Ananda: The Journey Beyond Superficial Happiness
Acharya Prashant: Happiness comes to you so that you become interested, you become inquisitive, your longing gains depth and you ask for permanent happiness. You say, “Oh this that was given to me was so ephemeral! Thirty seconds, that’s all? No no no! It was good. But I want the real thing. I want that which will last. And thank you for giving this little happiness to me, it vetted my appetite. Now I want deeper happiness and that is called the cultivation of happiness.”
What is the consumption of happiness? Thirty seconds were given to you, you ate them up and you said, “Fine”. The seeds were given to me, what did I do with the seeds? This is the consumption of happiness; that’s what most people do. Seeds were given to you, there was a potentiality. But you simply consumed the seeds.
And then there is another one who starts loving the taste. He says, “I just had a few seeds and if these seeds are so delicious, I would want them to become my life. I don’t want to just gobble them down my throat, I will sow them, I will let them strike roots deep into the earth, my earth, my inner earth. I will let them become full-fledged trees for me.”
This cultivation of happiness is called in classic parlance as the pursuit of Ananda. This consumption of happiness is called Bhoga (i.e. consumption of Sukha). Sukha and Bhoga go together. Happiness is consumed, Ananda is cultivated. This cultivation you could call as Sadhana. With Sukha, no Sadhana is needed. For Ananda, Sadhana is definitely needed.
To make things clearer you could say that our normal happiness is ephemeral and dualistic. Dualistic because it is preceded and succeeded by sorrow, so it is dualistic. And great happiness is permanent and non-dual. Non-dual because it is freedom and total freedom from suffering. It is freedom not merely from sadness, but also from superficial happiness. Real happiness, which is Joy or Ananda, is freedom not merely from sadness, but also from superficial happiness.
Ananda means that you are now free from both Sukha and Dukha . And that is called the cultivation of happiness. Do you get the difference between cultivation and consumption? If you are a little man, what will you do with the seeds given to you? (Gesturing for eating with fingers) For instant gratification. But if you have something large, a bit expansive within you, then you will be patient. Then you will say, “I am prepared to work my way through to deeper happiness.” And you will use the seeds, you will use the trailer to reach a place far deeper. Is that clear?
Full article link: https://acharyaprashant.org/en/articles/consuming-happiness-versus-cultivating-happiness-1_9fdc8be
