Our success and happiness depend on the level of our mastery of our mind or thought processes
According to former United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon: “Happiness is neither a frivolity nor a luxury. It is a deep-seated yearning shared by all members of human family.” So very true! 
Happiness has always been the ultimate goal of human life. Our scriptures also declare that whenever we do anything, it is always “to be happy” (Sukhaya Karmani Karoti-Loke). To be free from stress, pain and misery and to achieve joy and deep sense of fulfillment have always been the universal craving of all humans. 

It was appropriate that the UN General Assembly recognizing that “the gross domestic product does not adequately reflect the happiness and well-being of people in a country” adopted a Resolution on Happiness. And since 2012 the International Day of Happiness is being observed on March 20 every year. Since the day was proclaimed, thousands of happiness initiatives all over the world have emerged to celebrate and promote its values. 

Happiness being an issue of universal importance, it is worthwhile to understand how to achieve it.  It is said that in 24 hours we have around 40,000-50,000 thoughts. Some are intentional, but most are generated automatically as per our beliefs, habits, information and experiences. Every information, experience or sensation creates a thought, which generates feelings of likes, dislikes, happiness or misery. Any experience is a feeling in the mind and every feeling is generated by thoughts we create consciously or unconsciously. 

This shows how important it is for us to watch carefully the nature, quality, quantity and texture of our thoughts. Every human being is born with certain positive traits: patience, power of forgiveness, self- control, aversion to steal, purity in thought, words and action, etc. Collectively, these qualities are called Guna Dharma: the innate nature of human beings. Here the word “dharma” is not used as a synonym for “religion”. Dharma rather represents human guna-dharma which, as we have mentioned, represents the eternal and universal principles of human conduct accepted by all religions. These qualities are the essence of humanity. Without these qualities, we will be influenced by negative thoughts and feelings. Dharma elevates human beings to higher levels of nobleness, peace and happiness. 

Hindrances to our experience of peace and happiness, there are six negative tendencies we are born with: excessive desire, anger, greed, attachment, arrogance and jealousy. These are our inborn six enemies. They are like weeds in the rice field which crop up on their own and have to be rooted out as and when they arise.

We want success and happiness, but without tension and stress. It is all in our hands. It depends on the level of our mastery of our mind or thought process.

It is worth repeating that avoiding misery and achieving peace and happiness is the supreme goal of human life. The nature, understanding and method of happiness may differ but that everybody across the world is searching for happiness is an established fact.

Our physical existence is controlled and directed by our mind. It is because of this determining role of our mind that it has said been, “It is the mind which is the cause of bondage or liberation” or “the world is in fact our mind”. In other words the cause of both our happiness and misery is our mind.

That is why all our respected gurus and scriptures draw our attention to management of our mind and why we should always remain alert of our thought process.

Our mind, our mental existence, is controlled by our intellectual level. The entity which enlivens and activates all three levels of existence—physical, mental and intellectual—is our consciousness. Our consciousness is the basis of everything at all levels of our existence. 

The question “Why happiness?” is redundant because we cannot and we do not want to live in misery, tension and restlessness. Our innate tendency is to crave for peace, happiness and fulfillment.

If we want to enjoy peace and happiness, we should never allow our mind to create negative thoughts. We are creators of our thoughts. Nobody else can enter our mind. To create negative thoughts is to let yourself down and to suffer. To create positive thoughts means to uplift yourself and enjoy peace and happiness. If ever our mind consciously or unconsciously generates negative thoughts, we should redirect it to create positive feelings. 

Happiness is the most precious gift we can give to ourselves. Happiness is not something that can be given to someone else. To think otherwise is foolish.

Life is a precious gift of the Almighty; enjoy it. Life is valuable; live it in full. Life is a challenge, accept it and move forward. Life is a continuous process of change; accept every state gracefully. Life is an increasing state of knowledge and wisdom; enjoy it and lift yourself at every stage. Life is a mixture of weal and woes; remain stable with dignity, neither elated nor miserable. Even-mindedness with positive attitude is the best way to live. Life is just beautiful; look at it positively. Think positive. Speak positive. Behave positive. And remain positive under all circumstances. Life is peace, happiness and joy, which you can give to yourself, always. Discover it within, enjoy it, and be always happy and at peace.

 
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