The questioner asks maharaj, why is my experience of happiness so short lived? How to attain permanent happiness? Let’s find out the answers in the wisdom nuggets from Nisargadatta Maharaj. The passages I read are from the book “I AM THAT”.
Good evening everybody. Today, we talk about Nisargadatta Maharaj’s teaching from the book “I am that.” And in this one, the questioner tells Maharaj that he has visited him in the past and he had experienced states of calm wonderful, but they are not lasting.
He complains that these feelings and troubling emotions come and go, so how can he make these feelings of bliss or peace permanent in his mind?
And to that, Maharaj says that the mind itself is characterized by movement. Mind means movement. The only way we can know the mind is through thoughts.
Therefore, the mind cannot make itself stable through its own efforts. If you try to force the mind to stop thinking, then it is a futile exercise. You know, that’s why when you sit in meditation, you easily see yourself wander away to thoughts.
Random thoughts come up, and especially when you’re sitting in meditation, more and more thoughts come up. Your awareness automatically shifts towards these thoughts (that’s called horizontal thinking), and you start getting involved.
But at some point, the involvement gets cut off, and then you come back to your original meditation technique, whatever you’re doing like breathing, chanting mantra, or whatever.
Now, the questioner says that he’s still not happy because happiness for him is not lasting. Whatever he thinks he should do, like have children, run a good business, and other material things, but still, he’s unhappy.
So Maharaj says – I’ll read it from the book.
“True happiness cannot be found in things that change and pass away. Pleasure and pain alternate inexorably. Happiness comes from the SELF and can be found in the SELF only. Find your real self (swarupa), and all else will come with it.”
I AM THAT (Nisargadatta Maharaj)
And this is so true. Once you get a glimpse of your true SELF (the impersonal awareness and not the personal identified self or ego), it dissolves all the questions and confusion.
And when the questions dissolve, the mind becomes sattvic or pure or harmonious (without much movement). The stillness of mind is peace. It is the ultimate happiness.
So, the questioner again probes Maharaj about how this can be done. And Maharaj gives him a small prescription again. You know it’s not to be taken as a method or technique to make the mind still, but it is simply a pointer from Maharaj …
Watch the video above to know more.
