Mind & Happiness 22

Happiness lies deep within us, in the very core of our Existence. Happiness does not exist in any external object, but only in us, who are the Consciousness that experiences Happiness. Though we seem to derive Happiness from external objects or experiences, the Happiness that we thus enjoy in fact arises from within us.

Whatever turmoil our Mind may be in, in the Center of our Existence there always exists a state of perfect peace & joy, like the calm in the eye of a storm. Desire & fear agitate our Mind, & obscure from its view the Happiness that always exists within it. When a desire is satisfied, or the
cause of a fear is removed, the surface agitation of our Mind subsides, & in that temporary calm, our Mind enjoys a taste of its own innate Happiness.

Happiness is thus a state of Existence – a state in which our Mind’s habitual agitation is calmed. The activity of our Mind disturbs it from its calm state of just Existence, & causes it to lose sight of its own innermost Happiness. To enjoy Happiness, therefore, all our Mind need do is to cease all activity, returning calmly to its natural state of inactive Existence, as it does daily in Deep Dreamless Sleep.
Therefore to master the Knowledge of being happy, we must master the Knowledge of just Existence. We must discover what the innermost core of our Existence is, & we must learn to abide consciously & constantly in that state of pure Existence, which underlies &  supports (but nevertheless remains unaffected by) all the superficial activities of our Mind: thinking, feeling & perceiving, remembering &  forgetting, & so on.

The Knowledge of just Existence, remaining fully conscious but without any activity of the Mind, is not only Knowledge – a practical skill that can be cultivated & applied to produce an experience of inexpressible beauty & joy – but also an attempt to acquire true Knowledge by keen observation & rigorous experiment. And this Knowledge of Existence is not only the Knowledge of Happiness, but also the Knowledge of Consciousness, & Self-Knowledge.

The Knowledge of Existence is incredibly simple & clear. To the human Mind, however, it may appear to be complex & abstruse, not because it is in any way complex in itself, but because the Mind which tries to comprehend it is such a complex bundle of thoughts & emotions – desires, fears, anxieties, attachments, long-cherished beliefs &  preconceived ideas – that it tends to cloud the pure simplicity & clarity of Existence, making what is obvious appear to be obscure.

Like any other knowledge, the Knowledge of Existence begins with observation & analysis of something that we already know but do not fully understand, & proceeds by reasoning to formulate a plausible hypothesis that can explain what is observed, & then rigorously tests that hypothesis by precise & critical experiment. However, unlike all other Knowledge, this Knowledge does not study any object of knowledge, but instead studies the very power of Knowing itself – the power of Consciousness that underlies the Mind, the power by which all objects are known.

Hence the Truth discovered by means of this Knowledge is not something that can be demonstrated or proved objectively by one person to another. It can, however, be directly experienced as a clear Knowledge in the innermost core of each person who scrupulously pursues the necessary process of experiment till the True Nature of Existence – which is the True Nature of Consciousness, & of Happiness – is revealed in the full clarity of pure unadulterated Self-Consciousness.

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"There is no Creation, no Destruction, no Bondage, no longing to be freed from Bondage, no striving for Liberation, nor anyone who has attained Liberation. Know that this to be Ultimate Truth."

 –  the "no creation" school of Gaudapada, Shankara, Ramana, Nome – Ajata Vada

 for very succinct summary of the teaching & practice, see:  www.ajatavada.com/