Why do we desire happiness?

Every Saint, including Kripaluji Maharaj , and every scripture says that we are a fraction of happiness (anand). That is why we desire happiness. In other words, we can't desire anything other than happiness. Even if we were to practice desiring misery, it would be impossible! We desire everything for happiness, our own happiness. We don’t desire happiness for anyone else.  That is our nature.

However much we desire the world, it's for receiving happiness, our own happiness.  Whoever you love, your love isn’t for his happiness; it’s for your own happiness. We just want our own happiness.  Memorize this one sentence: We desire our own happiness.  'My own' means 'what belongs to me', and 'me' means ‘soul’. We desire the happiness of the soul because the soul is a fraction of God. Who desires?  It's not the soul. It's not the body.  It's not the senses.  It's the mind.  Only the mind desires.

The mind is also called ‘chit’, ‘ego', and ‘intellect’. One mind has four forms: mind, intellect, chit and ego. That mind is such that it can’t stay still even for a second. It remains active. It can’t remain inactive even for a moment. Even while laying in bed to sleep if you think, “I won’t think of anything!” You are thinking this, "I won’t think of anything"!  The mind won’t stop working. Plus, the work it does is only for one aim: “How could I find happiness?”

Now, wherever and however we got the knowledge, whether from our mother, father, brother, sister, neighbor or books, that we would get happiness in a certain way, we followed those teachings. We did only this for uncountable lifetimes. Did you receive happiness by accumulating worldly luxuries? No, you didn't.   If one out of millions truly realized that there is no happiness in this world, then this understanding wouldn't be ‘shmashan’(temporary) knowledge.

When someone’s relative dies and the body is taken to the cremation ground (shmashan), you recite, “Ram nam satya hai” (The name of Ram is the only truth). When you return, you don’t recite it.  Why?  If on the way to the cremation ground your deceased loved one sat up on the funeral bier, you would immediately say, “Hey! Be quiet!” Why? Now Ram’s name isn't the truth anymore.  But your relative just came back to life, so Ram’s name should be even more true.  “No! We don’t recite this phrase now. Someone might die!" You may chant, 'Hare Ram Hare Ram', but don’t ever recite a phrase like, “Ram nam satya hai” at home.  The homeowners will say, “What has happened to him? Has he gone crazy?” Why?  Is the phrase "Ram nam satya hai" wrong?  “It isn't wrong, but saying it out loud is wrong. It's only recited when someone dies.” What a state our intellect is in!

Every single moment since eternity, the mind is trying to attain only happiness. But what is the means for attaining this happiness? Our minds are deciding according to whatever others advise us to do.  If one out of millions correctly understood the nature of the world and rightly concluded there is no happiness in it, it would be because he experienced this very fact thousands of times: That from which we experience happiness, also gives us sorrow.

If you put four spoons of sugar in rasgulla (an Indian sweet), you will taste the same 4 spoons of sweetness in every bite. But it’s not like this in the world.  A mother hugs her child.  She experiences a lot of happiness, but it is limited. She hugs her child a second time.  Her happiness is less. After a third time, it is even less. After fourth time she says, “Son, go and play.”  What is this? Why don't we experience the same happiness as the first time, even a little bit? Kripaluji Maharaj says that we don't understand the reason because we never thought what happiness actually is.

When we interact with anyone or anything for the first time, whether it's with our mother, father, brother, wife, husband or rasgulla, we get the most happiness.  The second time, it is less, the third time, even less, and by the fourth time it is finished. If we understood this, we would proceeds towards spirituality.  In other words, we would want to know how God could be attained.  We come to know this through scriptures and Saints.

True Saints or mahapurush have Divine knowledge, but worldly souls don’t have faith in them. But they do have faith and confidence in God.  So let’s go and ask God: “What is the path to attain You?”  Krishn said, “I have described three paths in the Vedas.  They are karm, gyan and bhakti.” Is God found through these three paths? Determining whether God is found through all three paths, or through two of them, or through only one path is a very difficult task. But we have to do this.

The essence of all the scriptures and the Vedas is the Bhagwatam. So understand this from the Bhagwatam. Shaunak Paramahans asked Sootji a question, “What is the path of spiritual upliftment for the souls?  That path should be such that it could be followed by everyone.  Please tell about such a path.”

Imagine someone has to cross a river.  One way to cross is by swimming. Boatmen cross by swimming. Another way is to walk across a bridge. Another way is to sit in a boat and let the boatman take you across. Which one is the easiest? The easiest is to sit in a boat. You don’t even have to walk. There is also no danger of drowning. Just close your eyes and sleep on the boat. When you reach the other side the boatman will wake you up.

Shaunak Paramhans said, “Sootji, please tell us about such a path, which is very easy to follow and attainable by everyone.” Then Sootji said, “There is just one dharm for everyone.” ‘Dharm’ means that which is worthy of following. What is that? “Devotion to Krishn. There is just one path!”  But Krishn is saying there are three paths. “No, there is only one path.”

Uddhao asked Krishn the very same question, “Maharaj, why were many paths created? Are all these correct or is only one of them correct, and why?”  So Krishn said, “I could be attained only through bhakti.” This means karm and gyan, as well as everything else, is useless without bhakti.

What is ‘karm dharm’?  Different rules have been made in the Ved for a brahman, kshtriya, vaishya, shudra, and brahmcharya, grihasth, vanprasth, sanyas –the four orders and four stages of life. This is called ‘dharm’. The one who follows these rules is called pious (dharmatma), a performer of good actions (karmi) – he has these two names.

But this dharm keeps on changing. A brahmchari, who is celibate up to 25 years of age, is told not to look at a woman’s picture, and up to this point, he didn’t. After that, his Guru told him, “Get married.” “Get married?  Respected Guru, you told me not to even look at the picture of a woman. Now you are telling me to marry?” “Yes. That’s how it is.” He got married, had many children, and led a miserable life. At the age of 50 his Guru came back again and said, “Leave your children. Both you and your wife go to an isolated place and do devotion.”

The man said, “First you got me entangled in the world and now you are telling me to leave it?  How could I leave my children?.  I am attached to them.” Again after 25 years the Guru came and said, “Who is this woman to you?” “She is my wife.” He asked the woman, “Who is this man to you?” “He is my husband.” The Guru said, “There is no such thing as husband or wife. Who is a wife?  Who is a husband? One was born in England, the other in America. You went through a ritual and call yourself husband and wife.  This is just pretending.  Both of you live separately and as a soul form a relationship with God.”