There are different forms of happiness. There is sukha, happiness derived from worldly successes, worldly exchanges. This happiness, sukha, is fleeting because always dukha, or sorrow, comes along next. In the one hand is happiness, sukha and in the other hand is sorrow, dukha. They are ever going from one to the other but there is another type of happiness that is not qualified in the same way as sukha and that isanandam. Anandam is bliss eternal and does not have these qualifications. It has no opposite expression. The bliss eternal, anandam, is not associated with any particular time, place, or person. It has its own existence and it no opposite. This happiness does not derive from the achievement of anything.
Some people say, “I want to be enlightened.” They want to experience an enlightened state of mind where they are not succumbing to the illusions of maya. They want to wipe the ignorance from the mind and be clear thinking. This is very good, very good. But what is this enlightenment? If one wants to achieve enlightenment, then there must be something unachieved. Therefore, this enlightenment has an opposite. It has a non-enlightenment and it is something you can lose, as long as it has an opposite. Anything that has an opposite can be qualified, can be contained, has boundaries and may or may not be there. Whatever is so qualified cannot be absolute truth. If it were absolute truth, it would have no qualifying factor. The people who say, “I want to be enlightened,” assume by the very statement that there is an unenlightened mind. There is the existence of a state of mind of ignorance and if there is ignorance on one hand and wisdom on the other, surely one can gain or lose. Wisdom is unconditional from this point of view but anandam, bliss eternal, is unconditional. Parama Purusha, the supreme entity, is unconditioned truth. Being unconditioned, it has no qualifying factors, no opposite.
If you want to know something unconditioned, you will have become unconditioned. If enlightenment is a conditioned state that has another state, an unenlightened state that stands side-by-side, then surely this is not an absolute truth but rather a relative truth having to do with the relative world of conditioned experience. To know the supreme is to know that which is unconditioned and unconditional so you will have to find the unconditional truth not in the conditioned mind, not in the conditioned assumptions.
There are many experiences of pleasure and of pain but the bliss of the Self surpasses all. It doesn’t depend on time, place or person so whether circumstances in life are difficult or pleasing, this bliss remains the same. For this state of bliss, this happiness has to do with awareness of the unconditioned nature of the Self, of the unitary nature of the Self. It has to do with the fundamental quality and characteristic that is the base of all conditioned experience. It is bliss for there is a joy that surpasses human understanding. It is light unconditional, bright and more brilliant than a thousand suns. It is knowledge undefined and not confined by words but known through the direct experience. This is a base. For the sadhaka, sometimes doing deep meditation to touch the periphery of this bliss, they feel, “Oh, I have just grabbed on something and now I will lose it.” That feeling comes and if one experiences this, one wonders, “How can it be said that this bliss, this happiness, this anandam which is so sweet like honey, is unconditional for when I have it, I am happy. I feel the bliss. I feel the waves of love and I am very, very happy but then it goes away. So how can it be unconditioned because I lose it and am lost in the world of conditional experience and I cannot see it? Surely, it is conditional because I can lose it!” That is not correct. This understanding comes because one looks from a certain conditioned perspective and it is only from that perspective that the nature of the divine seems conditioned. You know, if you stand at the bottom of a skyscraper and you look up, you will think that it is very, very tall and you will get one perspective but if you stand upon the top of the skyscraper and you look out at the expanse, your perspective is very different. Likewise, when one looks from the perspective of the nature of Self, one sees a very different view than when one looks from the perspective of the little ego-centered “I-ness” in the mind. The nature of Self appears to be dualistic only because the mind constructs everything in opposites and dualities. When mind is suspended, the heart opens and the waves of love are there. When the unconditioned nature is experienced, and the consciousness free from boundary and fear, one sees there is no division. It was only a figment in the mind. There is no such thing as an unenlightened state. There is no relativity of truth. There is no duality. The universe is one, one substance, one nature, one existence.
This is not visible from the perspective of duality. Therefore, in the perspective of duality all things appear dualistic but when gains the unitary consciousness, the perspective changes and this blissful Self is not associated with one body, one mind. It is in all bodies, all minds and every molecule of this universe. Therefore, this bliss is ever present and inclusive. You feel you are outside of it when you feel a sense of separation, duality, and “I-ness.” From the “I-feeling,” comes the feeling of separation, the feeling that you are different and small, therefore you must struggle to survive. From this feeling comes so much suffering and from small achievements towards the goal of your survival comes sukha, worldly happiness. Neither have anything to do with anandam.
Q. We are all enlightened already?
A. Yes, only you haven’t noticed it yet.
Q. Some have.
A. Some have. Some in this world have and some of them become teachers and they do many things. Others, they do other things, they lead and teach. Some just do good works for people but when the understanding comes that there is only the one Self, the perspective of one’s existence alters. Identification with the small “I” dissolves and it is the attachment to identification with the bodymind structure and the small “I” which causes sukha and dukha.
Q. If you don’t want to identify with the little “I,” what is the best way to open up?
A. Take remembrance of God always that all things are composed of Brahma and it is only the infinite one who is the doer of all actions. Attachment to action and the results of action cause immersion in maya. If attachment is broken due to one’s madhuvidya, it changes. Do Brahma sadhana, ideate upon the nature of the Self, open one’s heart in devotion and take mahduvidya seeing always the Self as the doer of all things. The Self is the receiver of all things and there is nothing to lose and nothing to gain. The Self is one. You are as you were and the Self is ancient. There is nothing to gain or lose. From this perspective comes a certain freedom from enmeshment and then, as mind grows in magnitude one begins to see clearly and to be free from bondages that held the mind in the past. Madhuvidya along with Brahma sadhana is the best approach. Naturally when you reside in a bodymind structure, you will have to take good care of the body and mind as well. Otherwise, it can disturb your equilibrium. Follow yama and niyama, the yogic tenets of life. This is very valuable.
Source: http://www.iw.anandawiki.com/index.php?title=Sukha,_Dukha,_and_Anandam_F
