The pursuit of pleasure and happiness
by Atman Nityananda / bkes
The rajasotamasic lower ego imagines and dreams of a better future through successes, joys and pleasurable experiences. It imagines that by seeing its desires fulfilled (money, glory, sex, power, pleasures, fame, success, travel, etc.) it will be happy, ignoring that happiness does not come from sensory experiences or successes, but from the inner Self (divine essence, Consciousness) and from the sattva quality.
It is futile to expect peace, permanent happiness, deep satisfaction and fulfillment to come from things outside of you, and even more so in the distant future, and to wait for something you desire to happen or for external circumstances to change.
Successes and pleasures only provisionally give us a sense of satisfaction, joy or even happiness, but even in this case (when a desire is fulfilled), joy and happiness do not come from the experience or the fulfillment of the desire but from our inner Self (the silent presence of the consciousness) and from the sattvic state that the mind assumes in those moments.
By its very nature, pleasure is limited and transitory. From pain is born desire, in pain it seeks its fulfillment and ends in the pain of frustration and despair. Pain is the background of pleasure, all pleasure-seeking is born in pain and ends in pain.
~ Nisargadatta
The ‘secret’ to a plentiful life, a life of harmony, happiness and contentment is to have a sattvic mind free from desires and ego and to live in every moment in conscious contact with our true Self (Consciousness).
🌺 Peace, Love, Harmony
atmannityanada 