Namaste friends,
Based on my life experiences so far, I was inclined to think as follows and summarize my findings on what would give us, ME, a soul-level satisfaction from living life.
Kindly comment to let me know where I may have flawed, and also, if you agree with what I have written.
"Money means a lot to a lot of people. And yes, when misfortunes like diseases visits us, money becomes most important asset to have. But is it truly worth the chase for money all the time? Often times in the world, we see people chasing beauty, wealth and power that always have an element of illusion about them - you feel jealous of a 'wealthier' man. There is always someone 'more beautiful' than you. There is always someone who is 'bossing over' you or even if you are the President of USA, your term is limited and your reign ends.
When a man was asked what are the true joys in life he would feel lucky to have, he replied, "3 tasty meals a day, sound sleep every night and a life without disease".
I have often reflected on what would bring true joy besides the above factors - I considered parameters such as being surrounded by true friends and relatives, being free of disease, etc. as some parameters that have the elusive element of 'happiness' associated with them.
But I decide on the above factors alone to be the givers of 'happiness'? NO. They add peace to life, yes. But happiness - not really. They are the basic needs for a successful life, however they alone aren't sufficient to bring 'happiness'.
Then as I thought further along, I started reflecting on my own life experiences - my childhood, my education, my friends, my job(s), my social standing, everything. So on that basis, I concluded that the most important thing for happiness in life is this - 'Aathma Tripthi' (satisfaction for the soul).
Other factors such as money, beauty, power, etc, bring 'happiness' to the mind. Whereas, these things DO NOT necessarily bring happiness to the 'soul'.
Then I further questioned myself 'what would bring happiness to the soul'?
It appeared to me that only a few factors bring the said happiness to the soul:
* A strong and beautiful personality - In Tamil we say, "we all know our own palm". This means, we all know our own self which remains a secret to ourselves. But then, can anyone feel a soulful joy for who he/she is, if the said person has a nasty personality, although known only to the self? Never. The strong personality never has excess anger, excess egotism (pride) or excess lust. Although vices are of many different nature, the main negatives of the humans are anger, egotism and lust. Where there is a mind free of the pangs of these excesses, the soul becomes burden-free and rejoices in itself.
* Ability for always engaging in fruitful action - It may be any kind of labor - be it physical (manual) labor or mental labor - labor that fetches money or labor that only helps others voluntarily - any kind of labor - but real thirst for constant and everyday labor is the true soul's thirst for feeling 'purposeful' in life. By this, I mean to address all those who are unable to work out of disabilities, out of laziness (tamas) or any other constraint. And I am convinced, if they have money, power, riches, they won't have the true joy of the soul. The soul just rejoices in true and real labor. You trust me, and ask anyone, even the person who did the most menial job, nevertheless occupied his life meaningfully throughout his life, if he is satisfied with 'who he had been', the answer would most likely be 'yes'. Whereas such a yes is doubtful, even for the richest but laziest man on earth, who did nothing whatsoever fruitfully in his life. Even in jyotish, the 10th house in a natal chart, which is the house for 'karmas' / 'deeds', is considered the most superior placement.
If you notice truly, just having the other 2 factors, one can easily win ALL OTHER FACTORS for successful life! By having a good personality, he will easily win friends, engage in good deeds, and in general be successful in his transactions and also be able to avoid pitfalls out of a balanced mind.
And by adherence to hard work, he can most likely than not succeed professionally, educationally, make money, etc.
Besides the above 2 factors, there are scores of other factors - like charity, forgiveness, etc, that are good for the soul. But, if someone would ask me 'What I want for the next life?', even if god appears before me and asks me, my answer to him would be, "Oh god! Please give me a strong (good) personality and ability to engage always in productive work, as I would like my soul to rejoice".
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