Be Happy

Being happy despite the ups and downs of life is the hallmark of a good spiritual life.

On the Sant Mat path, we meet a master who introduces us to the true aspects of spirituality. We learn about the sound current, the audible life stream or Nam, that we can experience through the practice of meditation. The discovery of our true nature begins with lifestyle changes that include following the vows of adopting a vegetarian diet, abstaining from alcohol, tobacco and drugs and living a moral life. With initiation we get the opportunity to practise meditation as taught by the masters, who become our guide through this spiritual journey.

The Master never leaves us. We know that the Master is with us at all times – good or bad – and that he is helping us every step of the way. We count our blessings and are grateful for this gift of Nam, as indeed it is a priceless treasure.

In whatever circumstances the Lord keeps us, we should try to be happy. Take it as his grace, whatever he gives us. That is why Christ said: Be like a little babe. You give him a stone to play with, he’s happy; you give him a diamond to play with, he’s happy. He doesn’t discriminate between the stone and diamond. So we shouldn’t try to discriminate among these events of life, whether a cold wind is blowing or a hot wind is blowing. We are happy in whatever circumstances the Lord keeps us.

And we can have that attitude only if we attend to meditation. Only with the help of meditation will we be able to build peace within ourselves, and then we share peace with others. You go to a miserable person and he will make you miserable in two minutes. If you go to a happy person, however miserable you may be, you will just come out laughing and smiling – because we give what we have, we radiate what we have.
_{Maharaj Charan Singh, Spiritual Perspectives, Vol. III}

This chance to taste the divine nectar every time we sit in meditation is the powerful tool that changes us, as it is the means by which we are purified. We transform into far better versions of ourselves because meditation gives us the will to overcome our passions and gives us the right attitude towards life. We truly end up happier, no matter what circumstances we find ourselves in. Furthermore, Maharaj Charan Singh reminds us that this world is just a stage, where we play our roles:

We can be better actors on the stage of life by playing our part well. Whatever destiny has been allotted to us, we should accept it cheerfully as the will of the Lord. And that you can do only if you attend to your meditation. There is no other way. Otherwise we align ourselves with the acting and take that as the reality, forgetting that we are acting. So we should always keep in mind that it is acting. There’s no reality in it. We must have that realization, and that can come only by meditation. There is no other way. Otherwise we get involved with the other actors in the play.
_{Spiritual Perspectives, Vol. III}

This world is but a stage with each of us designated by our destiny to play a part. It is all an illusion and we must not drown in our roles because there is no reality in them. By keeping this in mind, we learn to be happy no matter what role we play. After all, it is just a role, nothing more and nothing less. We simply are content with whatever comes our way. We should not compare ourselves and our lives with others, as this creates more problems and difficulties for us, as the following story illustrates.

A crow lived in the forest and was absolutely satisfied in life. But one day he saw a swan. “This swan is so white,” he thought, “and I am so black. This swan must be the happiest bird in the world.”

He expressed his thoughts to the swan. “Actually,” the swan replied, “I was feeling that I was the happiest bird around until I saw a parrot, which has two colors. I now think the parrot is the happiest bird in creation.” The crow then approached the parrot. The parrot explained, “I lived a very happy life until I saw a peacock. I have only two colors, but the peacock has multiple colors.”

The crow then visited a peacock in the zoo and saw that hundreds of people had gathered to see him. After the people had left, the crow approached the peacock.

“Dear peacock,” the crow said, “you are so beautiful. Every day thousands of people come to see you. When people see me, they immediately shoo me away. I think you are the happiest bird on the planet.”

The peacock replied, “I always thought that I was the most beautiful and happy bird on the planet. But because of my beauty, I am entrapped in this zoo. I have examined the zoo very carefully, and I have realized that the crow is the only bird not kept in a cage. So, for past few days I have been thinking that if I were a crow, I could happily roam everywhere.”

When we make unwarranted comparisons with others, we create our own sadness and do not value what God has given us. This leads to a vicious cycle of unhappiness.

Instead, we can learn to be happy with what we have instead of looking at what we don’t have. There will always be someone who will have more or less than we have.

A person who is content is the happiest in the world. We must be cheerful and stay happy as we navigate both material and spiritual worlds, never forgetting our ultimate goal of merging with our spiritual source, like a drop merging in the ocean, in this lifetime.

***

What is contentment? To be happy to go through our destiny; not to have any desire and not to pray to the Lord for anything in the world. We are happy with whatever he gives us; we are contented to go through our life. We just see the drama of our life as a spectator in this creation. So we are contented with whatever he gives us. In other words, we live in the will of the Father – that is also contentment.
_{Maharaj Charan Singh, Spiritual Perspectives, Vol. III}