Our main goal of life is to be happy. That’s a general statement which could be applied to everyone throughout all time. We do the things we do because we want to be happy. If we look at the global happiness index for countries around the world, it looks like Denmark is up there at or near the top of the list almost every year, based on surveys and polls of citizens in countries globally. Another nation to prioritize the happiness of its citizens is the small kingdom of Bhutan, wedged between India and China. Why is it that such small nations with so few members of the global human race are the rare few that show significant happiness?
For a start, they may be easy to govern. Small countries can implement helpful policies to assist their citizens much more easily than larger countries which move slower and have perhaps more diversity and thus more complex issues. However, all of us have similar issues when it comes to striving for happiness. We all suffer under the three basic miserable conditions of life, namely those caused by other living entities (like hurtful people or even mosquitoes), those cased by nature (too much heat or cold) and finally those caused by our own mind and body.
So have Denmark and Bhutan succeeded in eliminating these three sources of misery? Perhaps to a degree, but obviously not entirely. Denmark has succeeded in establishing a very successful welfare state and that is a reason they may rank high in the happiness index compared to other nations. Their government has essentially eliminated poverty by providing free healthcare, university education and other things, all of which greatly reduce suffering. Thus they have less stress and can be happier. Bhutan may not have the economy for a welfare state but they have simply shifted mindset, being a nation rich in spiritual heritage, being the neighbor of India – the home of enlightenment on the planet originally.
But even these two nations cannot remove the threefold miseries altogether, and they certainly cannot eliminate old age, sickness and death. So from a mundane point of view even the happiest people in the world still have to suffer as long as they are in the human body. That is the reality of life on earth for us all. The package has built-in suffering involved, in the form of old age and death.
Nevertheless, one giant leap toward cessation of suffering and the acquirement of happiness comes from one thing, namely peace of mind. This is not mere absence of war, although that itself would go a long way to engendering happiness in all of us. The current world war that rages in eastern Europe has spread to north Africa, where the same opponents now have troops on the ground in Niger and fight each other for resources using proxy militia to do their bidding. This is why I call it a world war. Multiple nations are involved in an existential battle for the future dominion of the planet.
Thus with World War 3 under way now, it makes finding peace of mind harder for many of us. Despite this lack of peace on the planet, one can still distance oneself from the battlefield which may be far enough from us for now. The real battlefield is of course within our own minds and consciousness. That is where we can strive for peace or where we suffer when it is missing. And as long as the threefold miseries plague us, caused by others, by nature or by our own body and mind, we will lack peace and thus lack happiness.
Defeating these enemies of peace and happiness is thus our real battle as individuals. Now attacks from the threefold miseries will always be there. We can’t directly avoid them entirely, as much as we try. What we can do, however, is work on how we deal with them internally. We can shape our mind and intelligence so that we are able to minimise them and then basically rise above them. This requires two things: consciously controlling the mind and consciously using the intelligence.
Mind and intelligence are seen as two separate departments in our make-up. Mind is the lower instinctive part of the brain, for example, and intelligence is the higher frontal lobe area of the brain that matures with adulthood and can be programmed to supervise the lower mind, to a degree. This is just one way of seeing it, and this is how it is described in the ancient Sanskrit yoga texts on the subject. Mind, intelligence and ego are clearly described as separate sections of ourselves, along with the spirit soul which is independent of body and mind altogether, though housed in them for now.
The secret to happiness is thus applying oneself to first attaining peace. In Denmark people are happier because their welfare state has removed fear of hunger or poverty or illness, and so the citizens can become more peaceful, less anxious, and thus they rank highly in the happiness index. Yet even they must suffer old age, illness and death, which brings loss and sorrow generally. So you can’t simply mandate the removal of suffering by government decree. It is a state of mind.
And this state of having a controlled mind and steady intelligence is possible when one is tapped into a higher source. Mundane attempts are only partially successful. They will work for a while. But as long as one is pushed by the urges of passion to achieve more or by the desire to enjoy more, then the mind will not be peaceful or happy. It will feel unfulfilled. And this pacifying of the passions of the mind and this steadying of the mind is possible with higher intervention.
Either the parent trains the infant, or the teacher trains the student, or we are guided from within (and via internalized teachers and parents from youth) to rise above the lower passions, realizing that they are pitfalls tempting the mind and senses, and ultimately we do the right thing to achieve peace and happiness. The Bhagavad Gita describes how it is one who is blessed by the mercy of the gods who will become someone who can rise above the threefold miseries and obtain a steady mind which leads to happiness. Indeed the wisdom of the gods and the teachings of the Veda are in themselves higher intervention, if you like. The teachings are there and we can situate ourselves in their light, or we can ignore them and fall victim to the dictates of the lower mind and thus lose the peace and happiness we aspire for.
Ultimately we are all blessed. The blessings lie about us in the form of wisdom traditions, coaches and role models, though they may be few and far between. Still, those blessings exist and we can tap into them to raise our consciousness and find that very real peace and happiness which comes from a liberated mindset, where the threefold miseries don’t evaporate, but rather our state of consciousness simply rises above them due to the peace and happiness that supersedes them and due to knowledge of our true nature. The blessings are flowing constantly. It’s up to us whether we drink from that river or not.
Bhagavad Gita ch2:65
प्रसादे सर्वदुःखानां हानिरस्योपजायते ।
प्रसन्नचेतसो ह्याशु बुद्धिः पर्यवतिष्ठते ॥ ६५ ॥
prasāde sarva-duḥkhānāṁ
hānir asyopajāyate
prasanna-cetaso hy āśu
buddhiḥ paryavatiṣṭhate
prasāde—on achievement of the causeless mercy of the Lord; sarva—all; duḥkhānām—material miseries; hāniḥ—destruction; asya—his; upajāyate—takes place; prasanna-cetasaḥ—of the happy-minded; hi—certainly; āśu—very soon; buddhiḥ—intelligence; pari—sufficiently; avatiṣṭhate—established
TRANSLATION
For one who is so situated in the Divine consciousness, the threefold miseries of material existence exist no longer; in such a happy state, one's intelligence soon becomes steady.
Bhagavad Gita ch2:66
नास्ति बुद्धिरयुक्तस्य न चायुक्तस्य भावना ।
न चाभावयतः शान्तिरशान्तस्य कुतः सुखम् ॥ ६६ ॥
nāsti buddhir ayuktasya
na cāyuktasya bhāvanā
na cābhāvayataḥ śāntir
aśāntasya kutaḥ sukham
na asti—there cannot be; buddhiḥ—transcendental intelligence; ayuktasya—of one who is not connected (with Kṛṣṇa consciousness); na—neither; ca—and; ayuktasya—of one devoid of Kṛṣṇa consciousness; bhāvanā—mind fixed in happiness; na—neither; ca—and; abhāvayataḥ—one who is not fixed; śāntiḥ—peace; aśāntasya—of the unpeaceful; kutaḥ—where is; sukham—happiness
TRANSLATION
One who is not in transcendental consciousness can have neither a controlled mind nor steady intelligence, without which there is no possibility of peace. And how can there be any happiness without peace?
COMMENTARY
Unless one is in Kṛṣṇa consciousness, there is no possibility of peace. So it is confirmed in the Fifth Chapter (5.29) that when one understands that Kṛṣṇa is the only enjoyer of all the good results of sacrifice and penance, and that He is the proprietor of all universal manifestations, that He is the real friend of all living entities, then only can one have real peace. Therefore, if one is not in Kṛṣṇa consciousness, there cannot be a final goal for the mind. Disturbance is due to want of an ultimate goal, and when one is certain that Kṛṣṇa is the enjoyer, proprietor and friend of everyone and everything, then one can, with a steady mind, bring about peace. Therefore, one who is engaged without a relationship with Kṛṣṇa is certainly always in distress and is without peace, however much one may make a show of peace and spiritual advancement in life. Kṛṣṇa consciousness is a self-manifested peaceful condition which can be achieved only in relationship with Kṛṣṇa.
Reference: Bhagavad Gita As It Is, translation and commentary by Swami A. C. Bhaktivedanta, original 1972 Macmillan edition, (www.prabhupadabooks.com)
Image: Pixabay edited using Canva