[Advaita-l] HAPPINESS LIES IN THE ELIMINATION OF EGO

[Prashant Parikh]

HariH om,

That would seem to be an erroneous conclusion. Firstly I don't believe the
goal of Vedanta is to seek happiness by any stretch. It is to eliminate the
fundamental human problem of taking oneself to be a limited entity, through
the attainment of self knowledge, operating the shAstra as a shabda
pramana, and unfolded by a sampradayavit. The outcome here isn't happiness,
which is always in degrees (happy, very happy, ecstatic etc are but modes
of the antahkarana), but freedom through the dissociation with upAdhis, and
the sarvatma buddhi that accompanies the rise of knowledge.

Furthermore the ahankara doesn't need to be eliminated to attain mukti. It
needs to be sublated. The ahankara that identified with the upadhi would
then identify with satyam jnanam anantam brahma. The distinction between
badhita and abadhita ahankara essentially.

The above views are held valid per the sampradaya, and even by Pujya Swami
Dayananda ji (who was Sw. Sukhabodhananda ji's teacher).

Corporate Vedanta or, if I may say bluntly, the watering down of Vedanta
for "accessibility and ease" often gives the notion of learning. And yes,
no doubt some qualities are cultivated, such as humility, shraddha, bhakti
etc toward the Guru and teachings, which will give "relative happiness",
but the jnana tends to be in virodh to the actual teaching and may become a
major impediment to the pursuit.

HariH om


On Tue, May 24, 2022, 10:56 PM KAMESWARARAO MULA via Advaita-l <
advaita-l at lists.advaita-vedanta.org> wrote:

> Dear Members,                          Yesterday speaking tree article
> speaks about some thing benefits after the elimination of EGO by swami
> Sukhabodhananda. Swamiji was an excellent vedanta vorator & conducts
> spiritual classes at various levels across the globe. His excellent Book on
> " Oh! Mind Relax Please" is one of its kind and it is a treasure from most
> of his work. He puts the essence of the vedanta in simple terms so that
> even a common man (aam admi) can easily assimilate the contents.
>   Towards a Question of a Disciple on " Where does True Happiness
> Lies"?. Swamiji replied like this:
> One shouldn't look for the happiness in the external world  and in the
> world of objects (which can give the objective of Life). He has found
> pleasure in the materialistic world and one should differentiate between
> Happiness & Pleasure.
> Pleasure is something give by the sense organs (panchendriya's) where as
> Happiness lies within and it is not known to the human naked eye unless you
> cut your own ego.
> Vidya is not collecting the information going to a college & getting a
> degree. It can be obtained only by " SUSHRUSHA" to a GURU. Man has looked
> for the happiness outside and found the pleasure and believes both are
> same. In reality, they are not, Different completely in all aspects.
> To Look within means, look inside the body, look inside the mind, look
> inside the feelings. When some one starts looking within , he can fins some
> empty space within the mind, within the body, within the feelings, which is
> can sometimes be termed as Freedom (although none has that). The beyond
> ness in the inner space is not limited to body, mind, emotions & feelings.
> In the Deep Sleep (Turiya), no one feel body, mind, feelings , but still
> feels a joy of Happiness.
> Misery is the Result of EGO, and EGO's existence only in misery.
> If you have misery (there by the birth of EGO) and one can never get
> Happiness. Misery can exsists in all states effortlessly.
> EGO can be defines as " An arrogant self which is proud of its
> achievements". EGO can be eliminated by cultivating HUMILITY.  Joy comes in
> HUMBLENESS, In True Joy, EGO can'T exsists.
> We are Imprisioned by our own EGO and bounded in that cage. Since we have
> ego, we can'T grow spiritually, Ego is like a Rock which will not allow the
> Human plant going into the deep roots in the Ground. Understanding that EGO
> is like a grave and one shouldn't live in a grave and it is not a safe
> place to live.
> But EGO has its own energy: One has to Transform this energy into JOY,
> HAPPINESS, HUMILITY & HUMBLNESS Which can give LOVE leads to HAPPINESS.
> Prostrations to the lotus feet of Swami Sri Sukhabodhananda for his
> wondefull expression of vedantic interpretation in simple terms.
> Sri Guru Padaravindarpana Mastu
> Kameswara
>
>
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