OM! SENSUAL PLEASURE & SPIRITUAL BLISS by Swami Sivananda

 

 

SENSUAL PLEASURE AND SPIRITUAL BLISS 

by Swami Sivananda

 

This article is a chapter - Happiness-  from his book "Bliss Divine". 

 

 

"At the doors of large granaries are placed traps containing fried rice (Moori) to catch mice. The mice, attracted by the flavour of the fried rice, forgets the more solid pleasure of tasting the rice inside the granary, and fall into the trap. They are caught therein and killed. Just so is the case with the soul. It stands on the threshold of Divine bliss, which is like millions of the highest worldly pleasures solidified into one; but instead of striving for that bliss, it allows itself to be enticed by the petty pleasures of the world and falls into the trap of Maya, the great illusion, and dies therein".

- Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa

 

INTRODUCTION

Man wants happiness. He shuns pain. He moves heaven and earth to get the happiness he wants from sensual objects, and lo, gets himself entangled in the extricable meshes of Maya. Poor man! He does not know that these objects are perishable and evanescent, finite and conditioned in time, space, and causation. And what is more, he fails to get the desired happiness from them.

Sensual pleasure is tantalizing. There is enchantment so long as man does not possess the objects. The moment he is in possession of the object, the charm vanishes. He finds that he is in entanglement.

The bachelor thinks of his marriage, day and night. He thinks he is in imprisonment after the marriage is over. He is not able to satisfy the extravagant wants of his wife. He wants to run away from the house to forests. The rich but childless man thinks he will be more happy by getting a son, goes on pilgrimage to Ramesvaram and Kasi, and performs various religious ceremonies. But when he gets a child, he feels miserable; the child suffers from epileptic fits and his money is given away to doctors. Even then, there is no cure. This is Mayaic jugglery. The whole world is fraught with temptation.

A SPECTACLE OF SORROW

A worldly man is always drowned in sorrow. He is ever struggling to get something, some money, some power, some position, and so on. He is always anxious as to whether or not he would get it. Even when he is in actual possession of the thing he so passionately longed for, he is very anxious lest he should lose it.

A rich man has great wealth, but he has no children. And so he is pained at heart. A poor man has fourteen children, but he has nothing to eat, and so he is miserable. One man has wealth and children, but his son is a vagabond, and so he is worried. One man has riches and good sons, but his wife is very quarrelsome. No one is happy in this world.

The session judge is very discontented. He thirsts to become a high court judge. The minister is also discontented. He longs to become the premier. A millionaire is discontented; he yearns to become a Croropati (Billionaire). The husband is discontented; his wife is black and thin; he wants to marry another wife with good complexion. The wife is discontented; she want to divorce and marry a rich, young husband. A lean man is discontented; he wants to put on fat and gulps cod-liver oil. A fat man takes antifat pills. No man is contented in this world.

A doctor thinks that the advocate is very happy. The advocate thinks that the businessman is more happy. The businessman thinks that the judge is more happy. The judge thinks that the professor is more happy. No one is happy in this world.

An emperor is not happy. A dictator is not happy. A president of a state is not happy. God Indra is not happy.

Who is happy then ? A sage is happy. A Yogi is happy. He who has controlled his mind is happy.

Happiness comes from peace of mind. Peace of mind comes from a state of mind wherein there are no desires, no Moha, no Vishaya, no thoughts of objects. You should forget all ideas of pleasure before you enter the domain of peace.

PLEASURE IS MIXED WITH PAIN

You cannot have pleasure without pain. Wherever there is pleasure, there is pain. You vainly seek pleasure in gold, in women (or men in the case of women), in this mundane existence. You cannot have absolute happiness in a relative physical plane of pairs of opposites. The pairs of opposites rotate in their turn. Death follows life. Night follows day. Light follows darkness. Pain follows pleasure.

One part of pleasure is mixed with fifteen parts of pain. Pleasure that is mixed with pain, fear and worry is no pleasure at all. If you carefully begin to analyze this one part of pleasure also, it will dwindle into an airy nothing. You will find that it is mere play of the mind.

Pleasure and pain are relative terms only. They are not two entities. They are obverse and reverse sides of the same coin. The difference is not in kind, but in degree only.

Pleasure and pain are two names for one thing. They are two aspects of one thing. For a worldly man without philosophical knowledge, they appear as two different entities.

PLEASURE AND PAIN LIE IN THE MIND

What is pleasure for you is pain for another. What is pleasure for you now is pain after some time. The first two cups of milk gives you pleasure. The third cup induces disgust, nausea and retching. Milk does not give pleasure during fever. Therefore, pleasure is not in the objects, but in the imagination or inclination of the mind.

Pleasure and pain, beauty and ugliness, are all false imaginations of the mind. Mind is a false, illusory product. Conceptions of the mind also must, therefore, be false.

Pleasure and pain are in the mind only. It is subjective. Things, when longed for, are pleasant; but are bitter if not longed for. Desires are the cause for pleasures.

You can convert pleasure into pain and pain into pleasure by thinking, by Bhavana, by imagination. Many vegetarian students who have gone to England to prosecute their studies have become inveterate meat-eaters. Meat was very repulsive to them when they were in India. Mere sight used to induce vomiting. How is it they are able to relish meat with avidity, cupidity and stupidity now ? By simple change in thinking.

Ignorant persons attribute their pleasure to external objects. That is a serious blunder, indeed. Really, there is no pleasure in objects. There is neither pleasure nor pain in objects. It is all mental creation, mental perception, mental jugglery. It is only the mental attitude or a certain kind of mental behaviour towards objects that bring joy or grief, pleasure or pain. Maya has her powerful seat in the imagination of the mind.

When you are in acute agony, a cup of coffee, milk or tea does not give you any pleasure. When you are in acute agony, the whole world which appeared to you to be full of bliss while in good health, appears quite dreary. The world loses all its charms while you are seriously ailing. A real thing must give pleasure for everybody at all times. Is it not ?

PLEASURE IS THE CAUSE OF PAIN

The cause of pain is pleasure. The man who is addicted to taking tea, and is in the habit of taking fruits and milk after meals, feels very miserable when he cannot get tea, or fruits and milk, in a certain place. When the wife dies, the husband is drowned in sorrow, not because of the loss of his loving partner in life, but because he cannot get sexual pleasure now.

The cause of pain is pleasure. The cause of death is love for sensual life. Give up all sensual pleasures, if you do not want pain. Give up sensual life, if you do not want death.

Enjoyment cannot bring satisfaction of desire. On the contrary, it aggravates and intensifies desires and makes the mind more restless through sense-hankering or Trishna, just as the pouring of ghee or oil aggravates fire. The fewer the wants, the greater the happiness.

Many rich persons, in spite of their immense wealth and possession of two or three wives, are extremely miserable and unhappy. I have come in contact with several rich landlords. They are all discontented, restless, peevish and very miserable. It is evident, therefore, that happiness does not lie either in money, objects or woman (or man).

THE SOURCE OF HAPPINESS

There is no happiness at all in any of the objects of the world. There is not an iota of happiness in objects, because they are insentient. Even the sensual pleasure is a reflection of the Atmic bliss only. It is sheer ignorance to think that we derive any pleasure from the sense-objects or from the mind.

When there is a desire in the mind, the mind is filled with Rajas. It is in an agitated condition. It is restless and unpeaceful. It will be restless till the desired object is attained. When the object is attained and enjoyed, when the desire is gratified, the mind moves towards the Inner Soul. It ceases functioning. It is filled with Sattva. All thoughts subside for a split second; the mind rests in the Soul within. The Soul's bliss is reflected in the intellect. But the ignorant man thinks that he is getting the happiness from the object; just as the dog which is biting a dry bone imagines that it is getting the pleasure from the bone, that the blood is oozing from the bone, whereas in reality, the blood comes from its own palate.

REAL HAPPINESS IS WITHIN

Real happiness is within you. It is in the Atman. It is subjective. It manifests when the mind is concentrated. When the Indriyas are withdrawn from the objects outside, when the mind is one-pointed, when there is Vasana-kshya and Manonasa, when you become desireless and thoughtless, Atmic bliss begins to dawn, spiritual Ananda begins to thrill.

The musk is in the navel of the deer, but it runs here and there to smell it. The chain is in the neck of the damsel, but she runs hither and thither in search of it. The precious diamond is within you, but you run after the broken glass-pieces in vain. Even so, the ocean of bliss is within you; the fountain of joy is within you; and yet, you run here and there in search of it. The Sun of suns is ever shining in you, but your blind eyes cannot behold it. The eternal sound is ringing within you, but your deaf ears cannot hear it.

Go wherever you may, to Gulmarg or Pahalgam in Kashmir, to Darjeeling in Simla, to Vienna or the Alps. It is all the same. You will not find any real rest. The charming scenery may soothe the retina for a second. Raga, Dvesha, jealousy, passion and greed are everywhere. You will find the same earth, the same sky, the same air, and the same water. And you carry with you the same mind. Imagination and change of place have deceived not a few. O man! Be contented. Live where you may, but discipline the mind and the senses. Meditate on the Inner self, the Antaratman, ceaselessly. Here you will find everlasting peace. Mind will stop deceiving you now.

Raja Bhartrihari, Raja Gopichand, Lord Buddha deserted kingdom and all pleasurable objects, palaces, music, children, wife, etc., to attain Atmic bliss which is everlasting. They attained immortality. They are not fools. Had there been real happiness in objects, they would have stuck to this world. The difficulty is that the worldly men with gross Vyavaharic Buddhi are not able to understand or comprehend a supersensual spiritual bliss that exists beyond the senses, mind and intellect.

SENSUAL PLEASURE AND SPIRITUAL BLISS

Spiritual bliss is the highest bliss. Spiritual bliss is bliss of one's own Soul. It is transcendental bliss. It is independent of objects. It is continuous, uniform and eternal. It is enjoyed by the sage only.

Sensual pleasure comes out of emotion. But bliss of the Soul is self-delight. It is the innate nature of the Atman. Pleasure is temporal and fleeting. Bliss is eternal and everlasting. Pleasure is mixed with pain. Bliss is unalloyed happiness. Pleasure depends upon nerves, mind and objects. Bliss is independent and self-existent. There is effort in attaining sensual pleasures, but there is no striving in experiencing the bliss of the Soul. The drop joins the ocean. The Jiva floats in the ocean of bliss.

Purify the mind by Japa, Satsanga, charity, control of mind, self-restraint, selfless service, study of the Gita, the Upanishads, Yoga-Vasishtha, Bible, Koran and other religious scriptures, practice of Yama and Niyama, Pranayama, Vairagya and Tyaga. You will then get a proper instrument for meditation, a calm, sharp, subtle, one-pointed mind. Start meditation with the help of this instrument for three hours in the morning and three hours at night. Then a new kind of indescribable Ananda will dawn in you. You will be convinced of a supersensual spiritual bliss. You will have to feel this spiritual Ananda yourself. You will have to eat it yourself. Can you explain the sexual happiness to a boy of twelve ? Can you explain the happiness of sugar-candy to a boy who has not tasted the same ? No, you cannot. The boy himself must eat sugar-candy. He must, when he has grown up, taste the carnal pleasure.

Worldly men think they are quite happy because they get a few ginger biscuits, some money, and a woman. O, if they would just taste the nectar of immortality, what should be the intensity of happiness they should feel!

The body is an abode of misery and disease. Wealth brings a lot of trouble in acquiring and keeping safe. Sorrow springs from every connection. Women (or Men) are a perpetual source of vexation. Alas! people prefer this path of misery to that of spiritual enjoyment.

Enough, enough of your tea and coffee, enough of soda and lemonade, enough of father, mother, son, daughter, brother, sister and relations. You have had countless fathers and mothers, wives and children in the past. You came alone. You will go alone. None will follow you save your own actions. Realize God. All miseries will come to an end.

Though surrounded by pleasurable or painful objects to disturb your equilibrium of mind, remain immovable as a rock, receiving all things with equanimity. Be always cheerful. Laugh and smile. How can a mind that is gloomy and dull think of God ? Try to be happy always. Happiness is your very nature. This is termed cheerfulness. This spirit of cheerfulness must be cultivated by all aspirants.

Keep the mind in state of moderation or happy, golden mean. Never let it run to excesses. People die of shock from extreme depression as well as extreme joy. Do not allow Uddharsha to crop up in the mind. It is excessive merriment. Mind always runs to extremes, either to extreme depression or extreme joy. Extremes meet. Extremes bring about reaction. Mind can never be calm in excessive joy. Let the mind be cheerful, but calm.

This world is a mere appearance. Mind and the senses are deceiving you every moment. You have mistaken pain for pleasure. There is not even an iota of happiness in this sense-universe. Abandon these selfish struggles and schemes for amassing wealth. March directly to that wire-puller who is moving these toys of fleshy human bodies, who is keeping up this big show. In Him only you will find lasting happiness and perennial joy. Merge in Him by practicing daily meditation and japa.

Om! The Question of Happiness by Atman Nityanada

 

The Question of Happiness – Ego & Consciousness by Atman Nityanada

The two fundamental factors or life elements of the human being are Ego and Consciousness.

The ego is the centre of the mind. All activity, functions and formations of the mind and ourselves as body-mind-personality are centred in the ego. Everything revolves around our egoic Identity identified principally with the body and the mind.

Ego is conditioned by the qualities of life, (gunas in Sanskrit, -sattva, rajas, tamas), and because of it, impermanent, limited, and dependent. The ego is essentially desiring and the factor of identifications, projections, imaginations, illusions, separation and dualities.

The ego moves between like-dislike, attraction-repulsion or aversion, pleasure-pain, joy-grief, love-hatred, satisfaction-dissatisfaction, etc. and its lower aspect is the creator of all kinds of misery, pain and suffering, as well as perversions, destructive and self-destructive impulses and tendencies.

Separation, fear, insecurity, dissatisfaction, lack, incompleteness, insufficiency, self-doubt, low self-worth, distress, unhappiness, depression, and uneasiness, all are expressions of the lowest ego itself.

However, the core of our mind and our existence is Consciousness, not the ego.

Consciousness is the source and the foundation from which the body, mind and ego arise, appear, live and dissolve.

Consciousness is the eternal existence from which all forms borrow their existence and upon which all forms exist.

And it is the light that illumines the mind and makes all experiences (sensory and psychological) possible. Without consciousness, there is no experience.

Finally, Consciousness is indestructible, immortal and, by nature, eternally free, whole, peaceful and blissful. Consequently, the only inexhaustible source or foundation of eternal peace and happiness.

Thus, the only way to find and establish ourselves in freedom, peace, bliss and plenitude is to realize that Consciousness is our true and essential Identity and abide firmly in Consciousness through incessant meditation and Self-enquiry and finally through the complete dissolution of the ego.

Our true nature, Consciousness, is indestructible, immortal and, by nature, eternally free, whole, peaceful and blissful. , Thus, the only inexhaustible source or foundation of eternal peace and happiness.

 Peace, Love, Harmony

Om! Do you know this? by Atman Nityananda

Do you know this?

Do you know that happiness does not depend on external objects, conditions and situations?
Do you know that happiness does not depend on sensory experiences and pleasures that happiness has nothing to do with pleasures, sensory experiences and success?
Do you know that happiness always comes from within?
Do you know that happiness is a vibrational state of mind, heart and consciousness?
Do you know that we experience happiness when our mind assumes its sattvic state and we are in contact with our Soul (consciously or unconsciously).

So, if we want to voluntarily experience everlasting happiness (bliss) then we have to cleanse our mind, heart and energy field of all low vibrational conditioning (rajasic and tamasic tendencies and energies)), convert it completely into sattva and consciously connect and establish ourselves in our Soul (silent present of Consciousness, Atman)


“Happiness is experienced when the mind vibrates in sattva and we are in touch with our Soul”

 Peace, Love, Harmony

Om! The Spirituality in essence! - Atman Nityananda

 The Spirituality in essence!

Spirituality is to live in peace, freedom, freedom, wholeness and happiness in conscious union with Being and unity with all and everything.

Plenitude, freedom, peace and bliss is a matter of high vibration and consciousness.

High vibration is acquired by externally contacting and feeding on high vibrations at all levels of our being (physical, energetic, sensory, emotional, emotional, mental, intellectual). 

At the same time, avoiding or neutralizing low vibrations when we come in contact with them and cleansing them. 

Cultivate and develop high vibrations internally through a variety of exercises and conscious contact with our inner Being.

And at the same time avoid cultivating low vibrations and eliminate the causes (egoic tendencies) that cause them.

Consciousness is developed and awakened by ceasing to identify with what we are not and living in conscious contact with our inner Being. A deep, stable connection with Being is the most effective means of raising our vibration.

The repetition of God's name through a mantra is the most effective way to keep our attention and mind on the silent  space of the divine essence within us.

Om! Happiness is a matter of high frequency vibration! - Atman Nityananda

 

 Happiness is a matter of high frequency vibration!

Happiness is a matter of high frequency vibration and not of understanding and knowledge.

And a high vibration depends on purity of mind and heart.

The best way to raise the vibration and purify the mind and heart is through Satsang with enlightened beings, mantra repetition, prayer, discrimination between the Self (Consciousness, Being) and non-Self (mind, ego, body) and non-identification with non-Self and meditation.

Om! Our True Nature is Happiness! - Atman Nityananda

 

Our True Nature is Happiness

We are looking for freedom, eternal life and happiness because we are already these here and now. Our essential or divine nature (Consciousness, Self, Atman) is eternal Existence, freedom, peace and bliss but we have to realize it. Our divine nature is veiled by the Gunas and the impure mind.

Rajas and tamas gunas along with the ego and its innumerable desires and tendencies make us identify with the body and mind and veil our divine Self whose nature is Eternal Existence, Pure Consciousness, Infinite Peace and Bliss. Because of it we live as a body-mind entity separate from life and God, we ignore our true Self which is identical with God and we take the external world as the only reality.

When the mind is freed of all egoic tendencies and from the rajas and tamas gunas we will permanently rest in our natural state of Self-awareness. We will dance with life without being affected anymore by any object or happening. In all circumstances, we will rejoice the peace and bliss of our true Self. We will be an embodiment of peace, love and harmony on earth. All our desires and goals will be fulfilled.

Om! The 'secret' to a fulfilled life! - Atman Nityananda

 

The 'secret' to a fulfilled life

The 'secret' to a plentiful life, a life of harmony, happiness and contentment is to have a sattvic mind and to live in every moment in conscious contact with our true Self (Consciousness).

Whenever we have felt plenitude or a higher happiness (peace-bliss) it has been because, albeit unintentionally, we have come in contact with our true Self (Consciousness) which shines as the silent presence at the center of our existence.

The acceptance of pain the door to true happiness and peace ~ Nisargadatta

The acceptance of pain the door to true happiness and peace

Acceptance of pain takes you much deeper than pleasure does.

The personal self by its very nature is constantly pursuing pleasure and avoiding pain. The ending of this pattern is the ending of the self.

The ending of the self with its desires and fears enables you to return to your real nature, the source of all happiness and peace.

There five means to liberation and highest happiness! by Swami Sivananda

 There five means to liberation and highest happiness!

by Swami Sivananda

There are five means by which perfect tranquillity or emancipation can be attained. These form the highest happiness. 

They are:

1. Satsanga or association with the wise, 

2. discrimination between the real and the unreal, 

3. dispassion, 

4. enquiry of 'Who am I?' and 

5. meditation. 

These are called Heaven. These are religion. These form the highest happiness.

The recipe for true and lasting happiness - Atman Nitynanda

The recipe for true and lasting happiness

The recipe is very simple. A pure-sattvic mind that dwells in the heart where our divine essence constantly shines.

Our essence is timeless, always present here and now, immortal, imperishable, immutable, peaceful, free, full and blissful.

When our mind is immersed in it we experience the bliss that has no limits or dependencies. That is why no one and nothing in the world can steal or take away this happiness.

The thief of happiness is the lower rajasotamsic ego that is ingrained in our psyche. This multifaceted psychological thief creates a veil and prevents us from experiencing and radiating the undying bliss of the Soul.

That is why when we free our mind from the ego, this veil dissipates, the mind becomes pure-sattvic, diaphanous, transparent and lucid, and thus we fully and interruptedly experience and radiate the perrene bliss.

The mind alone is the cause of our happiness or misery ~ Atman Nityananda

The mind alone is the cause of our happiness or misery

Most believe that it is the external conditions (persons, situations, environment, etc.) that prevent us from being happy here and now. So they strive to change the external conditions in order to feel good and happy.

However by focusing on the outside, they cannot comprehend that the obstacle is within them, that the obstacle to experiencing fullness, peace, love,and happiness but also pain and misery is their own mind, their own ego (the lower rajasotamasic ego).

On the one hand, the impure rajasotamasic mind, is anxious, distracted, extroverted, greedy, lustful, greedy, ambitious, fearful, angry, etc., it is a source of pain and misery and an impediment to experiencing the fullness of our Being (Consciousness)

On the other hand, the pure sattvic mind is dispassionate, calm, serene, luminous, harmonious, introspective and well-established source of Consciousness (which is our true nature, our spiritual Self) it is a source of harmony, joy, peace, contentment lasting happiness .

Therefore, the mind alone is the cause of our happiness or misery.

Happiness comes always from within ~ Swami Sivananda

Happiness comes always from within

“Really, there is no pleasure in objects. Atman gives a push to the mind and sets it in motion. A Vritti or thought-wave arises in the mind on account of the force of a Vasana (desire). The mind is agitated and runs towards the particular object. The agitation will not subside till the mind gets the desired object. It will constantly think of the object. It will scheme and plan various methods to achieve the desired object. It will be ever restless. It will be ever assuming the shape of the object. As soon as the object is obtained and enjoyed, the particular Vritti (thought) that was causing agitation in the mind gets dissolved. Vritti-Laya (thought dissolving) takes place. When Vritti-Laya takes place, you get peace and Ananda (bliss, happiness) from the Svarupa or Atman within only and not from the object outside. Ignorant persons attribute their pleasures to external objects. That is a serious blunder, indeed.’

~ Swami Sivananda

The medicine of happiness -

The medicine of happiness

The medicine of happiness is a pure-sattvic mind focused on the center of our being, in conscious contact with our Divine Nature.

Anyone who has a pure-sattvic mind and lives in conscious contact with His Beingness is free from boredom, dissatisfaction, emptiness, loneliness, a sense of something is lacking and every misery and suffering.

We experience these inferior psychological states when in our minds dominated by the tamas and rajas qualities instead of the sattva, when the mind is conditioned, programmed, full of selfish tendencies, when we are identified with the body, mind, ego, its desires (of the ego),  its likes and dislikes.

But it is impossible for them to flourish in a pure-sattvic mind, in a mind that lives constantly in a conscious union with its source, the glorious luminous Consciousness.

ONLY NOW I EXIST - ONLY NOW I CAN BE HAPPY ~ Atman Nityananda

ONLY NOW I EXIST- ONLY NOW I CAN BE HAPPY

We are constantly seeking something more than what is happening here and now, underestimating the value of the present moment which is all that exists. We are seeking the happiness in another place, in another moment, because we do not really know what happiness is. We do not know what happiness is because we do not fully experience what we are.

By seeking some kind of happiness in the future, we underestimate life that is happening only now. We underestimate the present moment and we seek happiness in the future, since we do not see (we do not realize and experience) the happiness that exists within us here and now, the innate happiness of our soul that does not depend on anything, on any external condition. This happiness or better to say this uncaused, uncondiotioned bliss, does not depend on people, on circumastances, on what we have or do not have, or on what we are going to acquire or achieve.

We become beggars of happiness when we are looking for happiness in the future, in a fantasy of the mind, when we depend our happiness on people, experiences, situations, while happiness exists only in the present moment, here and now, inside us, independent of anything outside of us.

Why do you seek to find in other place and time what is inside you here and now? Why do you put preconditions to be happy, while happiness does not require any condition?

Do you know that the preconditions that you put for your happiness blind your eyes and your mind, and so you cannot see the always present happiness that lies in your core of your being here and now?

Life is only now, happiness exists only here and now within us and not outside.

Only now can we experience bliss infinite if we are 100% present, fully aware of our Beingness here and now.

The experience of real happiness (ananda-bliss) ~ Atman Nityananda

The experience of real happiness (ananda-bliss)

Bliss lies always within our heart, it is an attribute of Consciousness, but we do not experience it because our mind is always agitated and extroverted and we are always in a state of emotional turmoil.
We can experience happiness only when the mind is tranquil and rests in our heart. Desires, fears, anger etc. keep the mind always agitated and the prana (vital energy) contracted. This condition is experienced as suffering. 

When a desire is fulfilled the mind becomes for a while calm, concentrated and introverted. In this mental state the mind reflects naturally the happiness of our inner Self or Consciousness. But we do not recognize it because the ego puts a veil in this process. We think that we experience happiness because we got the desired object.

Due to fulfillment of desires we can experience a little happiness but due to desire, attachment and greed we experience a lot of psychological suffering, bondage and separation. We cannot have desires and pleasures without experiencing suffering because all psychological disorders and defects (fear, anger, depression,  jealousy, avarice, pride,etc.) are only modifications of desire. The impulse or the energy of desire has a heavy vibration which is experienced as suffering. More over desires are insatiable and there is no way to be free from the painful impulses of desire if we try always to fulfill them. 

The spiritual way to happiness

On the other hand there is a way to experience the happiness of our true Self within, without to suffer painful consequences. This is the spiritual way. By purification, self-control, discernment, non-attachment, meditation and self-enquiry we can consciously abide always in our heart and experience the bliss of our own existence.

Freedom, peace and bliss is what we really are but the ego and desires cloud our intelligence and we fail to realize it.  

 

Ego is our true enemy and not the objects by themselves. If by intense spiritual practices we eliminate from our psych this psychological virus of ego and desires we can experience always unalloyed bliss, peace and freedom.This is our destiny and our eternal abode.

May God bless you realize your true nature in this very life and be Free for ever! 

Read also:

Peace is the realm of infinite Bliss - Swami Sivananda

HAPPINESS AND FREEDOM ARE OUR CHOICE ~ Atman Nityananda,

HAPPINESS AND FREEDOM ARE OUR CHOICE

Every day we are one more step closer to death (of the body) although death can come at any time.

However it is up to us, to direct our life towards light or darkness.

We have the freedom to choose a life oriented towards light, truth, love and harmony, or a life oriented to the earthly pleasures and achievements.

By choosing the path of light we will finally be freed from the illusions of 'I' and 'mine' and the net of identifications and attachments and we will achieve the conscious union with our Divine nature which implies a life of fullness, peace, bliss and unity with all and everything.

We can make this choice only now, we can walk (practice) the path of light only now as well.

Our core illusion ~ Atman Nityananda

Our core illusion

The ego has been created by lust and desire and its essential nature is desire, and desire is always related to something exterior to ourselves, to something we don't have. We cannot desire what we already have, however we can be afraid to lose what we already posses.

Lust and desire create almost always in us a sense of insufficiency, uneasiness and  incompleteness, that something is needed in order to feel content, fulfilled, worthy and happy.

That's why our ego is always compulsively seeking something in the sensory world, something to possess in order to experience pleasure and satisfaction as well something to fulfill it or make it feel complete and worthy.

Since all sense objects devoid of any reality, are impermanent and perishable and since ego's desiring or seeking is  a compulsive and repetitive addiction,  no matter what we will possess, we will experience and we will achieve, we will always remain at the end with the same painful inner state of emptiness, incompleteness, uneasiness, discontentment, etc.

The seeking of plenitude, happiness, contentment and freedom outside of ourselves, due to non-perception that we already are complete, full, peaceful, blissful and free, it is the core illusion and the womb of all suffering.

WE CANNOT HAVE PLEASURE AND BLISS AT THE SAME TIME. ~ Atman Nityananda

WE CANNOT HAVE PLEASURE AND BLISS AT THE SAME TIME

To be a Zorba and a Buddha at the same time it is just impossible. It is just an imagination of a lusty mind.

Who says that is possible to have pleasures without to be attached and addictive to them and without to suffer just don't believe him. Why?

Because there is no pleasure without lust, desire and passion (it is impossible) and suffering is due to desire and passion. Suffering is inevitable because all kinds of emotional suffering are modifications of desire itself. Selfishness,, anger, jealously, depression, fear, resentment, uneasiness, discontentment, incompleteness, hatred, disappointment, hopelessness, frustration, impatience, loneliness, are all effects of desire and passion.

If someone doesn't accept this, it is because he ignores  how the mind functions, he doesn't really know himself deeply enough.

Moreover it is impossible to experience at the same time the bliss of our true nature (Atman, Consciousness) and the pleasure which is the result of the contact of mind with the sensual objects, plus imagination and projection.

Mind can focus and experience one thing at the moment. So, we can focus the mind within and experience the bliss and peace divine or focus it outside to experience illusory, temporary, fleeting pleasures.

Moreover a mind full of passion and  lust it is dense, obscured, distracted, cloud, dull and cannot reflect clearly and without distraction the peace and Bliss of Consciousness. Only a pure sattvic mind can reflect clearly and without distortions the bliss and the peace of Atman.

Then we must make a choice. What is we want more? Eternal freedom, peace and bliss or fleeting illusory pleasures accompanied inevitably with suffering.

Only if one suffers enough due to an extroverted pleasure-based life it is possible to begin question his way of living and seek something that can be harmonious, sustainable and free from imagination and suffering.

HAPPINESS IS ALWAYS OF THE SOUL. ~ Swami Ktrishnananda

HAPPINESS  IS ALWAYS OF THE SOUL

"Even Sensual happiness (the happiness we experience when we enjoy the desired object), is not something imported from the object outside, but really belongs to the Atman (Soul, Consciousness) within."

Let see why

"When there is the feeling of the possession of a desired object, there is also a temporary cessation of that desire, and the quality of Rajas in the mind which propelled the desire outwardly comes to a cessation. The Rajas having ceased for the time being, there is a quick introversion of the mind and a revelation of the stability of Sattva brought about as a consequence, which occasions a sudden reflection of the Bliss of the Atman within, which makes one happy at the time.

Sensual happiness, therefore, is not something imported from the object outside, but really belongs to the Atman (Soul, Consciousness) within, though, on account of ignorance, the Jiva (individual) does not know that this is the fact. The object merely acts as an outward agent causing a temporary cessation of Rajas in the mind and an accidental manifestation of Sattva, wherein the Atman is reflected perspicaciously.

Thus, it becomes clear that every sensory happiness of the world is ultimately a distorted expression of Brahmananda (Bliss of Brahman).

Yet the mistake here lies in the Jiva’s wrong notion that the happiness has come from the object, and its consequent clinging to the object. It is this clinging that causes the sorrow of the Jiva, and itts transmigratory life is occasioned by its desires due to love for pleasure.

 In this world there are only sense-pleasures of various kinds, but the true Bliss of Brahman is never felt at any time except during the short duration of the interval lying between the cessation of a thought and the rise of another."
~ Swami Krishnananda

Of course the bliss of Brahman(Soul) is experienced permanently and effortlessly in Self-realization! In Self- realization there is complete dissolution of the ego together with all desires and tendencies (vasanas and samaskaras). Thus the mind becomes pure as the Self and reflects perfectly the bliss of the Self.

EGO AND EFFORT ~ Atman Nityananda

Ego and effort*

While the ego is alive in us the identifications will continue to happen mechanically and compulsively because the ego, by its nature, continually causes identifications. The ego lives and perpetuates its existence through identifications and projections.

If we want to dissolve the ego and live free from its mechanical impulses and reactions, it is necessary to be alert and vigilant moment to moment  in order to stop any identification caused by ego and focus our attention and mind in the silence within. We must develop self-awareness and be established in it.

The identification with the ego  (living as the ego) empowers the ego itself, the mechanistic way of living and the suffering; on the contrary living from our center of existence ( by abiding consciously in the inner silence)  breaks the identifications, and brings balance and harmony.  Living awake and in conscious connection with our soul and life we open the doors of joy, peace, love and freedom.

 
We have to choose; What do we want most ? Continue identify with the fandom of ego and experience illusory pleasures mixed with much pain and suffering or live consciously, identified with our essence and experience the peace, joy and freedom of the spirit?

So, either we continue to live asleep identified with the ego and all things  that the ego identifies or, by conscious sincere and systematic effort*, we stop this compulsive egoic functioning and return in conscious communion with our divine essence which is beyond the world, the body, mind and ego!

The effort is necessary until the ego with all its aspects (greed, pride, anger, lealousy, fear, arrogance, lust, desires, vanity, gluttony etc.) dissolve and thus cannot cause any more identification or suffering. When the ego disappears from our psych there is no need for in order any further effort to experience the peace, bliss and freedom of Being.

Note:
Effort or endeavor doesn't mean struggling; Right effort is to do what is needed to be done according to our plan or spiritual program with gentleness, attention and carefulness.

It is true that when we don't know something, we try harder than necessary, but this is normal. It is also possible struggling to happen as long as the ego in us is strong. But if we practice regularly with devotion, interest and attention gradually we will learn to handle properly the practices and the techniques without unnecessary effort and we will manage to calm the egoic reactions without struggling or unecessary effort.