In spite of soul being part of Blissful Brahman, why does one experience unhappiness?

 

 

 

Causes of happiness and unhappiness

1. According to psychology

2. According to the science of Spirituality

Unrighteousness induces unhappiness.
अधर्म एव मूलं सर्व रोगाणाम्‌ ।
Meaning: The origin of an ailment, that is unhappiness lies in behaving unrighteously.
सुखं न विना धर्मात्‌ तस्‍मात्‌ धर्मपरो भवेत्‌ ।
                            - वाग्‍भटकृत अष्‍टांगहृदय, सूत्रस्‍थान २:१९
Meaning: Without following Righteousness (Dharma) one cannot experience happiness (and Bliss); hence each one should follow it. - Ashtanghruday by Vagbhat, Sutrasthan 2:19

2.1 According to the Path of Devotion (Bhaktiyoga)

Devotion unto God is happiness and forgetting Him is unhappiness.

2.2 According to the Path of Action (Karmayoga)

A. The Adhyatmaramayan [Ayodhyakand, sarga 6, verse (shloka) 6]: Lakshman tells the boatman named Guha ferrying Rama across the river,
सुखस्‍य दु:खस्‍य न कोऽपि दाता । परो ददाति इति कुबुद्धिरेषा ।
अहं करोमि इति वृथाभिमान: । स्‍वकर्मसूत्रै: ग्रथितोऽहि लोक: ।।
     Meaning: No one can give one happiness or unhappiness. Only the ignorant feel they have acquired happiness or unhappiness because of someone else. Similarly, thinking that one will achieve happiness or get rid of suffering with one’s own efforts is vanity as finally one is bound by one’s accumulated account and destiny.
B. Wilful actions, destined actions and physical and psychological suffering: Life events occur in two ways - wilful and destined actions.

C. Desire for happiness itself is the cause of unhappiness: ‘There is only one path to escape from the cycle of unhappiness and that is obliterating the desire for happiness; as due to the very desire for happiness, man while attempting to generate merits ends up creating sins and thus the cycle of birth and death continues perpetually. At the time of dissolution of the universe (pralay) as Lord Brahma is asleep, new creation is not generated. It is only during this period that the embodied soul (jiva) gets some rest. But what is the use of this rest? After Lord Brahma wakes up He once again causes us to be born according to our actions (karma). As long as desire (i.e. desire for happiness) exists one will continue to be born. In the destruction of the desire for happiness itself lies true happiness. The desire for happiness itself is the basic cause of all unhappiness. Thus, the desire for happiness is a sin’. - H.H. Kane Maharaj, Narayangaon, Pune district, Maharashtra
कालार्थकर्मणाम्‌ योगो हीन मिथ्‍याति मात्रका ।
सम्‍यक्‌ योगश्‍च विज्ञेयो सुखासुखस्‍य कारणम्‌ ।।
    Meaning: ‘The inadequate, wrong and excessive usage of time, sense objects and action (karma) is responsible for generation of unhappiness and their balanced usage, that is proper utilisation yields happiness.’ - H.H. Kane Maharaj, Narayangaon, Pune district, Maharashtra

2.3 According to the Path of Knowledge (Dnyanyoga)

A. Nescience (avidya): The word avidya (अविद्या) is derived from ‘a (अ)’ meaning absence and ‘vidya (विद्या)’ meaning knowledge. It is thus the absence of knowledge. The three qualities of the soul are Absolute Truth (Sat) which is permanent, Absolute Consciousness or Knowledge (Chit) and Bliss (Anand). [How these three qualities are one and the same is given in ‘Science of Spirituality : Chapter 28 - Path of Knowledge (Dnyanyoga)’.] This implies that spiritual knowledge is without a beginning or an end. It is eternal and Blissful. Nescience is the absence of Knowledge, the absence of Absolute Truth, Absolute Consciousness and Bliss. Happiness and unhappiness occur because of nescience.

The main component of the subtle body is the soul which is a fraction of Brahman with the qualities of Absolute Truth, Absolute Consciousness and Bliss. The soul is Blissful in nature. The covering of the Great Illusion surrounding it is called nescience (avidya). Nescience is the root cause of unhappiness. Man gets attached to money, his own house, family, city, country, etc. The greater the attachment to any individual or object, greater is the likelihood of unhappiness arising from attachment. Even an ideal social worker or a saint may become attached to the society or his devotees respectively. The greatest attachment that each one has, is for himself, that is his own mind and body. Even a slight discomfort or illness can make one unhappy; hence everyone should gradually become detached about oneself and accept pain and illness in one’s stride.
The soul and nescience together constitute the embodied soul. Nescience has nineteen components in all - the five subtle sense organs, the five subtle motor organs, the five vital energies, the mind, the subconscious mind, the intellect and the ego. Since the functions of the components of the subtle body go on continuously, the attention of the embodied soul is drawn to them instead of the soul, that is away from spiritual knowledge to nescience. Consequently though the Blissful Brahman is all pervading yet one experiences happiness or unhappiness. Examples of how happiness or unhappiness is caused when the attention of the embodied soul is drawn to the physical and the subtle body are given below.
B. Desire for happiness itself is the cause for unhappiness: ‘The Lord’s nature itself is one of Bliss. Therefore it is but natural that the creation which has originated from Him will be Blissful. Just as it is not possible for an ornament made from gold to appear as that of iron. In the holy text, Ganapati Atharvashirsha it is said that all living beings originate from the singular Bliss, sustain on it and finally blend into that Bliss. Yet one experiences unhappiness in the creation. The cause of experiencing this unhappiness is termed by philosophers as an illusion, ignorance, the Great Illusion (Maya) etc. all of which are synonymous.
No one feels that ‘he should be unhappy’. Everyone ‘desires happiness’. This feeling is generated as one’s basic nature is that of happiness. If our basic nature was unhappiness then would one not have felt that ‘one should be unhappy’? When one’s basic nature is of happiness having a desire to be happy itself is ignorance. This itself is the beginning of unhappiness. When the desire to be happy ends, that is where happiness lies. When this state is achieved then one has no reason left to be unhappy. This is the state of saints. Righteousness (Dharma) is meant for us to be released from the ignorance of happiness and unhappiness. - H.H. Kane Maharaj, Narayangaon, Pune district, Maharashtra
C. Expectation and attainment of happiness: When attainment is less than the expectation, there is unhappiness. However when it is equivalent to or more than the expectation, there is happiness.
D. Three components (trigun) and happiness and unhappiness: The three components sattva, raja and tama are from the Great Illusion (Prakruti). The sattva component imparts happiness; hence as the human mind becomes more and more sattva predominant, the creation too becomes proportionately happy and as the sattva predominance declines and is replaced by predominance of raja and tama components, proportionately the creation becomes unhappy. As the sattva component increases, love for others increases and consequently an attitude of sacrifice develops. Due to this attitude of sacrifice, one’s attitude becomes expansive day by day and one learns the art of blending with the unhappiness of others. This art itself is active compassion.
E. A resolve and happiness and unhappiness: The creation, sustenance and dissolution of the universe depend on a resolve. Then is all the suffering of the entire creation due to a resolve? How is this possible? Because each one makes a resolve for happiness and not sorrow. Then why do we experience unhappiness when we make a resolve for happiness? Its answer lies in the fact that we have lost our sattva predominant nature and have become raja and tama predominant. Therefore we have lost the ability to make our resolve come true. As The Supreme God’s resolve is of the Absolute Truth (Sat), He is able to create infinite universes within a second by His resolve. Hence, the creation will become happy in proportion to the number of people who shall attain an attitude conducive to His resolve of sustenance.
F. The Yogadarshan has classified unhappiness of living organisms and its causes into four divisions, namely hey (हेय), hetu (हेतु), han (हान) and hanopay (हानोपाय). All unhappiness and object pleasure in the world should be rejected.
All unhappiness as well as object pleasures (which also culminate in unhappiness) should be forsaken.
G. The entire creation has originated from the steady (samyak) word (from the Vedas). Its sustenance depends on the word and its dissolution too occurs with the word alone. As the word gradually becomes unsteady, that is as human behaviour becomes contrary to that prescribed by the Vedas, the creation too becomes likewise.
H. व्‍दितीयाव्‍दै भयं भवति । - बृहदारण्‍यकोपनिषद्‌, मंत्र ४१,
                                             चतुर्थ ब्राह्मण, अध्‍याय पहिला
     Meaning: Fear is generated by a foreign object. - Bruhadaranyakopanishad, mantra 41, Chaturth Brahman, chapter 1)
     Explanation: In non-duality, as everything is one there is no fear.

2.4 According to the Path of Activation of Spiritual Energy (Kundaliniyoga)

Saint Shri Vasudevanand Sarasvati, in His holy text ‘Dattamahatmya’ says - Until the vital energy (pran) enters the Sushumna channel, that is until the vital energies, pran and apan achieve an equilibrium with each other and the vital energy enters the Sushumna channel from the Muladharchakra (spiritual energy centre situated at the base of the spine) till then, it may be said that the efforts of spiritual practice are in vain. The Bliss (Anand) experienced when the spiritual energy (kundalini) ascends to the Manipurchakra (spiritual energy centre situated at the level of the navel) is akin to that experienced by an ordinary person during orgasm. This itself is referred to as the peak of worldly happiness; but this Bliss (happiness) is tama predominant while the Bliss experienced in the Manipurchakra is sattva predominant.

2.5 According to science of frequencies (spandanshastra)

Happiness and unhappiness depend on the frequencies generated from sensation, thought and imagination. If these frequencies match with the natural frequencies of the body, five sense organs, five motor organs, mind or intellect then happiness is generated from them. If these frequencies are incompatible, then they prove to be distressful. These frequencies vary according to the individual and change from time to time in the same individual. The soul principle or Brahman (God principle) has no frequencies. But when the knowledge of Brahman manifests through various media then frequencies of various intensities are generated. As the production of frequencies in us which are compatible with natural frequencies is less, generally unhappiness is experienced more often than happiness. The traversal from gross frequencies to subtle ones and finally to realisation of the supreme knowledge and the state of Bliss wherein all frequencies are destroyed is termed as spiritual progress. In such an evolved state, frequencies are not generated from any other sensations and the state of Bliss remains unaltered.

2.6 Concept of happiness and unhappiness according to various paths of Yoga

Reference:


‘Spirituality’, published by Sanatan Sanstha.
Kalpavrukshatali (Swami Muktanandanchya Sahavasat). First edition 1986. Gurudev Siddhapith, Ganeshpuri, Thane district 401206.
1. Pg. 34