By M L Satyan
Bengaluru, Sept 19, 2020: One of the seven crimes about which Mahatma Gandhi had mentioned is: “Pleasure without conscience.” Charvaka, also known as Lokāyata, is an ancient school of Indian materialism. The main motto of those who followed this philosophy was: “Eat, Drink and Make Merry”.
After many years, today’s generation lives with the same mindset – “Eat, drink and make merry and do not worry about others. Enjoy life as much as possible”. This is purely a ‘pleasure-seeking’ and a ‘self-oriented’ agenda. If one has to enjoy life, he/she needs money. With the rightful earning one cannot enjoy life. So, one adopts all types of ‘short-cuts’ and ‘illegal ways’ to earn money. To acquire wealth, people are willing to commit any crime – stealing, smuggling, involving in corruption, cheating and killing etc. They try to bury their conscience for their own selfish enjoyment and pleasure.
It is quite unfortunate that today people are not in a position to differentiate between pleasure and happiness. Pleasure is self-centred and short-lived. It is usually destructive. A pleasure-oriented person lives like a frog in the well unconcerned about the wellbeing of others.
What is happiness? Pope Francis has given an inspiring narration on the meaning of happiness. He says, “To be happy is to find strength in forgiveness, hope in battles, security in the stage of fear, love in discord. It is not only to enjoy the smile, but also to reflect on the sadness. It is not only to celebrate the successes, but to learn lessons from the failures. It is not only to feel happy with the applause, but to be happy in anonymity.
Being happy is not a fatality of destiny, but an achievement for those who can travel within themselves. To be happy is to stop feeling like a victim and become your destiny’s author. It is to cross deserts, yet to be able to find an oasis in the depths of our soul. It is to thank God for every morning, for the miracle of life.
Being happy is not being afraid of your own feelings. It is to be able to talk about you. It is having the courage to hear a “no”. It is confidence in the face of criticism, even when unjustified. It is to kiss your children, pamper your parents, to live poetic moments with friends, even when they hurt us.
You can have flaws, be anxious, and even be angry, but do not forget that your life is the greatest enterprise in the world. Only you can stop it from going bust. Many appreciate you, admire you and love you. Remember that to be happy is not to have a sky without a storm, a road without accidents, work without fatigue and relationships without disappointments.
Happiness is
To be free, joyful and simple.
To have the maturity to be able to say: “I made mistakes”.
To have the courage to say “I am sorry”.
To have the sensitivity to say, “I need you”.
To have the ability to say “I love you”.
Use the tears to irrigate tolerance.
Use your losses to train patience.
Use your mistakes to sculptor serenity.
Use the pain to plaster pleasure.
Use obstacles to open windows of intelligence.
May your life become a garden of opportunities for happiness.
That in Spring may it be a lover of joy. In Winter a lover of wisdom.
And when you make a mistake, start all over again.
Never give up! Never give up on people who love you! Never give up on happiness, for life is an incredible show! For only then will you be in love with life. You will find that to be happy is not to have a perfect life.” (Source: Pope’s homily on 14 September, 2020).
Pope’s message becomes powerful in today’s world where people have ‘materialistic mindset’. The ‘consumeristic culture’ is widespread. Everyone is forced to consume more and more and produce very little. We have failed to know the difference between ‘Need’ and ‘Greed’. There are five basic necessities of life like food, clothes, shelter, health and education. These needs can be fulfilled. Greed is going beyond the need and craving to have more. Greed can never be fulfilled.
In the past, manufacturers produced only what people needed. Only the ‘essential items’ were produced. Today, manufacturers produce mostly the ‘non-essential items’, brainwash the people through print and digital media and make the people believe that all these non-essential items are very essential for their life.
A vast majority of the middle and lower-middle class people ‘borrow money’ from various sources in order to accumulate these non-essential items. As a consequence, they fall into a ‘debt-trap’ from which they rarely come out. Over and above, ‘cut-throat competition’ has become an integral part of our life.
My mind goes back to what I had witnessed in an interior tribal village of Jharkhand in 1975. A running race was conducted for primary school children for the first time. All the students started running from the starting point to the finishing point. One student ran fast. Half way through, he looked back. Other children were far behind him. He stopped and called them “Come on!”. When they reached close to him, he started to run along with him. Why?
The concept of ‘competition’ – “I win and you lose” – was not their mindset. So, everybody ran together and reached the finishing point. Everyone was declared the winner. All the children were happy. This is the ‘communitarian’ dimension of happiness. We need to inculcate this value into the future generation. God’s creation is meant for everyone. So, everyone has the right to access God’s gifts and be happy.
The Pope’s description of happiness really challenges all those who seek selfish pleasures and are confined to a consumeristic world. Real happiness is ‘other-centred’. It makes us fulfil our social responsibilities. It is time for our introspection to see whether we are ‘pleasure seekers’ or ‘happiness seekers’. The choice is ours.