The other day a friend of mine and i were contemplating the larger meaning of life and living. He also wanted to know more of the solitary cave retreat in the Himalayas i was just back from. As the conversation was coming to an end, he said to me “So basically under any given circumstances we have to know how to be happy, isn’t it?” As i began to see a steady stream of customers entering his coffee shop, i could have just nodded in the affirmative, made him feel happy about it and melted away. But something inside me stirred and i went on to explain it thus to him.
It is commonly projected in spiritual teachings that the objective in this life is to be happy and keep other beings around us happy. Well, in Buddhist teachings the approach is a bit different.
Take any two situations in your own life. One that has been a pleasant one and the other which has caused you pain and unpleasantness. The reactions to both these situations by a siddha (accomplished one) and an ordinary being will be different.
While the ordinary being will sway between the extremities of being happy in one situation and sad in the other one that has been unpleasant, the accomplished one will be at peace in both the situations. Herein lies the fundamental difference.
While peace is a constant state of being, having almost no contrasting opposite, happiness is subjected to a contrasting dual state viz. sadness. While the nature of peace is unchanging, the nature of happiness is subject to forces prone to change hence making it a temporary or transient state. Happiness also has the great possibility of being contaminated by desire, not so is the case with peace.
To understand the difference better, let us take an example of a mother who has just lost her child. It would be foolhardy to expect the traumatized mother to be ‘happy’ in a heart—rending moment such as this, however accomplished a yogin she may be! However, if the same woman had even the basic understanding of the teachings on impermanence, she would certainly be at ‘peace’ with the given extreme situation. And this approach can be applied in several circumstances with us in day to day situations.
Sakyamuni’s intent was never to be happy himself nor did he lead people towards the false assurance of keeping them happy. His path does not lead to happiness either. It leads to nirvana, which is peace. A state free from the duality of being ‘happy’ and/or ‘unhappy’. This state is never ever to be confused with indifference. It is to be in total awareness of the situation and being at peace with it. This is very important to understand. Indifference can lead to a whole set of negative karma by itself and therefore must be abandoned sooner than later.
In an accomplished practitioner the very bedrock of being is peace, irrespective of the situation. There is no doubt that delusions of afflicted emotions arise in siddha’s just as in ordinary beings. However, the difference is how each of them reacts to them. While an ordinary being will immediately have a ‘like’ or ‘dislike’ reaction resulting in the corresponding negative karma arising from attachment or aversion; a siddha sees everything arising in its natural state without grasping entering his/her perception.
With relentless practice when these subtleties are realized, a deep sense of contentment arises within us. The mind becomes clear, vast and pure as it has been from the very beginning. It recognizes the alternating and unending dance enacted by samsara and nirvana. It becomes quite sky-like; not disappointed with the clouds nor excited over a rainbow.
Therefore, the words of ‘peace’ and ‘happiness’ cannot and should not be used loosely like synonyms as people – including few spiritual teachers of some faiths - are generally prone to using them. They must be used after their meaning is fully and deeply understood through the dedicated practices of contemplation and meditation.
Let us therefore continue to create causes for peace...and happiness. :)
