Living a Happy and Satisfied Life

[silence_speaks]

Acceptance:

Self acceptance is very important if I want to lead a life thats fulfilled and happy. Self acceptance means I accept myself as I AM. Usually people look at themselves as acceptable only subject to conditions . I am ok if I am rich and successful but not ok if I am stupid. Thats the kind of notions people entertain about themselves.

A sage is someone who accepts you as you are. Simply as you are. As even God takes you and accepts you as you are. Long before we accept others as they are, we need to learn to accept ourselves as we are!

As long as we "Evaluate" ourselves on the basis of what we have , we are doing injustice to ourselves. We are really hurting ourselves. Suppose we happen to meet God. God cannot say "I cannot accept you because you did such and such a thing". He can never say that, even if we were the worst criminals. Because, we can always ask "Oh! Then why did you not stop us from doing it?"
God does not evaluate based on actions or possessions. Thats why one can always go to God and say Lord, please accept me. And one is always assured of an acceptance.

This is the general notion of God. God is Total Acceptance. Do we see that ? I am not suddenly bringing in God. God is not yet another person sitting in the skies. God is just another name for Total Acceptance. Total Acceptance is born out of total understanding only. There is no other way.

There is a story that there was a devotee who was very orthodox. He never used to eat food until he served some one- atleast one guest. So one day he was waiting and no one appeared and then he saw a poor beggar... he was wearing shabby torn rags and he did not even take bath. But the devotee had no alternative, there was no one around so he called him in to serve. Before serving he told the beggar to take bath, but he said "I never take bath. IF you want to give me food, give it like this or else forget it". And then a little later he said "ok, atleast chant Lord's name once" and the beggar shouted "I am an atheist, I do not believe in God. If you want to give me food, give me like this or ill go"... when he heard this the devotee could not bear it , he got furious and so he sent him away from his house without giving food.

God said "My child, I have been giving him food for the past 50 odd years and you could not give him food for just one day ?"

Can we Accept ourselves as we are, not for what we "have" ?That needs very careful understanding. We will see how things go.



[To be Continued ...]

[Believer]

Namaste,

Trying to educate people is commendable, but do the authors ever think about,

1. Is anyone reading my posts?
2. Does all this sterile, analytical information completely devoid of spirituality help anyone?
3. Am I fulfilling my dream in making these posts, or do I hope some may benefit from them?
4. Would providing a link to the blog be more appropriate or should I be doing a copy and paste all over the digital world?
5. All the mundane stories about a man getting mad at a beggar for not washing or showing reverence to the Lord; or about honey being inside the jar and no one getting anything by licking the outside, have been around for millions of years, and also brought to this forum on numerous previous occasions. Is there any value added by filling the space again?
6. Is there any desire to summarize and suggest a practical approach to life without being long winded, esoteric and scientifically analytical, as if it was a PhD paper?
7. If silence is golden, why does it speak so much, and if it speaks, why should we call it silence?

[To be continued.......]

Pranam.

[Twilightdance]

why it should save some of us from reading the speaking tree or listening to brahma kumaris on tv.

[Eastern Mind]

1. Is anyone reading my posts?

Vannakkam B: Yeah, I stopped my character building thread after I noticed nobody responding. I guess everyone here is already perfect, so there is no use concentrating on something mundane like honesty when we can discuss high-falutin' philosophy instead.

Aum Namasivaya

[yajvan]

hariḥ oṁ
~~~~~~

namasté


[to be continued...]

That is why living a happy and satisfied life is perplexing to achieve. Why so ? Because the pursuit continues life-after-life and never put to rest, it is [to be continued...]. Never brought to conclusion. It is the moha¹ of life-events that propels one on , again and again looking for that satisfaction.

IMHO one needs to get 'fed up' with this perpetual chase and say let me end it now, let me find a way to halt this silly chase.

I for one have come to this conclusion. I no longer wish to be the hamster on the wheel of birth-after-birth. This is the fundamental teaching found in the beginning chapters of the yogavasișțharāmāyaṇa (yoga-vasișțha-rāmāyaṇa)¹.

One finally comes to appreciate the wisdom of the chāndogya upaniṣad: nārada-ji says, nālpe sukham asti or finite (alpa) things do not (na) contain happiness (suka).

[to be continued...] ? With His grace (anugraha) , I hope not.


praṇām

• moha - bewilderment , perplexity , distraction , infatuation , delusion , error
• chapters 1 and 2:
  • Vairāgya prakaraṇaṃ - vairāgya is dispassion, non-attachment
  • Mumukṣu prakaraṇaṃ - mumukṣu is a seeker with the burning desire for kaivala or mokṣa (liberation)

[Vasa]

Namaste.

I will search for your post EMji, it sounds useful.

[Eastern Mind]

Namaste.

I will search for your post EMji, it sounds useful.

Vannakkam: Here you go, then. http://www.hindudharmaforums.com/sho...acter+Building I only did the first 8 of 52 before quitting. But there are other threads on yamas and niyamas as well, which also focus on the practical aspect of Hinduism more, if it interests you.

Aum Namasivaya

[Viraja]

This is such an interesting topic, I have given lot of thought to it in my life.

Besides the most essentials such as sound health (devoid of handicaps) and enough money for easy living, my priorities for a very satifactory life are:

1. Excellent communication skills - they are such a great asset!

2. Great friendships.

3. Meaningful and lasting relations - marriage, kith and kin.

4. Ability and desire to work - physically, mentally to keep oneself occupied meaningfully through the day.

5. Devotion.

If the above 5 are there, to me, the life would be a bed of roses (I am not having many of those in the list ).

No way I think lots of money as a means of giving great satisfaction in life - it appears actually to be a burden.

[Believer]

Namaste,

I am writing the first responses that came to my mind for every point below. This is in no way a commentary on the authors post, positive or negative; just what popped into my head when I read them. I hope it is taken in that spirit, and not as a critique of the points raised.

....my priorities for a very satifactory life are:

1. Excellent communication skills - they are such a great asset! - Join Toastmasters, I did, many, many years ago and it did wonders for me.

2. Great friendships. - Be the friend that you want to have.

3. Meaningful and lasting relations - marriage, kith and kin. - Important but ultimately bonds to material life.

4. Ability and desire to work - physically, mentally to keep oneself occupied meaningfully through the day. - Everyone should, only parasites are non-productive.

5. Devotion. - the essence of life

Pranam.

[silence_speaks]

Dear Believer,


I am really glad that you have atleast started some discussion on this.Firstly, its absolutely fine if people find this article as not useful. An Article of this type applies to specific audience. Even as a Phd thesis is totally uninteresting to a school kid. And if two people from different brachnes share their thesis even then there is total disinterest and lack of understanding. The correct audience would be able to appreciate. Thats not what I expect from a vast majority of people. Firstly most people are not even ready for this. Of those who are ready there are very few who have the required clarity to differentiate one philosophic system from another! And then there are many who are already conditioned to believe or think in a certain way!

The topic of this discussion is " Advaita Vedanta". though ... I could have named it and added up lot of verses, I chose not to. Vedanta Shastra is called Darshana Shastra: It gives a glimpse of the Truth. One who has Known the Truth can convey to a person who is "ready" to know.

Now let me explain each of your points...

Namaste, [NAMASTE]

Trying to educate people is commendable [Thank you], but do the authors ever think about, [Frankly not much until I saw your post. The vision thats conveyed is not for everyone. It serves those who are ready only.]

1. Is anyone reading my posts?

[He who has to read, reads. The point is ... There are people who are not registered also. There are people who may read in future. And more importantly I read.]

2. Does all this sterile, analytical information completely devoid of spirituality help anyone?

[Well ... Labels like "Sterile" , "Analytical" etc would make one not read it. The point is , such an article as this has a purpose ... it serves its purpose for a person who is eager to know ! A person who is eager to know would find this article useful. I do not know who is eager. As of now, no one asked a question or discussed a "Point" I presented. ]

3. Am I fulfilling my dream in making these posts, or do I hope some may benefit from them?

[I answered this in 2. There is no question of "Fulfilling Dreams through a post" . Posts can be written. If you delete this I write somewhere else .]

4. Would providing a link to the blog be more appropriate or should I be doing a copy and paste all over the digital world?
[
I do not mind copy pasting! My blog does not contain this particular article. I will keep re-posting this again and again. Two reasons to this:
a) Space complexity of text content is not very hight and there are already useless talks and nonsense discussions which are all over in the internet.
b) With so many purely nonsensical articles around ... a few times reposting this would be useful for people whom it addresses. Atleast so I believe.]


5. All the mundane stories about a man getting mad at a beggar for not washing or showing reverence to the Lord; or about honey being inside the jar and no one getting anything by licking the outside, have been around for millions of years, and also brought to this forum on numerous previous occasions. Is there any value added by filling the space again?

[Well, the context in which the story is presented and the meaning it conveys ... if you understand that then this question wont be there.Thanks. ]

6. Is there any desire to summarize and suggest a practical approach to life without being long winded, esoteric and scientifically analytical, as if it was a PhD paper?

[You find it as a Phd Paper because its Rigorous. Rigor is a part of vedanta study. Thats why we have Tarka Shastram and even the sanskrit language is very rigorous. These days people have what is called "Intellectual Laziness". thats a subtle kind of laziness. People who are sincere and inquiring would "Study" what I wrote and then see if it turns out practical or not. . If people are so intellecually lazy that they do not want to use their brains , then this article is not for them. That also means they lack sincerity in this inquiry. They are not really interested in doing this inquiry.]

7. If silence is golden, why does it speak so much, and if it speaks, why should we call it silence?
[Well you would have understood if you read it. Reading the article would give you some clarity as to what I am presenting. Silence is not "Absence of words". One does not become a mouni by not speaking... not even by not thinking LOL!! Silence is You. Tushnim eva asanam puja , tushnim eva asanam japam .... Ribhu Gita. I wish people do not take it to mean sit in silence and then all the time they are silent! Silence is a consequence of wisdom... become wise and you will know.]


and finally...

"TO BE CONTINUED ..." ... Well, if someone is unhappy with that ... it could mean a) the person is too eager or b) Is lazy to read such big articles ... both do not make in the list of audience for such an article. (a) because they did not convey their eagerness. (b) coz they are intellectually lazy.