What do all of us seek in life?

In this world different persons have different desires. One person longs for promotion in his job, another wants to get married, another wants children, another lot of wealth, and so on. But if we ask each of them why he/she wants this, he/she will say, “It is because I feel that it will make me happy”. So what everyone ultimately desires is happiness. It has therefore been said that everything other than happiness is desired for the sake of getting happiness, but happiness is desired for its own sake and not for the sake of any thing else. Happiness is thus an end in itself. Vedanta says that this is because happiness is our own real nature. The nature of water is to be cold. If it is placed on fire it becomes hot, but if it is taken off it becomes cold again. It goes back to its own nature. Similarly we always want to go to our own nature.

During the waking state we experience joy from various external objects and events. We experience great happiness during sleep as is evident from the fact that when a person gets up from sleep he says that he slept happily. This happiness does not come from any external object. It is the happiness that is our own nature that is experienced in sleep. However great may be the happiness that one gets from external objects during the waking state, a time comes when the person feels tired of them and wants to go to sleep. Therefore the happiness in sleep is what is desired most by all. This is the happiness that is our own nature.

If happiness is our nature, why is it not always experienced? That is because the agitations in the mind prevent the happiness from manifesting itself. When a person intensely desires something, his mind is agitated with fears about whether his desire will be fulfilled or not. At such a time there can be no happiness. But when the desired object is realized, the mind becomes temporarily calm. Since there is nothing to prevent the manifestation of happiness at such a time, the natural happiness manifests itself. The person thinks that the happiness is due to the fulfillment of the desire, but it is really due to the temporary calmness of the mind. Thus happiness does not come from external objects or events, but happiness is experienced when the mind is calm. Therefore the way to be always happy is to be free from desire, which results in calmness of mind. This is the conclusion of Vedanta.

A person who has become totally free from desires and identification with his body, mind and sense organs is a Jivanmukta-liberate d even while living. He is the very embodiment of supreme bliss.

Every one of us is Brahman even now, but we wrongly look upon ourselves as the body-mind complex. Mukti or liberation is only the removal of this wrong notion and the realization, as an actual experience, that we are Brahman and not the attainment of any new state.