Just around the corner

Aug 19, 2010, 12.00am IST
Jaya Row.

Swami Rama Tirtha said, "If you are not happy as you are, where you are, you will never be happy." Yet everyone is waiting to change one or two things in life to be happy.
You suffer from the JATC syndrome – you believe that happiness is Just Around The Corner! You achieve that one thing and another comes in its place. This goes on all your life.

You can choose to be happy in the worst of circumstances or be miserable with the best. Happiness is a state of mind. When the mind is tranquil, you are happy. However, you are in a constant state of unrest that arises from a feeling of inadequacy. Vedanta helps you change focus to your abundance. When you do that you will be grateful for the bounty. Then the few things you do not have will cease to bother you.

The mind gets turbulent when it is full of unfulfilled desires. You carelessly entertain desires without realising the havoc they cause and the sorrow they breed. All religions warn against the perils of unabashed pursuit of desire. When desire mounts to levels that are no longer sustainable by legal and ethical means people cross the line and enter destructive behaviour.

Vedanta gives a unique formula for happiness. Happiness is the number of desires fulfilled divided by the desires harboured. You are in the mindless pursuit of fulfilling desires, focussing on the numerator. This will never make you happy. As you fulfil a desire more pop up. The denominator increases, reducing your happiness. Instead shift your attention to the denominator. As you reduce desires your happiness increases. Eradicate desires and you reach infinite happiness.

The first step to eradicating desire is to ask: Is it in your interest? Is the desire in line with your life's goal? If yes, fulfil the desire. If not, press the delete button. The next step is to reduce desires by upgrading them. A mother willingly sacrifices her desire for chocolate when her child enjoys it. A student keen on a PhD gives up pleasures as well as the safe haven of her home to venture into unknown terrain. When you are inspired with the spiritual goal all desires fade away.

At times you may be happy but that happiness is dependent on everything around you being just right. Vedanta promises happiness completely independent of the world. The world is unpredictable, is constantly changing and is a mix of pairs of opposites.

Inner enrichment is inversely proportional to dependence on the world. A spiritually evolved person needs little from the world to be happy but has the capacity to command the resources of the world. He may need only a one-bedroom modest home but has a luxury penthouse apartment. He may be happy commuting by public transport but has a high-end car at his disposal. The surplus he has over his needs puts him in heaven. A less evolved person needs much more from the world. Ironically he lacks the capability to gain them. There is a huge gap between his needs and his income which makes life hellish.
Vedanta helps in two ways. It helps leverage your talent and energies to attain success and prosperity. It also develops you spiritually by which your dependence on the world reduces. You are in bliss!