What's Happiness?

Yesterday I attended a session organized by the Aurora Forum on Happiness. It featured Pico Iyer and Robert Thurman. They were both very eloquent, particularly Pico Iyer. Thurman clearly is a man of great wit and and even greater mind, but the mind was beginning to wander and sometimes he would ramble on.



The focus of the discussion was Happiness and, in the context of the interests of these two men, as defined by the Dalai Lama. But I was intrigued. Even though I had been a student of business history, I had always wondered what true happiness was. The Ashtavakra Samhitas which were exposed to me by the rev Swami Viradananda in the Chicago Vedanta society were my first to some of the deep thought in vedic literature.

I am convinced that True Happiness can never be found. It can only be felt. It is experienced when we dont seek it actively. Being a karma yogi is the first step towards experiencing happiness. A karma Yogi ois one who does his or her duty without being attached to the fruits of their labour. This removes the expectation of reward. True happiness is what we call truth or GOD. The rest is joy, fleeting moments of which give us a sensation of contentment.

However in the modern world is hapiness possible? Where is progress without expectation of reward? The progress is a reward no doubt, but being unattached is the key. The attachment leads to a perception of real progress, in the real world and in a physical sense. But the same attachment leads to lack of control of the baser emotions.

Bhakti Yoga also brings happiness they say. But Bhakti yoga unless in the Meera bai or Goswami Tulsidas tradition can lead to misbegotten behaviour.

However does comfort lead to happiness or lead us away from it? Should humans aspire to comfort and peace of mind or a state of happiness that is really only for the yogis?