Search for happiness
Whether knowingly or unknowingly, every jeev in this world strives unceasingly for happiness. His quest to find happiness will continue until he attains it.
The word happiness is a synonym of God. You can call that Supreme Being God or happiness, Khuda, Allah, or any other name - these words all have the same meaning.
आनन्दो ब्रह्मेति व्यजानात् ।
ānando brahmeti vyajānāt
Since He himself is happiness, it is not entirely correct to say 'God is the abode of happiness.' For this statement means that God is like a vessel that contains happiness. The vessel and its contents are two different things. The Veda mantra states that happiness is not something different from God that resides in Him. Instead the Vedas says
रसो वै स: ।
raso vai sa: Vedas
"He is happiness."
All the living beings, human, animals, insects, trees, celestial Gods and demons are the inseparable part of God, hence every one naturally strives to attain that happiness.
Every fraction naturally desires for it’s origin and by attaining that becomes complete. Although we do not know, but the other name of that happiness is God. All the following verses assert the same.
अंशो नाना व्यपदेशात् ।
aṁśo nānā vyapadeśāt । Vedanta
ममैवांशो जीवलोके जीवभूतः सनातनः ।
mamaivāṁśo jīvaloke jīvabhūtaḥ sanātanaḥ ।Bhagavad Gītā
ईश्वर अंश जीव अविनाशी, चेतन अमल सहज सुख राशी । रामायण
īśvara aṁśa jīva avināśī, cetana amala sahaja sukha rāśī । rāmāyaṇa
We, the jeev, are searching for happiness since eternity. So far we have not attained it, because we are looking for it in the wrong area. Instead of expending effort to attain God, we are constantly striving to increase our material possessions. These material possessions are things made of Maya. Maya is inert so no material person or thing has even a trace of happiness in them.
We often get transient and illusive gratification of senses from the world. Ignorantly we might even consider it as our own happiness. The Vedas say,
यो वै भूमा तत् सुखम् ।
yo vai bhūmā tat sukham ।
"That happiness which is unlimited and everlasting is truly happiness".
Transitory pleasure of the senses, is not happiness. That is only an illusion of happiness.
Worldly happiness (luxuries) are limited in nature for there always exists greater happiness than that. This keeps us constantly dissatisfied. And whatever worldly happiness we experience it is ridden with tides and ebbs and eventually ceases.
For example, if you hug your mother after a long separation, the first hug gives you the greatest happiness, the second time this happiness diminishes slightly, the third time it diminishes even more and by the fourth time it ends. This is our daily experience.
So there are two flaws in the worldly happiness, first it is limited and second it does not last forever. And we desire for happiness that is unlimited and lasts forever. Such happiness is Shri Krishna.
From this world (earth) to the brahmlok everything is made of Maya. Therefore, the happiness attained from any material object is transient and perishable. To achieve everlasting true happiness, one has to take shelter at the lotus feet of Shri Krishna only.
We do not need to pay anything at all to get the grace of Shri Krishna. All what we have to do is ask earnestly for His grace and He will bestow unlimited, everlasting divine happiness immediately.
However, your request should be sincere, free of all craftiness and deceit. Ask innocently and earnestly just like an infant who is completely surrendered to his mother. The child cries to get all the needs fulfilled. The mother hears the cries and runs towards her child. She takes care of the child according to her own understanding of the child's needs. That is complete surrender.
A worldly mother might misjudge the needs of her child. The omniscient God never misjudges the needs of jeev.
When the jeev has a firm belief that only Shri Krishna can grant the happiness I seek and cries out to Him then Shri Krishna promptly bestows the bliss. Sincerely crying out to Him is all that the jeev needs to do.
Our lack of knowledge has firmly established the misapprehension that, "There is happiness in this world, which I will attain one day."
This belief alone has caused us to be deluded since eternity. For this reason also we do not want to accept that Shri Krishna is the only source of happiness. Frequent and repeated assertion of this knowledge is needed to expel this delusion and inspire your faith in God.
अभ्यास वैराग्याभाम तन्निरोधः ।
अभ्यासेन तु कौन्तेय वैराग्येण च गृह्यते ॥
abhyāsa vairāgyābhāma tannirodhaḥ ।
abhyāsena tu kaunteya vairāgyeṇa ca gr̥hyate ॥
Bhagavad Gītā
"Regular practice may result in faith in God and elimination of delusion, which will create natural detachment from the world."
Thus, eventually the mind will become attached to God and attain happiness. This is also called the Sadhana Bhakti to accomplish the ultimate goal of life - happiness.
An aspirant starts his practice from this point and as the aspirant gets detached from the world proportionately he becomes attached to God. As he practices loving devotional remembrance of God he feels great love and longing for Him.
After this, he reaches a more advance stage of love/devotion called bhav bhakti.
At the completion of this stage, the aspirant's Guru or Spiritual Master infuses divine love (prem) in the heart of the aspirant.
There are seven increasingly sweeter levels of divine bliss. One can reach up to bhavavesh bhakti, very few souls reach the highest level of happiness, mahabhav.
So it is our first and foremost duty to realize the nature of material happiness and keep recalling and pondering on this knowledge. Then start practicing devotion under the guidance of an true Guru, through whose grace the ultimate attainment of true happiness and divine love could be attained.