Dadashri: What do all the living beings (jivas) search for? They are looking for happiness, but the happiness is short-lived. People go out to weddings and to theatre for entertainment, but their misery returns to them again. When unhappiness follows happiness, how can you call it happiness? It is the happiness of murchha (unconscious infatuation). Happiness should be permanent. This is nothing but temporary happiness; an imaginary happiness. What is every soul (atma) searching for? It is looking for happiness; happiness that is eternal. People believe: ‘It (happiness) will come from this, or it will come from that. I will buy this. I will do that, I will build a bungalow, then I will be happy; I will buy a car, then I will be happy.’ They keep on doing this, but no happiness comes their way. On the contrary, they sink deeper and deeper into the mire of confusion. Happiness lies within. It lies in the Self itself. Therefore, if you attain the Self, you attain happiness.

Questioner: You have spoken about temporary happiness (anand) and permanent happiness (anand). But how can we tell the difference between them, if we have not yet experienced that happiness?

Dadashri: You will not know the difference at all. Until you attain permanent happiness, you will consider this as happiness. If you put an ant, that typically lives in cow dung, into a flower, it will die. This is because it is used to its happiness: living in dung. Its prakruti (inherent nature) is only familiar with that. On the other hand, if you put an ant that lives in a flower, into cow dung, it will not like it.

People will say that happiness lies in money, but there are some ascetics (sadhus) who will not accept money, even if you offered it to them. Even if you come to give me all the gold in the world, I would not take it, because I do not find any happiness in money or wealth at all. Therefore, happiness does not lie in money. If there was happiness in money, then everyone would derive the same experience from it. Whereas the Atma’s (of the Self) happiness can be experienced by everyone. This is because it is real happiness, and it is eternal happiness. You cannot even imagine the magnitude of such happiness! Where there is no other talk except of the Atma and the Parmatma (Supreme Soul), there lies the true happiness. This is where there is not even the slightest discussion related to the worldly life (sansar), such as how one can gain and profit in life, or how one can attain even good qualities.

People seek to cultivate good qualities. These qualities, both good and bad, belong to the part which is the non-Self, and they are temporary. Nonetheless, people need them. Everyone needs something different depending upon his expectations. However, a person who wants the state of absolute vitaragata (state of absolute detachment), will have to go beyond all the good and bad qualities and know ‘who the Self is’. After knowing that, all his concerns should be directed towards the Atma (Self) and the Parmatma (absolute Self). And this will give rise to a state of complete vitaragata.

Questioner: Time passes us by, and we still cannot find real happiness.

Dadashri: To get real happiness, you must first become the real (the Self) yourself. And if you want ‘worldly’ (sansari) happiness, then you should become ‘worldly’ (sansari). The nature of worldly happiness is that it is puran-galan (input-output). It comes and goes. It has duality (pleasure and pain). Permanent happiness is experienced once you attain the understanding and the realisation of “Who am I?”

To be Continued…

For more information on Dadashri’s spiritual science, visit dadabhagwan.org