The path to happiness

Ravi Valluri explains how an uncluttered mind and a positive attitude together can open the door to bliss and jollity

Apessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; and an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty,” wrote Winston Churchill.

Positive oriented people seize opportunities during adversity, some magic conspired by the Universe takes place and events automatically unfold. Now these efficacious and positively inclined people do not complain, crib or grumble. Those who hold a grouse and bleat about result in becoming non-achievers.

The world of cricket

For a moment in the amphitheatre let our minds recall and float to some riveting moments of the fascinating game of cricket. Indians are in any case a cricket insane nation.

Now, there are only three iconic and voguish players in cricketing history, namely Garry Sobers, Ravi Shastri and Yuvraj Singh who struck 6 sixers in an over. In that triumphant moment these talismanic players were in a messianic quarter and precinct. They were obviously in a zone of happiness.

An uncluttered mind, is a mind in the present moment and is in absolute peace with itself and in that zone of jollity. When an individual is in such a state the mind remains focused and fully concentrated.

This could be say in the game of sports like cricket or soccer, or the spiritual realm or even while performing daily chores, which may apparently appear quotidian or prosaic at the subterranean level where an individual needs to give his/her hundred percent.

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar in his teachings lays tremendous importance on being in the present moment and providing 100% percent.

A child always gives 100 percent as the infant is living in the present moment. The child is in a meditative state. He does not get easily distracted and luxuriates even while say savoring his chocolate or playing with a set of toys.

Children do not complain. And even if they display displeasure, it is singularly momentary. They of course demand attention which is quite charming in nature or are engaged in their own magical world.

Stephen Hawking the noted scientist had succinctly observed , “People won’t have time for you if you are always complaining or angry.”

We have all the time for children as they are endearing, loving, caring and attentive and most importantly not complaining or ensnared by antipathetic and Sisyphean thoughts of anger and arrogance.

Why is a child attractive?

The innocence of a child is magnetic and the USP. A child is in the zone of happiness as the infant or a toddler displays the attitude of being childlike and not childish. The alluring nature of a child is that of an infant Lord Krishna which draws the devout towards the divine.

Let us take a case of a harmonious household and a house filled with negative vibes. We are attracted to the former. Nature provides abundance to such households.

The grace of the Divine, the grace of the Guru flows like a waterfall. Imagine a household which has an alcoholic father, a demanding mother and irritable children! It spews out negative emotions and thought processes. They keep complaining and grumbling and lose out on whatever positivity that could have been bestowed by nature.

Positive thinking people should buttress on a couple of points.

One, be grateful and thankful after completion of the task without waiting for the outcome and second, once the result is known be eternally grateful and thankful for the result even if it is not favorable!

This generates a positive aura around us and the universe conspires to provide us with several more such opportunities.

Many times we may not get the desired result which we aspired for, but nature or the universe blesses us in some other manner. This is the intrinsic secret. We need to be happy in our disposition. Happiness begets additional happiness and the magnetic aura around us expands providing us with several more opportunities.

Can we be happy always, can we be positive at all times? These doubts perennially crop up. Such is the character of the mind. If the mind does not think about ‘always’ it will be happy at least in the present moment. This requires relentless Sadhana or practice.

May be knowledge alone does not provide answers or succor to our problems.

Then it is our faith and surrender to the Divine that help. We need to surrender our past, present and future to the Guru and Divine. Both Guru and Divine are interchangeable.

“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn’t do. So throw off the bowlines, sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore, dream, discover,” wrote Mark Twain.

This should be the endeavor, to discover and execute with a positive frame of mind. Then we are in a zone of happiness like a child.