Happiness is of two types: the happiness of taking and the happiness of giving.
A child enjoys taking things. They want to possess. You take children to a toy shop and that’s it! They would want to bring the whole toy shop home. They would like to grab everything. This is infant joy, infant happiness.
Then there is a happiness that is more mature, and that is the happiness you get from giving. It is the happiness of your grandmother or grandfather. Say your grandmother is at home all by herself, she will not make 4-5 dishes and have a big meal only for herself. But when her grandchildren are visiting, she prepares so many varieties of dishes and she gets joy in sharing. This is mature joy: the joy that comes from giving.
You will see there are many people around the world who always enjoy giving. Why do they give? They give because giving gives them more joy, it gives them unparalleled satisfaction. A successful person is one who has tasted the joy in giving and continues to give and share. This is a sign of success.
Both happiness and success depend on your ability to give. This ability to give is in your consciousness. It is not the object that you give that matters, but the attitude of sharing. When you give and contribute to people’s lives, in return you are rewarded with the inner strength. When you are available for people who need you more than you need anything else, then that brings serene, subtle stability in your life.
From ‘what about me’ to ‘what can I do for the world?’
One thing that can be really helpful in coming out of depression is developing an attitude of service. Thinking ‘what can I do for society’, or getting involved in bigger causes shift the focus of life. This attitude can take you out of the rut of ‘what about me’. Societies where values of service, sacrifice, and community participation are ingrained, do not face issues of depression and suicides.
We should think about two main goals for ourselves in life:
1. What is it that I want to achieve in life?
2. What do I wish to give or contribute to society before I leave this planet?
Both these goals should go hand in hand. You can have a goal for yourself and you can change it after some time too. But you should also think about what you would like to do for the world, and how would you like the world to be. How would you like society to be? Have a goal in mind towards a bigger cause as well. This is a prayer.
I want to be happy, but where do I start?
At the core of every person, there is a longing for happiness. The problem is that we usually seek happiness in things outside of us and in the future. Happiness is really here: right now. It is one thing to understand that happiness comes from within, and another thing to know it and live it. This is possible only through meditation, those moments of silence within, where we get in touch with the core of our existence.
How do we bring our mind to the present and get that experience of deep, silent meditation? There are techniques that can help you discover yourself and your source of happiness.
Sudarshan Kriya
After teaching meditation initially, Gurudev found people were having a hard time quieting their minds. For this reason, over a 10-day silence, Gurudev cognized the Sudarshan Kriya - a powerful breathing technique that effortlessly takes people into a state of deep meditation, right from the first session.
Through Sudarshan Kriya, spiritual practices, service projects, wisdom and celebration, Gurudev and The Art of Living work towards bringing an unshakable smile onto everyone’s face. Read more about Sudarshan Kriya.
Find a Happiness Program near you
Research data image
Videos - a playlist with see more link to Gurudev’s youtube channel
The perfect solution to wipe out depression from your life
FAQs
Q: What is the secret to happiness?
Gurudev: The secret to happiness is in being without desires, and in focusing on how you can serve others. The more you serve, the more happiness you will get. It is having this feeling of 'I don't want anything for myself, I am content', that brings happiness. And then wisdom brings happiness. Without wisdom, there is no happiness in life.
Q: What is the ultimate and greatest truth of life? Is it to be happy, or to make one’s family happy, or to serve humankind, or to reach the Divine?
Gurudev: The ultimate journey starts with one step. Just do not sit and dream about the ultimate. Instead, begin your journey towards the ultimate. Take small steps towards the higher Truth; towards this inquiry into life: ‘what is the goal of life?’
This very inquiry can take you ahead. Everything has some significance in life. Just eating alone is not the goal of life. Yet eating is essential for sustaining life. Isn’t it? Similarly, sleeping is not the goal of life. But can you discard sleep altogether? No, you cannot. In the same way, you have to be happy and you also have to make others happy. This is the journey towards the Ultimate. What is the ultimate Truth, or the ultimate purpose of life? I tell you, one who really knows will not tell you, and anyone who does tell you, simply does not know. That is the secret.
Q: My wish is to go out and serve people, is that the source of happiness?
Gurudev: It is the result of happiness I would say. It can be both: the path and the result of happiness. When you are content; when you are happy, you want to share it.
The nature of joy is to share with others. Joy has the tendency to spread, and whenever a person is genuinely happy and joyful from within, they want to just share it with the whole world.
Q: What would be your best memory of happiness?
Gurudev: Happiness is when you want nothing, and you want to give. Where the wanting and desires end and the sharing begins, happiness is exactly there. Memory is not happiness. When you are happy, you forget everything. It is when happiness is gone that you dwell in its memory. In the world, people are either dreaming of happiness or remembering happiness. That is either being in the past or the future. But happiness is that which is in the present. And it is your very nature.
