Chapter 11 - Complete Happiness
Day 56
Nurture a seed. We sow good seeds in a field, and on their own weeds grow with them. What does a farmer do? He removes the weeds. Only when weeds are pulled out will a crop be good.
Similarly, we have different types of seeds : seeds of happiness, seeds of pleasure, seeds of sadness, seeds of contentment and seeds of
discontentment.
“Bijavadhanam” means to nurture the seeds. If you have weeds, remove them. You have
seeds of peace, tranquility, pleasantness and love, and if they are not growing well, then water them and ensure that they grow.
Do sadhana so that this happens. Sit and be absorbed in the happiness in your heart.
Sit down and soak yourself in the happiness that is experienced by your heart.
When we are doing some activity and happiness comes, we are not able to appreciate it. When we are happy and rest, that rest helps us feel the happiness.
Otherwise life is spent just desiring happiness. In life, there have been moments of happiness, but we have not appreciated them. Unless you really appreciate happiness, there will not be contentment in life.
That is why the sutra says sit in a comfortable position where you can have rest and learn to forget yourself. There is a verse of the poetess saint Akka Mahadevi who was a devotee of Lord Shiva.
It says : "You do not accept flowers from those whose bodies do not melt. You do not accept offerings of sandal and rice from those whose minds do not melt."
What does "melting of the body" mean? When we are happy, we do not worry about anybody. Suppose you are sitting in a theatre watching a movie, you do not feel pain in your legs, but you feel stiff only after the movie ends, and you stand up.
You were sitting there for three hours, but only became aware of the pain after the movie ended. Even someone with arthritis does not experience pain as long as he is engrossed in a movie.
One forgets about the body. This is what is meant by "melting of the body." Why do people even have a desire for happiness? It is because they want to be immersed in their own nature.
That is why we desire for happiness. Those who are absorbed in their own nature do not desire happiness. They know happiness is their own nature. Where will those who are seated find happiness?
They will find it in their own hearts, in the ocean of their minds. They will bathe in happiness. Happiness appears to come from the outside, but it actually originates from inside. The external object is just a spark.
We feel that this or that object makes us happy, but real happiness comes from within, from the heart. When we are in our heart, we experience happiness. People in Bangalore have a desire to see the Himalayas and Kashmir.
When they visit Shimla, they dream of staying there because of the snow-capped mountains. They think it is so beautiful. But the people who stay there permanently want to go to Bombay, they are fed up with the weather in their hometown. We feel so happy going to Srinagar.
Go to nearby Ooty, are the people there happy? They feel resigned to their fate and stay there, shivering in the cold. They feel Bangalore is better. Why is happiness felt during times of transformation.
What actually happens during times of change? The mind lets go of one object and leaps to a different object, but has not yet fully grasped onto it. The mind feels happy during this transition period, this time in-between attachments.
After a few days, once the mind gets accustomed to the new feeling, it will not find happiness there either. Observe any happiness. Why does it happen?
The mind gets absorbed in itself in between two objects, you can experience this when you. Discover the happiness that lies in the heart. The mind can be bound by any object or by any thought.
This is very important for spiritual knowledge. Take an object that is dear to you and think about it, when you purposefully think this way, worry leaves you.
The object leaves you. The mind quiets down, and a wave rises up in the heart. Whenever you experience love or happiness in life, have you observed what happens? A wave, a vibration, courses throughout the body.
This experience is very special, but what happens? Instead of observing the sensation, we latch onto the object. When you hold onto an object or thing, you face misery, and the experience disappears.
Observe the experience. And with attention, the seed will grow strong. Then, whatever you do, you will do it happily. Whether sitting, walking, smiling, bathing or taking food, it will bring you happiness.
No matter what you do, this happiness will never leave. The peak of life is this Shivatattva. We sing a song in satsang that says, "the one who is filled with happiness". This happiness comes to us as an experience.
