collapsed leaving just enough space for a lorry to squeeze through.

The front lorry driver could not control his speed and gauge the narrowness in the late evening.

He just hit the culvert and the lorry tumbled to the right.

The driver at the back crashed in from behind. A villager, Tammaiah, crossing the culvert and

four persons from the two lorries died on the spot. Three more got injured. Krishna, a close friend of Tammiah who had just

bid goodbye to him from his shop got shocked at the treacherous accident.

After all the formalities like police investigations were over it was almost morning when Krishna returned home.

His mood was all spoiled. He was struck with great melancholy.

His friend, Gunda, had come from the nearby town with a packet of sweets in his hands.

He was all joy at his successful completion of the matriculation examination.

He liked to share his joy with his good friend Krishna and all his family members.

He knew how Krishna liked sweets. As he entered Krishna’s house, he found Krishna

in a corner and hastened to give him the sweet packet.

Alas, Krishna just pushed it aside! Gunda after coming to know about the accident found the reaction of Krishna quite natural.

It is now clear that even the favorite dish fails to give us the happiness if the mood is spoiled. It is again subjective.

Thus happiness Varies from person to person, Through sense objects diminished with

repetitions and leads to disgust, and Depends on the mood of the person.

Now, we analyze situations without sense objects which bring happiness.

Vadan was all set to participate in the oratory competition.

The competition had assembled in the hall.

There was a fairly big audience.

And the first bite?

While his pulse rate had increased, Vadan’s mind was preoccupied with rushing thoughts-whether I can make a mark, can my talk impress the Judges, will my oration follow fluently, do new ideas get knit into a fine order exploring the subject given, are the Judges impartial or full of vested interested, etc.

The time for his oration took him to the stage. His delivery appeared to stand out, as usual,

amidst many others; yet, he was all anxious. When the result was announced, he was very

happy to secure his award.

Munichooda, a Harijan, was sharp to the core. He won laurels throughout his school and

college days. He had joined a research lab after completing

his doctorate. He was out to unravel the genetic grandeurs of

Nature’s life fabric. Ten years of dedicated work had taken him to

a new thinking line. He got a flash like lightning in the dark sky.

Happiness with no Physical Objects

He knew he had unraveled the mystery of genes. He was all joy and happiness. It took two more years of hard work for him to

prove the theory through proper standard experiments.

In all the above cases, there is no sense object coming in contact with sense organs to bring happiness.

It is no more through a physical contact. It is all at a psychological level. This shows that happiness could well be

perceived even without physical objects.

Thus, the above examples lead us to the conclusion that happiness is not contained in objects of enjoyments.

It is dependent on space, time and atmosphere. It is an inner state. Satisfaction through a winning award or a

word of praise or an act of research accomplishment can trigger us to that state of mind which we reckon as happiness.

Happiness is an Inner State

Amar liked playing. But that afternoon he got a fascinating detective novel from his friend Anand.

He was soon at it. Mother was surprised to see Amar at home in evening.

‘Oh, you are reading the detective nove. Now, I understand why you have not run out’,

his mother remarked as she peeped into the book.

But the remark was almost unheard by Amar. As night came, his mother called him to join for

supper.

Concentration and Thrill

He said, ‘Wait, please wait. I will just finish this page and then join you. You may serve me by then’, and he continued.

Supper was ready and all were waiting. But Amar was in his own world.

Again, mother came and dragged him to the dining room.

Amar, having the book in his hand knew not what he ate.

After a few gulps, he finished and returned to his room.

Normally, he would sleep by 9:30 p.m. But today, even when his mother, retired to bed at 11 p.m. Amar was going strong; he completed the novel and only then he knew it was already 2 a.m. in the morning.

Let us now analyze Amar’s state of mind when deriving that happiness.

It is characterized by a state of concentration coupled with thrill.

It is so absorption coupled with thrill. It is so absorbing, that even the basic pulls in

man like play, hunger and sleep are kept aside.

All distractions have vanished in that state. The mind is full of thoughts relating only to

that subject. The freshness keeps the curiosity alive,

retaining the absorbing concentration. So do the thrills and emotions bring deeper

and fuller concentration. In the case of the movie, the process is the

same. Let us examine again more carefully the

instance sume the dish.

We put the first morsel in the mouth and start eating.

During this act of eating all thoughts unconnected with the process of eating have vanished.

Distractions of the mind have ceased. Only the thoughts connected with the

preparations for eating and tasting the dish exist.

Essentially, this is nothing but concentration.

Consider the cases of psychological pleasures illustrated above.

Even in these cases, it is the thrill and deep concentration, devoid of distractions that appear to characterize the state of happiness.

So it appears that the state of mind representing happiness is characterized by concentration and thrill.

Can we now say that this state of the mind characterized by concentration is happiness?

Let us examine. After long intellectual work, we get tired. If we continue to be in a state of concentration

for longer intervals of time, the happiness never increases; instead, there is strain.

We like to go out and relax. Often we become restless.

Silence = Bliss

We see in the modern world today that many people involved in intellectual pursuits have taken to frequent sips of coffee or smoking if not drinking or drugs to seek an escape from the strain of intellectual exercises.

Though the absence of distractions in concentration has brought the state nearer to happiness, the main stream of thoughts consuming energy causes strain and fatigue.

Hence, we have to infer that even concentration is not the answer to our quest.

Further, it is a well-known experience that thrill drains our energy.

A spell of long thrill results in exhaustion. Repetition of thrill for longer durations no

more increases happiness but leads to the weakening of the senses.

Hence, thrill along with concentration and thrill alone is not the state of happiness.

To understand the mystery of happiness, we now go back to the same example of the ‘dish’ and examine more subtly the process of getting happiness.

Often, we miss the truth due to speed. The whole process occurs so fast that the reality

behind is lost and we grasp only the superficial. The swirling of a lighted stick gives the

impression of a circle of light; the fast cycle of heating and cooling of the filament in an electric bulb no more makes visible the fluctuations of light emanated by the bulb.

When the visaya-vasayee sambhoga occurred, by the eye grasping the expansive vision of the ocean and horizone, the entire thinking process stopped.

A thought-free state resulted. And that is the state of happiness.

This is what happens in all situations which give happiness.

Happiness is a state induced normally, but not necessarily always, by external objects.

This state is a deep experience in which all thoughts vanish.

During the sense enjoyments we experience this state for an extremely small fraction of a second.

If we could dwell on it for longer durations, the bliss multiplies and new layers of the mind unfold themselves.

Herein lies the secret of life, the key to evoke the tremendous potentialities hidden in all of us.

This inner bliss is os large compared to the happiness we derive from external sense objects that the desires for sense enjoyment automatically get reduced.

Here starts the real renunciation. Not only does the burning desires to get more

and more get reduced, but also the usual sense pleasures appear to be too small in comparison to the bliss within.

Then, out system automatically chooses the higher bliss, more lasting bliss.

A new way of life emerges.

Irrespective of what we have or do not have, we live a satisfying, happy life.

That is the YOGA way of life.

The Upanishads, the quintessence of the Vedas, offer us these new insights into the secret of Happiness and Bliss.

YOGA is a science founded in the Upanishads and the Vedas, consisting of various techniques to promote blissful living and helping us to accelerate our evolution towards the goal of human life – eternal BLISS, KNOWLEDGE, FREEDOM, and CREATIVITY.

Hence, we call Yoga a science of HOLISTICLIVING, featured by peace and poise, satisfaction and skill and happiness and harmony.

Individual happiness, fulfillment and eternal bliss, forming an ideal collective life of harmony has been the goal set by Man from times immemorial.

If science and technology have tried to work the materialistic way, the Upanishads worked the spiritual way.

The former has provided man comfort and affluence in the modern era.

Upanishads – The Foundation of Yoga

The Upanishads offer the wisdom for a life of happiness and fulfillment with or without material affluence and comfort .

Yoga, having its roots in the Upanishads, provides techniques for the same.

What is happiness? What is misery?

Happiness or misery is an experience within or is a state of the mind.

The creator has so structured these sense organs that they are outgoing.

They therefore keep going out. But, once awhile, a hero comes on the scene

who turns the tool of investigation inside and discover his Self.

Tapasaa brahma Vijijnaasasva tapo brahmeti

(Taittiriya)

The mind in its non-thinking phase (ground state or rest state) is the base of all creation.

Non-thinking phase is Bliss itself and is our true nature.

Wise men call that the most exalted state where the five sense organs alone with the mind have settled down in quietness whenever the intellect (discriminating faculty) is “not functioning”

Our faith is – ‘We are always thinking, or examining or analyzing or choosing or planning, etc.

We are always contacting the world around us through our sense organs, our mind being closely involved all along.

To say we have a non-thinking phase is unreasonable, very much contrary to experience and nearly preposterous.’

Well-set – objects of enjoyment give us happiness.

A compliment, a word of praise, gives joy.

A good deed, an act of kindness, gives joy.

We are in all these instances, involving or participating.

Sleep – Nidhra – what are we in that state, absolutely free from thoughts.

The thinker, the thought, the thinking process – this unit made up of three components Jnaath, Jnaan, Hneya is called Triputi – has thinned out into the undivided causal state.

Absence of misery cannot be the happiness.

Our five special senses (Jnanendriyas) have much greater energy draining capacities due to their subtlety that the grosser physical instruments of action (Karmendriyas)

Thus, the two streams of investigations of Misery and happiness, and The causal state of the Universe, the manifest

and un manifest, found in the Upanishads, have lead to the conclusions that

4. The non-thinking phase (ground or rest state) is bliss itself.

5. This non-thinking phase is the base of all creations; this state is hence our causal state and true nature.

Does not the fish, lured by the meat hung at the tip of the fisherman’s hook, get caught and die?

Does not the male elephant, lured by the female, walk into the trap and suffer life long imprisonment and toil?

Does not the deer, lured by music, loose its life at the hand of the hunter?

Does not the moth, lured by the light of the lamp, burn to death?

Does not the bee, attracted by the scent of the nectar in the lotus, get trapped in it when the flower closes its petals during sunset?

The desires of the mind, i.e., fame, power and authority over others, anger, and hatred against others, jealousy and revenge!

Like the silkworm, the ignorant man weaves a cocoon of uncontrolled and unlawful desires and habits around him and imprisons himself in it.

It is clear that man suffers because of his undisciplined behavior under the spell of sense gratification.

Desires and habits are the main cause for his rebirth again and again on this mundane plane.