True Happiness

Janaka's voice held a note of longing.

"Master, all beings seek happiness. I have sought it in power, in knowledge, in pleasure, in service. Each brought moments of joy, but none lasted. What is true happiness, and how does one find it?"

Ashtavakra's response was gentle but direct.

"You have been looking in the wrong direction. Happiness is not found in objects because objects change, appear, and disappear. True happiness is the nature of the Self—unchanging, always present, not dependent on anything outside."

"But I feel happy when good things happen and sad when they do not. This seems to be the nature of experience."

"This is the nature of the body-mind, not of you. The body-mind reacts to circumstances. But you are the awareness in which these reactions appear. Have you noticed that even when the body-mind is unhappy, there is a witnessing presence that is not disturbed?"

Janaka reflected. "Yes. Even in my darkest moments, something remained untroubled. I called it 'the observer.'"

"That observer is happiness itself. Not the happiness that comes and goes with circumstances, but the happiness that is the background of all experience. It is so constant that we overlook it, like overlooking the screen while watching a movie."

"How do I access this happiness more fully?"

"You do not access it—you recognize it. It is already present. The question is not 'How do I get happiness?' but 'What is preventing me from noticing what is already here?' The answer is: seeking happiness elsewhere."

"So the seeking is the obstacle?"

"Exactly. When you seek happiness in the future, in objects, in relationships, you imply that happiness is not here now. This implication creates a sense of lack, and the sense of lack is experienced as unhappiness. Stop seeking, and you find what was never missing."

"But is it wrong to enjoy worldly pleasures?"

"Not at all. The sage enjoys whatever comes—food, beauty, companionship. The difference is that he does not depend on these for his happiness. He is happy before the pleasure arrives and remains happy after it leaves. The pleasure is a flavor, not a necessity."

"And what of those who seem happy despite being unawakened?"

"Their happiness is genuine, but fragile. It depends on circumstances remaining favorable. When circumstances change—and they always do—their happiness dissolves. The sage's happiness is unconditional. It does not require anything to be different than it is."

"This seems like a high state. How does one stabilize in it?"

"By seeing through the belief that happiness comes from outside. Each time you catch yourself seeking happiness in the next moment, the next acquisition, the next achievement—pause. Look at what is here now. Is awareness troubled? Is being itself insufficient? You will find that this moment, stripped of expectations, is complete."

"I have tasted this," Janaka said. "Moments when everything was perfect just as it was."

"Those were not special moments. They were moments when you stopped interfering with what is. The perfection was not in the circumstances but in the recognition. You stopped demanding that reality be different, and in that acceptance, happiness revealed itself."

"So happiness is acceptance?"

"Deeper than acceptance. It is the recognition that there is nothing to accept or reject. Both acceptance and rejection imply a separate self dealing with reality. When the separate self dissolves, only reality remains—and reality is inherently blissful. This is ananda—the bliss that is the nature of being."

Janaka sat in silence, feeling a quiet joy that had nothing to do with his circumstances.

"I feel it," he whispered. "It was here all along."

"It will always be here. Even when the mind forgets and chases shadows, this happiness remains. Trust it. Rest in it. It is your birthright—no, it is your very self."