TALK 16 by Prabhuji
Let us continue our contemplation on the ‘purpose of life’.
What do we want in life? What are we seeking in life?
Somebody says, “I want job, I want money’. Somebody wants to get married, somebody wants health and so on. So everything is about, “I want, I want, I want”. But why do you want? If I get something I will be happy, the happiness seems to be the purpose of wanting anything. To be happy I want something. So always the condition is “by getting something I will be happy”. Happiness seems to be the ‘goal’ and ‘getting something’ seems to be the ‘means’.
But the problem with this approach is, whatever you get, the happiness you get is always temporary, again something else will open up. Somebody is studying hard, why? He wants to get a good job; Ok he got a good job and within six months he is again worried because he wants an appraisal, he wants a hike. So continuously the happiness seems to be moving away from us and we are constantly chasing the happiness. I always remember a Hindi song ‘honge kamiyab ek din’, ‘I shall be successful one day in getting happiness’, and this seems to be the pursuit of life.
Ok, so you got happiness, every happiness is temporary, and then you want something permanent and so you have to add an adjective called permanent happiness. Even though we understand there is no permanent happiness we are constantly seeking permanent happiness. So happiness and permanent happiness. Then second aspect of life is ‘I want to know something, I am curious’, everybody is always curious about something. Somebody wants to know something about somebody else’s life and they start gossiping. There are gossip parties at home. There is a discussion about politics, there is discussion about sports, and everywhere you want to get some information or knowledge. And somebody wants to read the newspaper from the headlines from the first page all the way till the last column. Somebody wants to read the books, books, books. You want to acquire knowledge as much as possible. In the current era how much knowledge can be acquired, there is no end to it.
Bhardwaj rishi was a great scholar, he had read all the Vedas but was not satisfied, and when he became old, he prayed to God to extend his life by 100 years, why? He replies, “I want to learn many things, I have not yet completed that.” God blessed him with 100 more years. Even the 100 more years of study was not sufficient for him, again he asked for 100 more years. Now the God says, ‘Oh Bhardwaj! look at those mountains. Vedas are like mountains. Whatever you have studied so far is less than one fistful, even if I give you 100 more lifetimes, you cannot study them. You are trying to study something which is unlimited, why don’t you study something about Self-Realization, which will give inner peace and satisfy your hunger for knowledge. Once you know about yourself there is nothing else to be known. Why don’t you focus on that?’ Bhardwaj was very surprised and started his inner journey of Self discovery.
So now we are looking for three things – knowledge, happiness and permanent happiness. And of course you want everything permanent, our health should be permanent, our wealth should be permanent, our relationship should be permanent. So permanent happiness and knowledge. And why do you want this? Deep inside we know that something called permanent, something called happiness and something called unlimited knowledge is achievable. And that drives our outer search. Our understanding is correct, the permanence, happiness, eternal knowledge is possible. But the approach is wrong. You cannot get permanence, happiness, eternal knowledge by moving outwards. Earlier I had told about outer purpose of life. As the outer purpose of life these cannot be achieved fully, you may get some partial satisfaction. For real satisfaction to happen you need to move inwards, because your inner nature is the divine Self. You are the nature of the ‘light of the self’ or ‘Atmajyothi’, go inside and you will discover something very valuable in you. That valuable is called God or supreme reality. That light of the self is of the nature of ‘Sat-Chit-Ananda’,
‘Sat’ means eternal, permanent; ‘Chit’ means Consciousness or infinite knowledge, Consciousness; ‘Ananda’ means happiness, bliss. There is something inside you which is of the nature of infinite bliss, infinite knowledge, which can be found only through inner search. Through Jnana of the Self and Dhyana go deep inside and you will find Sat Chit Ananda.
Your outer search is futile, instead go deep inside you will find That, Sat-Chit-Ananda’ in you which is of the nature of God, Supreme bliss, eternal knowledge deep inside you , so that is the inner journey, that is the inner purpose of life.
Transcription by Atmajyothi Satyavathi
Light of The Self Foundation 