Happiness and the Art of Being
Michael James, on the practice of Sri Ramana Maharshi. From the Introduction to Happiness and the Art of Being.
Happiness lies deep within us, in the very core of our being. Happiness does not exist in any external object, but only in us, who are the consciousness that experiences happiness. Though we seem to derive happiness from external objects or experiences, the happiness that we thus enjoy in fact arises from within us.
Whatever turmoil our mind may be in, in the centre of our being there always exists a state of perfect peace and joy, like the calm in the eye of a storm. Desire and fear agitate our mind, and obscure from its vision the happiness that always exists within it. When a desire is satisfied, or the cause of a fear is removed, the surface agitation of our mind subsides, and in that temporary calm our mind enjoys a taste of its own innate happiness.
Happiness is thus a state of being – a state in which our mind’s habitual agitation is calmed. The activity of our mind disturbs it from its calm state of just being, and causes it to lose sight of its own innermost happiness. To enjoy happiness, therefore, all our mind need do is to cease all activity, returning calmly to its natural state of inactive being, as it does daily in deep sleep.
Therefore to master the art of being happy, we must master the art and science of just being. We must discover what the innermost core of our being is, and we must learn to abide consciously and constantly in that state of pure being, which underlies and supports (but nevertheless remains unaffected by) all the superficial activities of our mind: thinking, feeling and perceiving, remembering and forgetting, and so on.
The art of just being, remaining fully conscious but without any activity of the mind, is not only an art – a practical skill that can be cultivated and applied to produce an experience of inexpressible beauty and joy – but also a science – an attempt to acquire true knowledge by keen observation and rigorous experiment. And this art and science of being is not only the art and science of happiness, but also the art and science of consciousness, and the art and science of self-knowledge.
The science of being is incredibly simple and clear. To the human mind, however, it may appear to be complex and abstruse, not because it is in any way complex in itself, but because the mind which tries to comprehend it is such a complex bundle of thoughts and emotions – desires, fears, anxieties, attachments, long-cherished beliefs and preconceived ideas – that it tends to cloud the pure simplicity and clarity of being, making what is obvious appear to be obscure.
I was made happy myself, running across this eBook on Mr. James’ website: happinessofbeing.com. To be reminded that others have walked your path before you, and hear your words before you have spoken them… or hear them echoed after they were spoken, so that the jewel you have found by your own sweat and invention is shown to have been held before, no less a jewel, no less your own, but less owned and more shared. As though the novice miner strikes a stone, pulls it raw from the earth, brushes the mud and grit from its face, to imagine facets and the way light would come from without, shine within, and be reflected… when, over his shoulder, an older voice softly appraises the find: “Ahhh, now that is a nice stone!” You know he or she tells the truth, by the tone in the voice, by the thrill once experienced hidden in the gentle voice, by the absolute certainty of the trained heart.
Your heart can only leap to meet that other heart, over the generations or across millenia, to have your surprise and delight mirrored by another, whom you have met and respected, taken as a mentor, trusted and guarded in the sanctum sanctorum of your library. Really, like a child who has just achieved a new skill, and been recognized by his or her parent: Yes!! I DID it!
Sri Ramana was undoubtedly rigorous in his pursuit of the true Self, though in the more fluid culture and thought of Tamil Nadu, rigor may have worn a different face than its connotation in modern American English might imply. There is somewhere a surrendering, or a transformation, where one no longer seizes upon things, neither with the mind, nor with the body, but opens to them… for years upon years.
There is less noise in a mountain cave; less clutter in a single robe; less distraction in a bowlful of rice…