Happiness at hand

Happiness at hand: What is happiness and how one can have it? Mahavira had this to say: “Fight with yourself, why fight with external lives? He who has overcome self will obtain happiness.” We need to have a prayer room for meditation. To make room, we need to move things out, to clear space. It’s as hard to experience joy if our lives are crowded or cluttered, as it  is to find space in a closet for new clothes when we hold on to all our old ones what needs to go. Here is Sri Aurobindo saying: “Happiness comes from the ’soul’s satisfaction, not from the vitals or body’s satisfaction.” Relax! Let’s not be in an all-the-time-busy mode that  propels us to fill every minute with doing or accomplishing. Even on a break, one feels some strange internal pressure to go somewhere, do something, as if staying home and resting isn’t a legitimate way to spend one’s downtime. Looking after everyone’s needs but one's own is sadly elevated in most cultures to a virtue. In this context: “Strength is happiness. In weakness and cowardice, there is no happiness”, holds Daisaker Ikeda. Resentments, even tiny ones occupy a huge space; and they swell in volume. Left unresolved, resentment has the power to become all consuming, and is very effective at fuelling bitterness and anger. Worrying about is clearly beyond our control. Let's repeat the prayer: “God grant me serenity to accept the things I cannot change, courage to change the things I can, and wisdom to know the difference.” Blaming others edges out our capacity for joy. Blaming ourselves does much the same. The thing with blame is that it comes with blinkers that are hard to remove. Grumbling is a biggie. In addition to taking up space, it creates toxic fumes! And this can kill appreciation for blessings that come our way. There are a lot of negative tendencies, but when joy takes up residence, the unhelpful tendencies can be edged out and made to loosen their hold on our lives.