Happiness PEP talk

Happiness is the sum of Pleasure(P), Engagement(E) and Purpose(P)

Pleasure

Please can be defined as any material, physical thing that we experience. It makes you happy at that point of time, but gradually we are not able to find the exact same happiness that we experienced for the very first time. Like when eat something good, it gives immense happiness, if we continue eating or overeat, our happiness will vanish and next time we will want variety of it. Same way when you buy a new mobile, 1 or 2 years later you find it old as there is a new variety or model that came into picture. Similarly you will not go to the same destination for every vacation, however beutiful the place may be, you not enjoy the same Joke that once made you laugh. Pleasure brings happiness but non lasting, once it goes away you become upset. If you single mindedly chase pleasure very soon you will find nothing pleasing you anymore.

Engagement

Engagement is getting involved in the things you like doing, it can be a hobby or profession or anything else. If you do what you like you are very much satisfied, and its more sustainable, more fulfilling. For example if you are watching an international cricket or football match, it gives you happiness from inside. At the same time if you go out and play the sport, it will give you more satisfaction, however bad you may play. Watching is passive consumption, doing is active engagement. So engagement gives more happiness than pleasure.

Purpose

Finding the meaning of life is the purpose of life. Thakur Sri Ramakrishna said, you can add as many zeros(0) as you want, but if the one(1) is absent, all the accumulated zeros become valueless.  He is pointing to all the things in the world as zeros and asking us to find the One. The One that we are searching, are inside us only, but we are trying to find it outside. We are searching on the wrong side. As per Vedas I am Satcitananda  (eternal existence), I am Chaitanya(eternal consciousness) also I am Ananda Swarup(eternal happiness). Now look I am atman inside, but we search fulfillment outside, you can never find it outside. Atman is continuous bliss and the highest bliss. We get most of the happiness from Atman. Analogy is- the objects or things that makes me happy we want to keep it, preserve it, never let that thing go, like we buy the things we like. Similarly the thing that makes me unhappy or unsatisfied we try to let that go away like our old computer, mobile. Now think, if we want to keep something, hold on to it forever, then that thing must be giving happiness to us like our parents, family, friends. We all say I want to live, let me be. If this is true then why people commit suicide, why they want to finish their lives. If we ask a suicidal person that we are fixing all your problems, it will be gone forever, do you still want to die? the answer will always be NO, I want to live. As such we don't hate ourselves. I am the continuous source of happiness and maximum source of happiness. Now see I and Atman is all same, the ONE.