Maximus happiness

[1]

Swami Tejomayananda [1]

We want to live and live happily. We want our relatives and friends also to live happily. That is why we wish one another Happy New Year. A question then arises: Why is there so much sorrow in spite of good wishes in the hearts of people? There is obviously something wrong in our pursuit of happiness and methods to make ourselves and others happy. This problem can be analysed from various standpoints but here we will consider one very important one.

As long as I seek my happiness in terms of material objects and think that by giving these objects to others I can make them happy, happiness eludes me, and them. The needs and desires of people change fast, so how can we be happy when the means of fulfilling our desires are always changing? Moreover, we have seen from our experience that material pleasures do not give us lasting happiness.
What, then, is the solution? Our scriptures point out that freedom from our dependence on material gains and slavery to our senses alone can give us true happiness, which is the very nature of our real self. This is the way to be happy and to live happily.
Now to the question of how to make others happy. As pointed out earlier, this cannot be achieved through gifts of material nature alone. I may have a limited capacity to share such things, but I can love all beings without any limit whatsoever. With my sincere love, sweet words and readiness to serve, I can make people around me happy. It is a fact that what people need most in life is love, empathy, loyalty, a sense of security and care. These are not material things, but the virtues of mind, which can be enriched abundantly by each and every individual. The more we give, the richer we become. Hence, let us give love to others and make them happy, for our happiness lies in the happiness of others.
It was the above mentioned love and compassion that motivated my guru, Swami Chinmayananda, to devote his entire life to the service of people. His motto was: “Give maximum happiness to maximum number of people for maximum time”. Let us aspire to do the same!
This New Year, let us greet each other by saying, “That which is ever new every moment alone is real, beautiful and auspicious.”
May this New Year bring you greater happiness, goodness and success!

Swami Tejomayananda, head of Chinmaya Mission Worldwide, is an orator, poet, singer, composer and storyteller. To find out more about Chinmaya Mission and Swamiji, visit www.chinmayamission.com.© Central Chinmaya Mission Trust