Happiness in our Modern AGE

Happiness is seen today in many things as you can see below:

May it is a birth, event, family, holiday, some event, a birthday, etc. You name it, it is also on the list. But all that things, have one thing in common. The joy goes and comes. It is like kind of the day and night time. Both change on and on without a stop.
That means not, that this joy is bad. In fact, we need it to understand our nature to a certain degree.
Like the information in a book can only become true knowledge if we experience it, or what we call freedom, what it exactly is, we have to experience it.
Only then does it become experienced knowledge.

For example, you taste a strawberry. If I never taste a strawberry and I ask you, how it tastes, you will say, it tastes sweet. I will say, like sugar? then you say, no, different. I will ask many questions, but in the end, you will say, just try and eat one, then you know what I mean. So, we have to experience it. Therefore, also we have to experience Happiness and freedom, with a special set of values, so we can clearly grasp the meaning of those words, as experienced knowledge. The Vedas are these guides that state those Values.

How do we perceive something? Through the senses, which are sustained by the mind. So that means, we interpret something, on the basis of our values. In Yoga (A Helpbook of the Vedas) it is also said, the withdrawing of the senses is called pratyahara. We got five senses, so also it is often referenced to a turtle.  Like the 5 limbs of a turtle.

That doesn't mean you have to close your eyes etc to withdraw your senses. When a neighbour cooks something delicious, you smell it, but your nose is still in your face and not in the neighbour's kitchen.

So the withdrawal would be here, not to run after all sense pleasure. Instead, think about what makes sense. You can't run after anything. You would also get exhausted. So we have to decide what makes sense. Also, if you run after anything, you make with anything there is some relation. Remember, things/experiences/relationships/ people are not always available. So you place your happiness on a ground that is not stable.

You can taste in this wonderful creation Maya (i.e. what makes seemingly the impossible possible, later to this more) many fruits. Fruits can be here all kinds of experiences (relationships with something/ a person/ etc). Like you can eat many fruits/food as you see below, they all have their own taste and special flavour.

But remember, all these fruits have a certain smell, taste and leave some impression. So this impression is stored in the smrti/memory, which is like a big storehouse in the mind. You can relate to this experience then to your other experiences. Like you cutting onions in the kitchen, wash your hands, but still, later in the afternoon you still smell the onions on your hands. You might forget at the moment, why your hand smells like this, but like fruits eaten in an earlier life imprint some trace in the mind, so also the onions do on the hands.

 So remember, normally today in society, we relate to things for our happiness.
We have a mindset and think about what is important to us, and we get happy through something. Normally when I will ask you the question, "Are you happy?" you will answer yes or no. If I ask further why you are happy or not, you say because if X, Y, Z I am happy or unhappy.

At least, people talk daily about how they are feeling good or bad because of the weather!

So today's happiness is looked at, as a relation to something. In other words, we define ourselves as Happy regarding Things, People and experiences.

Practical in a conversation it looks like this:

Today in society one is related happy for example, when he got a house, a nice car and a family.

Now think. A relation means it can change. When we let's say relate to like above external things for happiness, it will be a hard game. Because These things are part of the visible world and you have only a specific amount of control over things, how they behave because as a jiva, you are limited.

Then you would not have control over the state when you are or not are happy. Life becomes more a game, chasing things you like and running away from things you don't like. So you are living in a constant fear, of what will happen next. Instead of Act, you react. The control of your life is taken by randomly external factors.

Think: Is it better to be free from unneccessary relations or to gather them in life?

When you feel good, your body and mind complex is relaxed. if you are stressed, you can't enjoy life, moreover, your body is in constant flight or fight action.
So it would be then the best, not to remove all obstacles in life, but rather to put on a nice pair of shoes, to overcome all obstacles and deal with them.
Deal with the obstacles on which basis? You don't relate yourself to the obstacles, you relate your skills and capacity to daily living and master your destiny. Like Arjuna did for example in the Bhagavad Gita.

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