My Happiness part 3 – By Sant Eketarinande Maharaj from Atma Malik Dhyanpeeth India
Real Happiness, from the Mind- Body- Soul perspective. Which of the above three – mind, body and soul, is real? The mind (manas), is ever changing and impermanent in its nature, for it can be happy and exuberant one moment and sad and devastated the very next moment. Muthu is sitting on the couch, and feeling very happy watching his favourite football team score an important goal, and he is even happier when his son shows him his school report card consisting of all As. Just then, the wife comes in and says that she is in love with the ‘hunk’ next door and wants a divorce! Muthu now is devastated and completely shattered and out goes all his happiness of just a moment ago! This is happiness at the mind level, which is not only impermanent but also dependent on external factors. Is this real happiness? Surely is not. Next, coming to the body, and the sensations of the body. Muthu, after a hearty lunch on a hot afternoon, is feeling happy relaxing on his couch in his air conditioned room, having a cold beer and watching his favourite football team, when suddenly there is a power failure. The air conditioning goes off as well as the television, and Muthu starts sweating and becomes restless as he can’t watch the game. He can’t even have a cold beer as the refrigerator is not working. Here we have happiness brought about by the bodily sensations which are dependent on external factors and can change at any time. Is this real Happiness? Surely is not. Looking deeper, into Vedic philosophy, in spirituality, the body is perceived to be divided into another three bodies, which are the gross body (stula sarira), the subtle or astral body (shuksma sarira) and the causal body (karana sarira). These bodies are then further divided into the five sheaths, with the outermost sheath being annamaya kosha (the food sheath), (corresponding to the gross body); pranamaya kosha (energy sheath), Manomaya kosha (mental sheath), and vigyannamaya kosa (intellect sheath), (all these three sheaths corresponding to the subtle body); and finally we have the innermost sheath of anadamaya kosha (bliss sheath),( corresponding to the causal body). Here the anandamaya kosha being the bliss sheath- is the happiness sheath, but as the body itself is maya, and so are all these five sheaths. The nature of the anandamaya kosha itself is of ignorance (avidya), and any happiness derived therefrom is temporary and unreal. But nevertheless, here though the anadamaya kosa is maya, and of the nature of avidya, and unreal, it is the innermost and final thin veil before reaching the center- the Self or Atma. In short, in dhyan, if one can reach the anadamaya kosha stage (which may appear to be the ultimate in some levels of dhyan), one is then said to be at the very threshold of reaching Atma! And here of course, in Atma, one experiences real blissful happiness – anandam (as in Sat-Chit-Ananda). This constitutes real happiness which is eternal and completely independent of external factors and free of our senses and mind. To attain Atma happiness and bliss, one has to rise above and beyond the mind and the senses, and this is what is to be accomplished in Atma dhyan. Meditating on the Atma in your heart, by way of introspection with full faith and love.
With this, we conclude this brief introduction series into the world of My Happiness, and hope all have enjoyed following it.
