Chapter 2 - Self Unfoldment - Happiness
What is Happiness ? On the contrary, how do we treat unhappiness ? are both important questions to internal spiritual progress and personal progress.
The book suggests that all sorrow come from two reasons. First is the revulsion to sorrow, and the second is yearning for joy. These two issues are important. Furthermore, the book defines that happiness is a state of mind. There is also an equation that we define happiness by:
Happiness = Number of desires fulfilled/number of desires entertained.
When the number of desires entertained is very little, and the number of desires fulfilled is large the happiness quotient is higher. Lets remember that this does not mean that a person minimize desires. We will learn later that desires are a function of vasanas. We just cannot avoid them. However, we must remember that there are two kinds of desires; (a) selfish desire and (b) unselfish desires. Unselfish desires have the quality of lifting up our vision and thoughts. So in the denominator, we focus on the number of unselfish desires entertained. When the desires are unselfish, they have the opportunity to calm the mind substantially. Let us consider examples - Gandhi, who led a very simple life, desired to make India independent, to lift the country out of occupation from foreign powers. Such a desire is so unselfish that it can often not just lift one's vision, but also vision of other people around them.
In the corporate world, think of Bill Gates, who articulated the idea of a computer for every household. Such goals are very uplifting in helping not oneself but many others.
It is self gratification that has the characteristic of lower value for each additional unit. For example, eating ice-cream is a self-gratification exercise. While it is not a bad thing to eat a good ice cream, consistently eating it can reduce the value and joy from the ice-cream. So self gratification often has to be in moderation.
Now let us connect the idea of unlimited happiness to Karma yoga. Krishna famously said in Gita Chapter 2, Verse 47
How do we connect this to the theory of happiness ?
The book suggests that all sorrow come from two reasons. First is the revulsion to sorrow, and the second is yearning for joy. These two issues are important. Furthermore, the book defines that happiness is a state of mind. There is also an equation that we define happiness by:
Happiness = Number of desires fulfilled/number of desires entertained.
When the number of desires entertained is very little, and the number of desires fulfilled is large the happiness quotient is higher. Lets remember that this does not mean that a person minimize desires. We will learn later that desires are a function of vasanas. We just cannot avoid them. However, we must remember that there are two kinds of desires; (a) selfish desire and (b) unselfish desires. Unselfish desires have the quality of lifting up our vision and thoughts. So in the denominator, we focus on the number of unselfish desires entertained. When the desires are unselfish, they have the opportunity to calm the mind substantially. Let us consider examples - Gandhi, who led a very simple life, desired to make India independent, to lift the country out of occupation from foreign powers. Such a desire is so unselfish that it can often not just lift one's vision, but also vision of other people around them.
In the corporate world, think of Bill Gates, who articulated the idea of a computer for every household. Such goals are very uplifting in helping not oneself but many others.
It is self gratification that has the characteristic of lower value for each additional unit. For example, eating ice-cream is a self-gratification exercise. While it is not a bad thing to eat a good ice cream, consistently eating it can reduce the value and joy from the ice-cream. So self gratification often has to be in moderation.
Now let us connect the idea of unlimited happiness to Karma yoga. Krishna famously said in Gita Chapter 2, Verse 47
कर्मण्येवाधिकारस्ते मा फलेषु कदाचन।
मा कर्मफलहेतुर्भूर्मा ते सङ्गोऽस्त्वकर्मणि॥
The translation results in:
You have the right to work onlybut never to its fruits.
Let not the fruits of action be your motive, nor let your attachment be to inaction.
Let not the fruits of action be your motive, nor let your attachment be to inaction.
Source: http://www.swamivivekanandaquotes.org/2014/05/bhagavad-gita-chapter-2-verse-47.html
How do we connect this to the theory of happiness ?
The key here is to understand that most selfish desires often come with the burden of enjoying the results. It is an inescapable act of selfish desires. In contrast, unselfish desires dont come with the burden of results, because you do not feel the burden of the desires. The second idea here is that when desires are selfish, whether they succeed or not, create a cycle of more desires. For example, making 100 million dollars for just becoming a star in the society, that "stardom" can become an unending obsession. We have all seen such people. This can cause deep unhappiness over the long run.
Finally, unselfish desires dont create self attribution, or increase ahamkara "the I-ness." That I-ness is detrimental to the spiritual progress and understanding the fundamental question of "Who we are" -- the last one is a concept that is not quite straight forward, but an important component of Karma Yoga.
Overall, despite the equation, one needs to realize that we cannot avoid the desires, so one has to only manage the desires in the right way.
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