O best of the Bharatas, now please hear from Me about the three kinds of happiness which the conditioned soul enjoys, and by which he sometimes comes to the end of all distress. That which in the beginning may be just like poison but at the end is just like nectar and which awakens one to self-realization is said to be happiness in the mode of goodness.
That happiness which is derived from contact of the senses with their objects and which appears like nectar at first but poison at the end is said to be of the nature of passion.
And that happiness which is blind to self-realization, which is delusion from beginning to end and which arises from sleep, laziness and illusion is said to be of the nature of ignorance.
From the above one can deduce that "as is the state of the mind so is the nature of one's happiness." Thus, seeking happiness from another person (or mind) will fail. Bhagavan tells us about the Dull, the Passionate, and the Good mind.
To the Dull mind, living in an utterly deluded world of make-believe is happiness. He lives in an artificial state of bliss.The constancy because of which a foolish man does not abandon anger, violence, fear, grief, depression, lust, possessiveness, egoism, and also arrogance and conceit, that fortitude, O Partha. is Tamasic
(Dull).
To the rajasic nature of mind, happiness consists of sensations and excitements - at first it is like nectar, but in the end it becomes poison. The fortitude, O Arjuna, by which one holds fast to duty, pleasure and wealth, from attachment and craving for the fruits-of-action, that fortitude, O Partha, is rajasic (Passionate) .
For the Good or sattvic state of mind, the happiness is like poison at first then like nectar at the end. When the happiness is unconscious then it results in a condition of bliss. Bliss is not of the mind, but in the supreme state of unconsciousness the experience of bliss comes. One is detached from that which appears to be poison. The man of sattvic quality is detached in the midst of favorable conditions of life and so in the end he is supremely happy. It is happiness born of detachment and not dependent on another human being.
Seeking happiness from others results in disappointment and unhappiness. Cultivate and nurture the sattvic state of mind that will lead to Eternal Happiness - the happiness that endures, not the one that decays in the process of time or is dependent on the whims and fancies of others..
How can we develop this Sattvic state of mind? One has to return to the original rather than the acquired nature of the mind. We must observe the mind by conducting an inquiry into the processes of the mind that would enable us to see how we have built up an acquired nature due to which we are caught up in the Para-dharna and have lost sight of the Svadharma.
To become aware of the acquired nature is to start the process of being free from it. To discover one's original nature is to be initiated into a new dimension of living, a revolutionary event in the journey of life. By the Grace of Bhagavan, I will have a another post on this topic in the next day or two.
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