Finding Sustainable Happiness
Every living creature wants to be happy. And to be happy, people seek something: money or power, but often even after getting it, they are not happy. Or happiness is very short-lived. A child thinks he will be happy once he goes to college. Once in college, he thinks he will be happy when he starts earning. Then he thinks he will be happy once he is married. And the story goes on but that special day never comes!
You postpone your happiness until some perfect day in the future, but it never arrives. It's like making a bed all night but having no time to sleep. Creation wants to see you happy, yet you keep on postponing your happiness.
"Happiness is when you want nothing, and you want to give. Where the wanting and desires end, and the sharing begin, happiness is exactly there. Memory is not happiness. When you are happy, you forget everything."
Three Levels of Happiness
In this world, there is always a play of positive and negative. Some problems come, some challenges come, and solutions also follow them. In ancient times, people would simply focus on keeping their energy high. If your energy is high then you not only can manage your life but also help other people solve their problems. What generally happens when people talk to you about their problems? You get steeped into their issues and get carried away with their emotions. Instead, just try this - Let everybody come and complain about 100 things to you but you simply keep your energy high and your mind inwards as though nothing has happened. You will realize that there is a freedom within you, the joy of being unaffected by external disturbances.
This joy and happiness come in different forms. You can experience happiness at three levels:
#1 Happiness in society and the environment
This is what everybody thinks happiness is - having happy situations. And it is natural! How would you feel in a place where everybody around you thinks only about himself or herself? Would you like to be in such a group where there is no sharing, no sense of belongingness, and no happiness? So being happy in your environment is the first kind of happiness.
#2 Happiness of the Mind
When one accepts things and moves in knowledge then the happiness of the mind happens. Sometimes everybody around you is happy and you are serving others also, but you are not happy in your mind; there is no fulfillment. Dedication to a cause brings the second level of happiness.
#3 Happiness of the Soul
The third level is the happiness of the soul. This level of happiness happens when the soul is united with the Divine. When the soul is united with the entire cosmos then there is total happiness. When there is no duality, no two, when you are in deep meditation, then you experience this innermost joy.