Happiness Is Within

Saints tell us that true happiness comes only from within, when we merge with the Father. Sorrow comes from our separation from the Lord; union with the Lord is the missing link of our existence that eludes us. But how do we come to realize that something is missing in our lives?

Many of us first become restless. Eventually we realize that happiness has little to do with external things. We may have all the luxurious possessions money can buy, a satisfying career, good health, and even a loving family, yet still we feel that something is lacking.

Through the Lord’s grace, we start to search and question what more there is to life, what our purpose is, and why we feel so alone and lost. We start to look below the surface of our possessions, circumstances, and relationships. We want to discover the truth of our existence.

Maharaj Charan Singh tells us that happiness is possible. In Spiritual Perspectives, Vol. I, we read:

No doubt the world is unhappy. We see misery all around us, but we can build our own happiness within ourselves, and then wherever you go you radiate happiness. Happiness is within. It is not in sensual pleasures or anywhere outside. You will never be able to achieve happiness outside…. Unless you let the soul go to its own source, it will never be happy…. So happiness lies in worship of the spirit within and nowhere else.

How to worship the spirit within is what saints teach. Through their grace, we begin to realize that spirituality is something completely different from worldly accomplishments and that it is only through spirituality that we can achieve true happiness. Saints teach us how to refocus our lives for a spiritual purpose. They teach us about the practice and the power of meditation, which allow us to turn our attention inward toward the Lord and to discriminate between the truth of spirituality versus the illusions of worldly life.

Finding a true master is key in this pursuit. The relationship between a disciple and a master is personal and precious. We all want unconditional love from someone we can count on and trust, and we can find that in our relationship with our Master. We soon realize that his love is limitless and is ultimately what motivates us to take the journey inward to meet the Lord. That love awakens in us the realization that we do not belong in this world and that happiness here is an illusion.

Saints enjoin us to test this path. We must resist asking for initiation until we are sure we can commit ourselves to it. If we are fortunate enough to receive Nam, then the journey of a lifetime begins. We are going home. The more we appreciate the journey, the more we understand that it is the purpose of our life. In doing so, we begin to reorient our focus from our outer pursuits to the internal pursuit of self- and God-realization, through our meditation. Now we have an opportunity to commune with the Lord, which is the only thing that can bring us true happiness.

In our worldly lives most of us multitask to get as much done as possible. Our actions and thoughts are so complex, and we often get so busy that we fail to see the bigger picture. The bigger picture is to break free from the endless cycle of birth and death that keeps us trapped here and separates us from the Lord. After initiation, we have only one purpose in life – to go home to the Lord. To do this, we must focus on one single task, that of becoming a true disciple. How do we do that? By following the instructions of our Master.

Rather than multitask, we need to single task, which is to do our meditation, day in and day out as our preparation to die daily. The Master tells us that if we fulfill our duty to him, he will do all the rest. We need to trust that he is guiding us and has our best interests at heart.

We must trust in and surrender to the Lord by obeying our Master. In submitting ourselves to a higher power, we are making a humble appeal to the one who has the power to grant our request to become one with him again. But we have to ask the Lord for the right thing. If we ask him for himself, he will make us one with him. We need to be careful not to get diverted by other desires.

Our journey home is not a free ride. It requires effort. We must find the balance of living in this world without getting bogged down by it. Hazur Maharaj Ji often used to say that we need to build a bridge over the world so that we can walk over it rather than become mired in its sticky depths. We build that bridge by honouring our promise to attend to our meditation every day and living according to the Sant Mat principles. Then everything else will fall into place.

Everything that happens in life has a purpose. Life gets confusing sometimes, and we may wonder why certain things happen to us. But the events in our lives are karmic-burning opportunities, so it really doesn’t matter if we see them as good or bad. They are all part of our karma. Once we balance our karmic account, the world no longer has a hold on us. Then we are free and ready to return to the Lord.

As we embark on our spiritual journey, we begin to learn that happiness partly comes from having the right perspective. We need to put aside our frustration and fear that we can never be happy and never make it to our spiritual home. Everyone has ups and downs, pleasure and pain; ironically, the sorrows and disappointments of the world drive us toward inner happiness. Worldly pursuits and material goods, no matter how glorious, are transitory and empty and can never bring sustainable happiness. Our ability to handle these ups and downs is what allows us to keep our balance and maintain our inner focus, which is ultimately what brings us true happiness.

Happiness is learning to be in sync with our destiny. Being in sync is like finding the last piece of the puzzle to complete the full picture of life. Hazur Maharaj Ji addressed the issue of happiness when he said:

What is happiness? It’s when you have no worry, when you’re relaxed. When are you happy? When you are in the lap of the Beloved. The real happiness can only come when the soul shines and becomes one with the Father. Before that there’s no happiness at all.
_{Spiritual Perspectives, Vol. I}

Happiness and home are within our grasp. They lie within the worship of the spirit, the Lord. He has placed a golden treasure of true happiness within each one of us, and that treasure is just waiting to be revealed as his most precious gift.