This name and form, this Mr. So-and-So, this Mrs. So-and-So, this is not the true ‘you’. It is just a personality superimposed upon your true being by your parents. They gave you a name. They called you ‘this’ and they called you ‘that’, but this name-form personality is not the true you. Changeless from childhood, into youth, into adulthood, into middle age, into old age is that “I” which is within you. It was within you when you were an infant; it was within you when you were a child running here and there; it was within you when you began to grow. It was within you when you were an adult and lost your peace of mind by going after pleasurable objects; it was within you when you became weighed down with the responsibility of a householder’s life; and it will be within you when you come to experience old age. This unchanging “I” within—try to find out what it is. Give yourself a chance of turning within, a chance of stilling the mind and not allowing it to go externally towards objects. And then look within and try to find in silence, in a little peace, the “I”, and you will find that the real “I” within is peace, bliss, all-light, all-fullness. There, there is no need, no want. You do not feel any lack of sufficiency there. It is all-full and no desire permeates that sacred realm, for it is an experience of all-fullness. Every one of you can possess this supreme experience of all-fullness, all-joy and peace right now, right here; it does not have to be manufactured. You do not have to go out of yourself somewhere in order to reach that blessed state. It is your birthright. It is your privilege and prerogative to claim. Stop being a slave to the senses and stop this ceaseless running outside towards petty and imperfect objects and be silent with your Self and know that you are bliss, know that you are fullness. Rise above desire and be aware of your true nature which is incomparable bliss, which is indescribable happiness.
This incomparable bliss is within the reach of every single human being, from the very fact of your being a human being. It is your claim. It is your heritage from your Divine origin. You are all from that perennial source of Infinite Bliss which people call “God”, which people call “The Supreme”, “The Reality”, “The Truth”, “The Spirit”. Call It what you may; approach It however you will; worship It in whatever way you want to—it does not matter. But, know that It is right here within you: that perennial and changeless source of ineffable and indescribable bliss and joy. It requires nothing to attain, only willingness on your part to give away that which is petty, that which is paltry, and to aspire for and seek that which is incomparable, which is peerless—the “I” within you which is your true essential nature.
The first condition is to make use of your intelligence and try not to be deluded by the attractive objects of the senses. They will lead you on a merry-go-round, a wild goose chase which never ends, for pleasures, you see, can never be subdued by satisfaction. The enjoyment of sense pleasures tends only to accentuate the desire for them. Enjoyment intensifies craving. You cannot put an end to desires that way. You can put an end to them only by awakening to a higher sense of discrimination and knowing the sense-objects for what they are worth, saying, “I, who have been made in the spiritual image of my Divine Parent, will disdain to go after these paltry things which are like bones thrown before a dog. I am the son of the Emperor of emperors and I shall claim my priceless heritage and not go after paltry things”. And, if you do that, if you discriminate and reject that which is paltry, you become heir to that which is of supreme splendour.
Inner renunciation implies discrimination between what is really happiness and what is merely an appearance, and rejection of that which is not of the essential nature of happiness and turning away from it mentally. Mental renunciation born of discrimination—that is the secret of this spiritual quest. That is the starting point of the path beyond sorrow. In one of the greatest Upanishads, the teaching comes to us: “O man, before each human being there always present themselves two paths—one which is merely attractive and seemingly pleasant and the other which leads towards the good, towards your true welfare”. The unthinking one easily succumbs to the route of that which is pleasant and seemingly attractive; and thus he misses his own welfare, his own good. Whereas, the one who is wise, with discrimination awakened within him, examines the two paths and finds out the true nature of the apparently attractive and pleasant and rejects it and always takes the other path which takes him towards the good and there he finds his welfare. There he finds true happiness. This choice of paths presents itself to everyone of you, every day, always, all through your life, from the very beginning. And upon you alone will depend what path you take—whether you are lured away by that which is pleasant and apparently attractive or whether you have within you the light of discrimination which irresistibly takes you towards that which is good, which leads towards your welfare.
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Next: Chapter 1: Bliss Is Within, 8.Your Unhappiness Is Your Own Creation
Energy Enhancement Enlightened Texts Sri Swami Sivananda The Path Beyond Sorrow
Chapter 1
- Sri Swami Sivananda, The Path Beyond Sorrow Chapter 1: Bliss Is Within
Sri Swami Sivananda, The Path Beyond Sorrow Chapter 1: Bliss Is Within, Beloved Immortal Atman! I deem it a great pleasure and blessedness that God has given me this unique opportunity of being of some service to you, seeking and aspiring souls upon this earth-plane, and for this privilege I thank Him who is the Indweller of you all, the Source of our very existence, the all-pervading Presence enveloping this very universe, who is amongst us invisibly even at this moment and who blesses us at energyenhancement.org
- Sri Swami Sivananda, The Path Beyond Sorrow Chapter 1: Bliss Is Within, 1.Pleasure Is Not Happiness
Sri Swami Sivananda, The Path Beyond Sorrow Chapter 1: Bliss Is Within, 1.Pleasure Is Not Happiness, When we observe life on the human plane, what do we see? Everyone is in constant quest of true happiness. Happiness is the quest of smiles; we have concealed sighs and sorrows, much grief and disappointment. Why? Why is this phenomenon observed everywhere in the world? This question has been pondered over, has been investigated. And we have been answered. With the dawn of discrimination, we come to realise that we have done something very foolish, because we have missed the path which leads to happiness and strayed off into the by-paths of pleasures. Happiness is one thing; mere pleasure is another. Missing the path to happiness and wandering off into the by-paths of pleasures, we are, as it were, lost beings wandering in a jungle where we do not know the correct direction to take, the correct path to pursue, to reach the destination at energyenhancement.org
- Sri Swami Sivananda, The Path Beyond Sorrow Chapter 1: Bliss Is Within, 2.Mans Triune Nature
Sri Swami Sivananda, The Path Beyond Sorrow Chapter 1: Bliss Is Within, 2.Mans Triune Nature, Man is a being partaking of a triune nature. As an intelligent human being you have, at the same time, a part which is very base in its expression and full of gross propensitiesdesire, passion, sensuality, greed, anger, blindness at energyenhancement.org
- Sri Swami Sivananda, The Path Beyond Sorrow Chapter 1: Bliss Is Within, 3.The Mental Ferment
Sri Swami Sivananda, The Path Beyond Sorrow Chapter 1: Bliss Is Within, 3.The Mental Ferment, That particular element in you which makes you human is the mind. It is a doubtful bestowal by God upon individual soul. It is not a too happy thing to have, for, rationality and intelligence, though no doubt good, are for the most part never utilized, never properly exercised as they ought to be. In most people, intelligence is not exercised at all at energyenhancement.org
- Sri Swami Sivananda, The Path Beyond Sorrow Chapter 1: Bliss Is Within, 4.The Mechanics of Sense Satisfaction
Sri Swami Sivananda, The Path Beyond Sorrow Chapter 1: Bliss Is Within, 4.The Mechanics of Sense Satisfaction, What happens is this. There arises a desire, a craving is created, and then you are urged to go after some sense-object in order to satisfy the craving and you feel that it has been enjoyable. You tell yourself: I have felt pleasure. I have enjoyed the sense-object. Actually, this so-called experience which you have undergone is not a positive experience of enjoyment at all. It is just an illusion. The actual experience, in fact, if you examine it, is thisthe experience you get at the end of an activity to obtain a sense-object is but the momentary quiescence that ensues in the mind as a result of the corresponding desire-urge having subsided for the time being at energyenhancement.org
- Sri Swami Sivananda, The Path Beyond Sorrow Chapter 1: Bliss Is Within, 5.Instances of Irrational Rationality
Sri Swami Sivananda, The Path Beyond Sorrow Chapter 1: Bliss Is Within, 5.Instances of Irrational Rationality, How many are wise? How many use the intellect rationally? We have to analyse the objects of this universe. We have to see them, not as they appear to be, but as they truly are and analyse the experiences from the objects as they really are and not as we perceive them in a state of non-discrimination. We have to enquire. This intelligence which God has given us we must use; and use rationally, not with bias at energyenhancement.org
- Sri Swami Sivananda, The Path Beyond Sorrow Chapter 1: Bliss Is Within, 6.The Tumult of the Senses Vs. The Music Of the Soul
Sri Swami Sivananda, The Path Beyond Sorrow Chapter 1: Bliss Is Within, 6.The Tumult of the Senses Vs. The Music Of the Soul, It is peace of mind which is the condition prerequisite for the experience of true happiness. Is that not more important than the removal of a little restlessness and craving, a little agitation caused by desire? Which is the more important? You may say: If desires come, we have to satisfy them. That is the way to remove them and that is the way to get pleasures. So saying, you remove the fly of desire rather than protect the grandmother of true peace of mind by which alone you can find happiness. Real happiness comes out of peace at energyenhancement.org
- Sri Swami Sivananda, The Path Beyond Sorrow Chapter 1: Bliss Is Within, 7.Bliss Is Thy Nature: Bliss Is Thy Heritage
Sri Swami Sivananda, The Path Beyond Sorrow Chapter 1: Bliss Is Within, 7.Bliss Is Thy Nature: Bliss Is Thy Heritage, This name and form, this Mr. So-and-So, this Mrs. So-and-So, this is not the true you. It is just a personality superimposed upon your true being by your parents. They gave you a name. They called you this and they called you that, but this name-form personality is not the true you. Changeless from childhood, into youth, into adulthood, into middle age, into old age is that I which is within you. It was within you when you were an infant; it was within you when you were a child running here and there; it was within you when you began to grow at energyenhancement.org
- Sri Swami Sivananda, The Path Beyond Sorrow Chapter 1: Bliss Is Within, 8.Your Unhappiness Is Your Own Creation
Sri Swami Sivananda, The Path Beyond Sorrow Chapter 1: Bliss Is Within, 8.Your Unhappiness Is Your Own This unhappiness is your own creation. It is self-created. It is due to non-discrimination and due to your having become the slave of your own senses. And therefore, what you have yourself caused, you have it within your own power to cast aside. So, even as your sorrow has been self-caused, your happiness too can be self obtained through your own efforts. It does not have to be self-created, because it is there already. It has only to be grasped and this is in your own hands. You are the one who has to move towards that which is awaiting you to experience it at energyenhancement.org
- Sri Swami Sivananda, The Path Beyond Sorrow Chapter 1: Bliss Is Within, 9.Develop Virtue: You Develop Happiness
Sri Swami Sivananda, The Path Beyond Sorrow Chapter 1: Bliss Is Within, 9.Develop Virtue: You Develop Happiness, How can you set about doing it? The basic thing is that happiness springs out of a life of virtue. That is what the great science of Yoga tells you. There cannot be happiness without virtue. Here I wish to make it quite plain that I am not sermonizing. Someone told me, In the West, people do not like sermonizing. Dont sermonize. Well, I cannot completely fulfil that wish, for to some extent, this humble servant who stands before you and speaks to you at this moment does sermonize, but then, this sermonizing is of a different variety at energyenhancement.org
- Sri Swami Sivananda, The Path Beyond Sorrow Chapter 1: Bliss Is Within, 10.The Higher Happiness of Your True Being
Sri Swami Sivananda, The Path Beyond Sorrow Chapter 1: Bliss Is Within, 10.The Higher Happiness of Your True Being, Thus, developing virtues is the direct way to experience happiness on the lower psychological level. But on a higher level, this is not enough. You should not be satisfied with the happiness that you get on the mental level, though even that experience you will find most exhilarating. That itself is a great gain, but still greater is the happiness that you should aim at. That greater happiness is the happiness of your true being, of your real nature, of the Spirit within, and that comes by constantly being above body, above senses, above mind and intellect. Beyond all these is the eternal, changeless, silent Witness (Consciousness) of all the changeful modes of these lower aspects of your being at energyenhancement.org
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