Our Soul Is The Centre And Fount Of True Divine Bliss

Our belief that the source of joy is material objects is full of illusion. If this belief were to be true all material pleasures would have given satiation to all mankind in an equal manner. Or else all of mankind would have attained eternal joy without a speck of sorrow by now. Today all over the world we find people who have amassed plenty of wealth and grandeur and yet their lives are full of despair, agony and hopelessness. These material objects (TV, computer, cars, aircrafts, AC, movies etc) do not help in alleviating their pain and sorrow in a permanent manner.

The fact remains that all material objects are inert. Thus inert is after all inert. It has no potential of its own. On their own inert objects are incapable of giving us both, joy or anguish. Material objects lack the potential of joy and sorrow since they are inanimate. Thus they cannot induce sorrow or joy in us on their own. When we contact material objects with our sense organs, our mind gets attached to them which in turn induce joy or pain as the case maybe. Thus it is our mind/psyche, a conscious entity that manifests joy and pain in our inner self.

When man's joyous soul contacts a sense object the object seems desirable and when a sorrowful soul contacts that object the object seems undesirable. All worldly objects are inert and hence by themselves cannot induce joy/sorrow in our psyche. It is man's soul principle which contacts inert objects so as to label them as 'joy' or 'sorrow'. THE BELIEF THAT ETERNAL JOY CAN BE ATTAINED VIA MATERIAL OBJECTS IS NOTHING BUT AN ILLUSION AND AN EXERCISE IN SHEER FUTILITY.

The sad part of life is that man under the spell of spiritual ignorance refuses to accept that sense pleasures can give only transient joy and never eternal, infinite peace. Thus without realizing that it is an exercise in futility he hunts for joy day in and day out in material pursuits. He wastes his precious human life in amassing material wealth with the illusion that he will find eternal contentment and bliss. This is because he erroneously imagines that joy is in the object (TV, house, car etc) when in reality it is in his own soul. Thus while amassing material wealth he stoops as low as carrying out criminal, illegal and heinous acts which ultimately create his downfall. JOY LIES IN ONES SOUL AND NOT MATERIAL PLEASURES. JOY SHOULD BE SEARCHED FOR IN ONES SOUL AND NOT IN EXTERNAL MATERIAL OBJECTS, RELATIVES, PROFESSIONS ETC.

Material objects are enjoyed via the 5 sense organs viz. eyes, ears, tongue, skin and nose. It is only when are organs are active can we enjoy sight, smell etc. As long as man is youthful his sense organs are active and agile. During this youthful phase of his life he can fully enjoy sense pleasures but the more his body ages these very objects become distasteful and inconsequential. Suddenly an old person finds that all his pleasures attained via sense enjoyments have dried up to naught. The fact remains that when old age sets in our 5 sense organs become weak and thus are unable to enjoy those sense pleasures enjoyed in youth. These aged sense organs lose the capacity to enjoy sense pleasures. It is this weak potential of the sense organs that induce lifelessness and a sense of distaste for sense pleasures in ones old age.

Why restrict the above observations to old age merely? Many a time in one's prime youth one experiences distaste for sense pleasures. This happens either if one is afflicted with an illness like typhoid, malaria etc or that an event like death of one's beloved is announced. If our tongue is afflicted with ulcers even the most delicious food item induces aversion in our psyche. Indigestion too induces aversion for tasty food. Eye related diseases stop us from enjoying even the most alluring scene. THUS WE CAN SAFELY CONCLUDE THAT JOY LIES NOT IN SENSE OBJECTS/PLEASURES BUT IN THE EXPERIENTIAL CAPACITY OF OUR SENSE ORGANS.

Now the question to be asked is what is the nature of the capacity/potential of sense organs that enjoy sense objects? There are many people in this world whose eyes are attractive and beautiful to look at and yet they cannot see anything i.e. they are blind. In fact the anatomical structure of their eyes too has no defects as proved by medical tests. Their nerve functioning too is in proper order. Despite this they are blind. These observations have been noted for other organs of the body like nose, ear, hand etc too. The anatomical designing and nervous systems are in proper shape and yet these organs do not function. This proves that it is not the physical/anatomical organ (eye, ear etc) that is enjoying/experiencing their objects. Obviously there lies a separate and yet related entity/principle that is the one which is experiencing/enjoying sense objects. What is the precise nature of this experiencing principle? The answer is Consciousness. It pervades man's entire physical body and thus bestows capacity on our senses in order to experience/enjoy sense objects. This conscious principle that pervades every pore of our body without exception is called soul or Atman. Eternal infinite bliss or Ananda lies in our soul. A living being experiences bliss in his soul. Bliss or joy lies not in material objects or in our physical sense organs. It is the sole monopoly of our soul.

It is man's own soul that is the be all and end all of life. Without his soul man is but a heap of dust. When the soul leaves man's body at the time of death his body is called a corpse. A corpse is quickly disposed off via burying, cremating etc. All relationships that exist in this world have their basis in our soul. If ones soul is related to an object, individual etc one loves that thing or person until then. When this soul based connection is snapped all our love, attachment too disappears. Someone is very attached to his/her friend. When one meets this friend ones heart rejoices. When one is physically away from this friend ones heart experiences the pain of separation. But the day this friendship ends (due to any reason) this very friend no longer is important for us and that he/she is just another ordinary human being in our eyes. Now no longer is one overjoyed on seeing this friend (of the past) nor is one unhappy when this friend goes far away from us. In fact sometimes this friendship becomes so much soured that when we meet this friend we find him/her very obnoxious. Thus love, joy etc are all related to ones soul and not to an individual, object etc. The world of joy lies in ones soul (Atman). SEARCH FOR JOY AND ETERNAL BLISS IN YOUR SACRED SOUL. SEARCHING FOR JOY IN MATERIAL PURSUITS DEVOID OF SPIRITUAL VALUES IS LIKE A THIRSTY DEER RUNNING MADLY TOWARDS A MIRAGE IN A HOT DESSERT IN SEARCH OF WATER ONLY TO LOSE ITS PRECIOUS LIFE DUE TO UNQUENCHED THIRST.

It is man's own qualities and character that attract love and affection. Lack of such qualities and character renders his life futile and demeaned. Thus he is no longer liked by anyone and none look upon him as attractive. In order to understand this, take the relationship between a mother and her infant. As long as a child gets breast milk and affection from its mother, the child clings to her. The child loves its mother intensely. Not for even a moment does the child like to stay away from its beloved mother. Even if for a few minutes the mother goes somewhere the child wails aloud. But when this very child grows up and no longer needs its mother's milk, he or she no longer cry or hanker for her attention. In fact these grown up children tend to stay separately from their parents and instead of breast milk they get attached to a bottle (could be milk or alcohol etc.). It is man's inner personality that creates situations of love, affection etc in relation to others.

So the question asked is: Where is the source/fount of man's special qualities? The answer is none other than our soul. We have already pointed out that without the soul man's body is nothing but a stinking corpse. There is no question of love and affection existing in a corpse that is totally inert. It is the soul's subtle power that controls man's mind, vital force (Prana) and physical body. The moment the contact between the soul and the above 3 becomes imbalanced or weakened all our bodily activities too get disarrayed. An otherwise healthy and balanced body is now rendered weak and imbalanced. The vital force weakens a great deal and the mind becomes imbalanced and lunatic.

Under such fearful circumstances no individual of the world can love another individual nor harbor any goodwill towards anybody. Thus it is man's own soul who is his true friend, relative and benefactor. The onus lies on man himself that he augments his character for the better and thus augments the value of his presence in society. It is most required that man turns to his beloved soul for joy, happiness and creativity. Man should search for joy, peace etc on an eternal basis in his very soul.

Joy does not lie in an individual's body, sense objects etc. True joy rests in ones own soul. All the objects of the world are inert and lifeless. By themselves they cannot give joy or sorrow to anyone. We experience joy and sorrow only when our soul contacts objects or individuals. When this soul contact is snapped we neither experience pain or pleasure. It is our soul that influences objects etc so as to make them desirable or otherwise. Without this soul's influence all material objects are insipid and lifeless. Inertness renders objects ugly and unwanted.

The more one's soul gets attached to a person, object etc the more the latter become dear to us and the lesser the attachment of the soul the more one detests them. Bliss is related to ones sole only and not to any object etc. Thus love your soul and make it radiant and attractive. With this radiant soul one can contact the world of material objects and beings without undergoing bondage. Our soul is the centre of knowledge and wisdom. It is the foundation stone of bliss and peace. The seed of prosperity and all round progress lies hidden in it. It is the very substratum of heaven and salvation. The proverbial wish fulfilling tree (Kalpa Vriksha) grows not outside but it does so in our own very soul. Everything exists in the soul and the soul is the be all and end all of everything. One should meditate and worship the soul because it is the infinite store house of peace, prosperity and eternal bliss. He who masters his soul, masters the external world too. He who has seen his soul has seen all that needs to be seen. He who attains the soul has definitely attained all that requires to be attained. This is because the soul abounds in joy, peace and eternal infinite bliss.

It is sheer stupidity on our part to search for eternal joy in external material pursuits when the fact remains that true joy lies within i.e. in our very soul. Inert objects can neither give joy nor sorrow. If one analyzes this observation more closely it becomes clear that it is more prudent to search for joy within ones soul and not go astray like that deer which runs after an illusory dessert mirage in order to quench its thirst. Maya is nothing but our spiritual ignorance which erroneously induces human beings to focus on gross material aspects of the world. Such ignorant men do not make efforts to make a deeper and subtle analysis of life and this material world and thus they run miles away from true reality. Great seers of ancient India called Rishis have pointed towards eternal peace and happiness by saying: The light of research should be turned inwards (soul). The famous Western philosopher Carlisle too proclaims: Turn the search light inwards.

No force of attraction exists in objects or individuals. When our soul experiences oneness with them they appear dear to us. We all are attached to some special set of people and objects. But the moment we succeed in attaining them our attraction for them starts depleting. If for some reason our attachment towards these objects/individuals diminishes we feel a sense of aversion to them in spite of the fact that very recently they were very dear to us. The object/individual is the same yet for some time they are dear to us and later they fail to attract us any more. The reason for this is very clear; our attachment at the mental level towards these objects has diminished.

If we succeed in deeply imbibing this precept we can continue our attraction for people/objects for a long time span by remaining attached to them. But the idea is to enlarge our attachment to a wider range of objects/individuals of the world and ultimately a day will dawn when every pore of the cosmos will be dear to us eternally without exceptions. Despite being aware of this great spiritual truth people feign ignorance. In order to search for joy they run amuck after a few individuals and objects. If only one renounces this illusory mirage one can manifest oneness with the entire world and thus enjoy untold eternal bliss and peace.

Generally one experiences grief and pain when one is separated from ones beloved people/objects. If one truly realizes that separation is bound to follow union just as death follows birth one will always be mentally prepared for separation at any point in time. When we inhale air we know that the very next moment it will be exhaled and thus our breathing activities continue smoothly and uninterruptedly. When we inhale there is no joy and when we exhale there is no grief. One dies and the other is born. Birth in any household is strongly related to the grief of death. It is only when one businessman incurs losses that another makes profits. If we mentally imbibe the fact that just like darkness-light, day-night, heat-cold etc separation follows union and that losses follow gain one will neither experience too much joy or sorrow in the realms of attachment/aversion and loss/gain in ones daily life. Our spiritual ignorance is that culprit which induces intense pleasure when we like something and intense hatred when we dislike something. Thus like pendulums or waves in the ocean we arise to great heights and then dash on to the ground with the same intensity. This is the root cause of our transient joys and grief which lead to emotional and mental stress. If only our thinking which is ensnared by spiritual ignorance is freed from the latter's shackles and if only man deeply understands the relentless cosmic cycle of birth, death, creation, destruction etc he can become mentally serene, poised and contented on an eternal basis. In a flash this divine mental state can give us heavenly bliss and joy. It is the virus called spiritual ignorance or Maya that deludes our psyche and thus like children seated on a seashore we foolishly clap our hands in joy when waves arise to great heights and lament when they dash down with a bang on to the shore.

Nature has covered a bag of urine and feces with an attractive wrapper called the human body so that this foul smelling bag does not spread its stench everywhere. People are mesmerized with this attractive covering along with its youth. The eternal thirst for beauty can be easily satiated right from an enchanting flower to the innocence of a child but our distorted minds full of lewd lust agitates every male and female. Thus they end up doing things which they should totally refrain from doing. Slight scratching of the lowly urinary area can induce human beings to carry out undesirable lustful acts. If only the veil of illusion called Maya had been lifted from our psyche all our lustful thinking could be destroyed. Such a person overcomes all attachment and attraction for this transient body and instead the ever radiant soul full of bliss and serenity would have manifested in his/her bosom. Lewd lust could have been replaced by sacred divine love for all. Such sacred hearted couples could then have jointly showered this all encompassing love for world welfare and well being. Today's hell like married life based solely on physical attractions could have been made more sacred and all encompassing. Households with the pillars of sacred ideals and human values could have then made the entire earth heavenly and divine. It is the witch called spiritual ignorance which mesmerizes our senses to mere physical attractions and consequently we lose the paradise of eternal soul bliss and peace.

If only man understands his true nature, goal of life and righteous duty his thinking and endeavor can become outstanding both materially and spiritually. Such a person is none other than God Himself because even the dust of his feet spreads the fragrance of sanctity in all directions of the world. But alas! The veil of ignorance in his mind has made a beast of him and he does not think twice while indulging in unethical lowly acts. It is ignorance that makes our life a living hell and thus we hear wails of anguish and grief just about everywhere.