Happiness Here

My purpose here is to present two philosophies around the notion of happiness here. My purpose is not to state which is superior or “right” because I don’t know. This is FYI.

In last few decades, some spiritual practices have been in vogue that focus on manifesting happiness here. Practitioner on such a path is exhorted to heal and break from the past, bring greater awareness to the present moment, to exert greater control over choice of partners/professions/lifestyle and break from social expectations and pressures around the same. There are several exercises that one can do to move on from the past as well as to tailor-order desire from the Universe for the future. What kind of career is suitable for your personality? What kind of partner do you seek? How do you want to live? Once, the practitioner is clear about his/her preferences, there are guides on how to manifest them. Inner balancing, correction and opening up to the Universe’s bounty is encouraged.

The central premise is that happiness is possible in its perfect state in this lifetime. Some of the apriori assumptions are:

1. Western science is founded on the belief there are laws that govern forces of nature. Laws are repetitive occurrences that follow a predictable path. This tendency to seek laws extended to social sciences in the various theories that predict human behaviour. It is also to be remembered that the laws have emerged from within Euro-American societies that have been proved culturally to have low uncertainty tolerance and search for ways to decrease ambiguity. Thusmuch of laws that have appeared in the social sciences field have been oriented to managing human behaviour/relationships outcome. Managing is a way of having greater control of a situation. It is interesting to note that the same has seeped into the spiritual realm. We now seek laws to predict human destinies and use it to manage our futures.


2. Mainstream Abrahamic religions hold that we have only one life—the here and now. This here and now philosophy has percolated in many a social science theory and management practices. It grounds the development of Euro-American philosophies. For example, scholars have noted similarity of treatise on deconstruction between 20th century philosopher Derrida and 14th century Buddhist teacher Nagarjuna. But one of the important deviations is if the trace is only from this lifetime or do they carry over from other lifetimes. Happiness in this life holds to the belief there is but this life.


3. Happiness is constituted as the “I” feeling satisfied and fulfilled with career, partner, and lifestyle. In a sense, inner happiness that finds its success in how the world outside is ordered and the way in which person expresses him/herself in the world. Thus if a person lands a dream job, a dream partner and lives a dream life, the person is considered to be successful in manifestingand drawing happiness into life. Frithjof Schuon had written about two forms of knowledge—the outward-moving exoteric and the inward-moving esoteric and that some esoterism is actually an extension of the exoteric. This approach qualifies as the later.

Such practices are not New Age. They existed within all religions for all ages, albeit in a ritualistic form. Within Hindu religions, fasting for Santoshi Maa, trekking to see Lord Venkateshwara in Tirupathi or the visa Balaji in Hyderabad outskirts are all examples of worship for happiness here—career prosperity, dream partner, visa to go abroad, improved health and so on. Such practices require chanting of certain mantras, observance of certain ways of being like avoiding garlic or not having dinner at night, performing certain rituals like lighting til lamps for Shani and offering vada-malas to Lord Hanuman. Besides this, the entire gamut of astrology is often used to seek solutions to pain and suffering in the world here. Some wear specific gemstones, some chant mantras, some offer donations and some conduct Vedic ceremonies. All in search for happiness in this world.

The main difference in this search for happiness within Hindu religions is that rituals are meant to appease deities to ease off karmic carry-overs in human lives.  It also gives partial control of destiny to higher powers who upon being appeased may choose to “bless” the seeker with happiness here. In a form the ritual and prayers also become a kind of “law” to predict or rather force a response from the higher powers.

The other philosophy is seeking happiness by transcending human and social boundaries or by merging with the oneness of existence or Truth or becoming That or becoming happiness or nothing. This path is marked variously by devotion or discrimination and detachment or a mix of all. This path holds sorrow isthe nature of the manifest world—in the sense, nothing is permanent. Everything changes and thus the manifest has no reality or ground. Thus the path calls for search for “true happiness” in transcendence or return or retraction. In this path, in some practices, pain and suffering is considered as an awakening agent to the nature of the world or tempering of egoic attachments and of Ego (the sense of”I”). Devotees, on this path, hold pain as hacking off the fluff or stripping of old skin, that pain is actually a stepping stone to eternal happiness. They sometimes hold pain as a way to get closer to their beloved. For example, during her last days of struggling with TB, St. Theresa of the Roses writes about feeling overjoyed of drawing closer to God. St John of the Cross calls it poignantly the "Dark Night of the Soul."

The central premise of this philosophy is permanent happiness cannot be found here. Apriori assumptions of this philosophy:

1. Esoteric philosophies and practices tends to be better preserved in Eastern societies which have a high tolerance of uncertainty and ambiguity. However, esoterically-oriented individuals, groups, communities are spread across, irrespective of geography. More than management, acceptance is key within these traditions. The ability to weather weather and persist is given more significance. A certain pessimism, almost a delight in suffering is noted.


2. Most hold multiple lifetimes but some hold that there is here and beyond and that happiness lies in the beyond. In all cases, a realm beyond the visible and tangible world is included.


3. Happiness, in the truest and highest sense, is considered to be found in the transcendent. Although, in some cases that happiness once reached in the transcendent state also is realized to have always existed in the immanent state. The path to reaching permanent or true happiness may or may not include happiness here. Happiness here is more a tool or a test on the journey to true happiness.

So where do I stand on these two paths? I don’t know mostly because I don’t know. I don’t know if either here or there has to be right or if both are right or both lead to each other or one follows the other. I have followed all practices intermittently. Read and practiced many manifestation processes. I have also sat through Vedic ceremonies and sought help of astrology, tarot, I-Ch’ing to have greater control of life here. But beyond this, is a certain draw to Mother that I have not been able to deny. In my youth, I had in a devotional extravagance, prayed to her repeatedly asking her to always remind me that I seek her alone. I have since regretted my naiveté but Mother, it appears to my senses, hasn’t forgotten my request.

The days I am overwhelmed by love for Mother and enter into Kali Bhava, the joy of longing surpasses anything I know of. And in those hours, when I sense her in every direction, and listen to her demanding a commitment, I pray: “Mother, let me know what I should say or do that aids your work in the world. Mother, let me meet people, lovers and partners with whom I have karmic obligation and give me the courage to acknowledge and satisfy my debts. Mother, choose what you will to draw me closer evermore. But take it slow. Don’t overestimate me.” After a few hours or days, I half-return to my search for happiness here, shrugging off previous prayers.

I then walk, an always possible sanyasini, clad in jeans and Hyderabad Marathon tees.