QRA NA SRM

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Why do Sri Ramana Maharshi's teachings emphasize that searching for happiness outside ourselves is a mistake, and how can we truly find peace according to him?

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In verse 78 of Guru Vāchaka Kōvai, Bhagavan Sri Ramana Maharshi says,

There is no happiness that exists in its own right in any single one of the objects of the inert world. When this is the case, why does the stupid mind delude itself, imagining that happiness arises from the objects of the world?

Sri Ramana Maharshi emphasises that there's no happiness outside ourselves because we who are actually conscious beings can be made happy only by consciousness itself. All the external objects which we think gives us happiness, are all things other than ourselves and hence it is insentient. How can insentient objects give happiness to sentient beings? It cannot!

In two paragraphs from The Power of Presence, vol.1 (by David Godman), pp.263–4, Sri Ramana Maharshi explains beautifully the psychology of happiness. He says,

You think that you can only get happiness when there is contact with something separate from you. But that is not the truth. Ananda [bliss] is the very nature of the Self. The happiness that you get from other things is part of the happiness of the Atman, but it is not the complete happiness. So long as an external object is required [for happiness], incompleteness is felt. When it is felt that the Atman alone is there, permanent happiness stays…

In the second paragraph, he explains precisely the very secret of happiness. Sri Ramana Maharshi says,

If you are interested a state that is giving you the experience of Ananda, at that time you are actually diving into the Atman. It is because of this diving into the Atman that you get the bliss of the Atman. However, because of your association with incorrect thoughts, you project [the cause of] the Ananda [happiness/bliss] on to external things.

Association with incorrect thoughts implies identification with things other than ourselves because of which we labour under the illusion that happiness comes from external objects.

Say for example, our minds are constantly being driven by an intense desire to possess a car. Our minds are filled with only thoughts about the car. Once the car comes under our possession, all thoughts pertaining to the car goes away, and our minds dive into the Atman and experiences happiness there. But we wrongly think that is because of the car, we are happy.

The same car that made us happy today can become the source of our unhappiness tomorrow when it gets damaged or lost. The secret is to remove the thoughts pertaining to the object of our desire without possessing the object. Once the thoughts are removed, we experience the same happiness even in the absence of the object. The purpose of all the spiritual practices is only this…

We can truly find peace only by investigating into true nature of one who is responsible for all our unhappiness and misery, namely the ego. Once the ego is eliminated, we find true peace. It is the peace that Jesus Christ too refers to, in the New Testament of the Holy Bible, when he speaks about peace that passeth all understanding.

Thanks for reading

Nirvritananda