Every human being in this world wants to be happy. But what is happiness? It is evolving from a state of pleasure that is momentary to a state of peace. Peace is not something you need to find; it is within.
We just have to still the mind, but we human beings don’t know how to do this. Even if we do, we are often unable to accomplish it. We are caught in thought and are slaves to our MIND—Misery, Ignorance, Negativity and Desires.
Human beings desire happiness and chase after it. Like a shadow, the more one pursues happiness, the further it recedes. It is only when a person realises that happiness has three peaks—achievement, fulfillment, and enlightenment—that they initiate a spiritual journey.
Spirituality is the realisation that we are not the body, mind, and ego that suffer. It is the realisation that we are the divine SOUL (Spark Of Unique Life) that emerges from the Supreme Immortal Power (SIP), which we all call God, and merges back into it after the death of the body. No matter how fulfilling it is, spirituality is not an easy subject to study, understand, and most importantly, realise and live by.
Most people find their path in spirituality when they try to discover their purpose in life. Spirituality is all about asking the two most important questions of life—‘Who am I?’ and ‘Why am I here?’ As long as we don’t start our spiritual journey and initiate the quest for discovering the true purpose and meaning of life, we will continue to equate happiness with pleasure. At most, we may aim to achieve peace in life, but we will never be able to be fully at peace because the stress and anxiety caused by the pleasure that comes from success and achievement will have wiped out all our peace of mind.
Where does happiness intersect with purpose and spirituality? It is only when one takes an exit from the highway of achievement, moves away from pleasure to find the real treasure, and realises that the foundation of happiness is peace, that one learns to live a life of contentment and fulfillment. One must stop zooming on the highway of achievement and take the exit towards fulfillment in life. That will bring peace.
Taking an exit from a journey filled with successes and achievements towards fulfillment also initiates one on the path of spirituality to discover the purpose of life. Unless one is initiated into the path of spirituality, one will not be spiritually awakened and enlightened to be liberated from the triple suffering of the body, mind and ego. One will not realise the truth about birth, life, death, karma and happiness.
Only spirituality, self-realisation, and God-realisation can help us attain liberation from all the misery on this earth and freedom from the cycle of rebirth. When there is realisation, there will be no reincarnation, for the realisation of the truth leads to liberation, salvation, moksha or nirvana. It is sad that we, as human beings, live as the mind and experience fear, worry, stress, anxiety, regret, shame and guilt.
We are slaves of our ego that creates the monsters of anger, hatred, jealousy, pride, greed and selfishness. When we realise ‘I am the Soul and not the body, mind, and ego that suffers,’ we attain freedom from all misery and pain because it is the body that suffers. We may feel physical pain, but having realised our true self, the pain will not cause suffering in us.
We would accept circumstances as they are and choose to be happy in the moment. When we attain self-realisation, we don't have to suffer repeatedly. When happiness is placed in its rightful place in life, one evolves to the third peak of Enlightenment and finds the purpose of life.
When happiness intersects with spirituality, one reaches a state of eternal bliss and truth consciousness known as Sat-Chit-Ananda (truth-consciousness-bliss). When one experiences the state of Sat-Chit-Ananda, they experience eternal happiness, bliss, peace and everlasting joy. In this state, one does not experience suffering and sorrow.
One enjoys the present moment without shuttling between yesterday and tomorrow. They realise that they are the divine spirit, the divine SOUL, and a manifestation of God, the Supreme Energy. The journey of spirituality reveals the purpose of life and, therefore, takes happiness to its ultimate peak, Enlightenment.
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