By Kamlesh “Daaji” Patel
What do we want from life? The most common answers are happiness, contentment and love. But what brings happiness, contentment and love? Perhaps it is a wonderful relationship or a great career, contented children or a comfortable lifestyle. Yet even if you have all these, without inner peace and calm you will never be happy. Things like success, family life, money, friends, pleasure, possessions, etc. bring joy in day-to-day life, but they can become futile in the absence of peace; when they are gone, the happiness disappears. This is the real question to ponder; how do you remain internally happy no matter what changes outside?
The German philosopher Schopenhauer defined happiness as the complete satisfaction of all desires. Using this definition, the happiness of a person can be defined mathematically:
Happiness =
Number of desires fulfilled
Total number of desires
Work the number. If you have ten desires and five are fulfilled, you have 50 percent happiness. If ten are fulfilled, you have 100 percent happiness. Given this formula, the more desires you have, the harder to fulfill them and the less happy you are. Happiness is inversely related to the number of desires. When you have no desires at all, the denominator becomes zero. Anything divided by zero is indeterminate. With zero desires, happiness is limitless, and there is no expectation.
This means happiness all starts with desires. When desires are not fulfilled, there is a disappointment. Disappointment leads to anger; anger leads to losing balance; losing balance leads to fear; eventually we lose our humanness.
In day-to-day life, things are either favorable or not. When the results are favorable, we are happy; when they are not favorable, we are disturbed. But real happiness is when we are happy under all circumstances, and this will only happen when we minimize our desires, so that we feel, “Whatever happens, I am happy.” Heartfulness Cleaning is one approach to living a happier life. It supports the removal of mental complexities and impurities at the end of each day, loosening the pull of desires and making us happier.
To be clear, no one can live without any desires. It is how we associate our desires with emotions that make the difference. For example, children need toys for their development, but this can lead to the desire for more and more toys; food is necessary for existence, but desire-based eating can lead to eating disorders and obesity; romance is natural for young people, but when older people still flirt then it is counterproductive at many levels—physical, mental, emotional and spiritual. So even at different ages, the level of emotional maturity will affect how we manifest desires.
It is natural to have the desire to marry the right person, have a good family life, succeed in a career, work in a good environment, and have a good education. If the desire is channeled into aspiration and self-improvement, then it is evolutionary. Conversely, when desire or undue enticement drags us down into a whirlpool of pleasure-seeking that heaviness is the consequence. When the desire is aspirational it leads to “becoming” and “being,” rather than “getting” and “possessing.”
So how do we solve the riddle of living with desires and not letting them affect us? There is no easy answer, but a state of contentment is cultivated in us when we meditate. We train our minds to have aspirational desires without getting carried away with the pulls and pushes of “haves” and “have-nots.” The key lies in the state of contentment. When there is a totality of involvement without pride or arrogance, there is joy and contentment.
About Kamlesh D. Patel
Kamlesh D. Patel is an original voice in an ancient tradition. Known to many as Daaji, his teachings on Heartfulness Meditation arise from his personal experience while reflecting his deep spirit of enquiry and respect for the world’s great spiritual traditions and scientific advancements. This post was inspired by the international spiritual guide, Kamlesh “Daaji” Patel’s upcoming book, Designing Destiny (Hay House, September 10, 2019). The book offers a simple, scientific approach to expand our consciousness, realize our full human potential, and live a purposeful life.
Learn more: www.heartfulness.org
