Be Happy
The following article is based on a talk given by California devotee Tom Overbaugh at a retreat in San Diego.
I am glad you have chosen to spend today in good company—with Sathya Sai Baba and those who love Him. Whenever we meet to celebrate His love, we all benefit in many different ways. We are often delighted by how unexpectedly this happens. Some of us may spend the day looking for answers to specific problems, but instead of finding answers, we might feel our hearts overflow with love. Swami works in mysterious ways and He loves to surprise us. We need to relax and be open to receive His love in unexpected ways.
During our last visit to Swami, Wat (a fellow devotee) and I were suffering through the nagging thoughts that many people have: Will He call us? Will He even look at us? Most of you probably recognize the feeling. In our case, during the first two weeks, Swami completely ignored us. He never even looked our way. But during that period of apparent non-attention, I had a chance to frame in my mind what I would say if Swami did call and ask His usual important question: What do you want? Over the past 20 years, a variety of answers have occurred to me, but this time I was sure of my answer—at least for that moment.
Finally Swami called us. During the private interview when Wat and I were alone with Him, Swami turned to me and asked, “What do you want?” “I want to please You, Swami,” I said. He replied most emphatically, “Be happy.”
Our Beloved Lord tells us all that if we want to please Him—then be happy. At first, this sounds simple and delightful. But what does Swami mean when He tells us to be happy? Does He mean for us to run after all the material goodies we can find, and when we get them to be happy? I don’t think so. Yet we live in a society that teaches us that this is the way to happiness. I’ll be happy if I have certain sneakers, if I get a new car, a new job, the next promotion. Does it ever end? It will end, we say, when we win the Super Lotto.
When I told Swami I wanted to please Him, He didn’t say, “Buy more Lotto tickets.” He said, “Be happy.” I invite you all to think with me, to share with me—and with one another—your thoughts on what you believe Sai means when He tells us to be happy. I’m not exactly sure what Swami means, but I think of several possibilities. Let’s look at Swami’s words to give us some direction:
Swami says, “Happiness is union with God,” and, “Man should recognize that enduring happiness can be gotten only by developing love for God.” (From Sathya Sai Speaks, Vol. IV, July 1965.) The first way to be happy, then, is to develop love for God.
Swami also says, “Faith alone can win ananda (bliss). Faith is the spring of joy.” But we say to ourselves, “Yes, but faith in what?” I think He wants us to have faith in who we really are. Not our body or personality, but who we really are. I’m reminded of an incident that illustrates this point. In an interview, Swami told a man and a woman to go into the adjoining room for a private discussion. As He was about to follow them inside, He stopped at the doorway, turned around, and asked a teenage boy from Croatia what grade he was in. Then He asked the boy, “How old are you?” The boy said he was fourteen. Swami said, “How do you know?” The boy was quiet. Swami said, “Your parents told you. Easy answer.” Then He walked into the adjoining room and closed the door. I sat thinking about how Swami was teaching all of us. We have so much faith in what other people tell us about who we are. Why don’t we place more faith in Swami and trust what He tells us about who we really are—atma, divine love?
A third direction from Swami is His emphasis on living in the moment. Just think of how much time we spend remembering past events, then feeling guilty or perhaps resentful and angry. Our minds go just as quickly to the future and we picture ourselves in situations that fill us with anxiety. This is not a good habit if we want to be happy. On one occasion Swami said, “What is the shape of worry? It is mentally-created fear. It has no shape. The past is gone, the future is uncertain. Only the present is important.” Then Swami leaned forward. To place special emphasis, He said slowly and clearly, “The present is very, very important.”
Swami gives us three directions to help us “be happy:”
- Develop love for God.
- Have faith in who we really are.
- Live in the present.
To these three, let us add one more—this one from Swami by way of the Bhagavad Gita (a Hindu scripture). Krishna tells Arjuna – and all of us – to maintain equanimity in the face of all the hassles we deal with every day. Krishna’s words from the Gita are for us to be, “Not buoyed up by praise or cast down by blame; alike in heat and cold, pleasure and pain; ever full, in harmony everywhere.” Such words are easy to say, but putting them into practice is another matter. Sometimes I get bent out of shape if it rains at an inconvenient time. Some days I feel like I’m on an emotional roller coaster. Some of you may be on that same roller coaster, hanging on tightly, as emotions take you for a ride. The fourth direction, then, from Swami is for us to be happy by maintaining our equanimity.
These four are but the beginning of a list. You will find others. Each of us can take the list and choose for ourselves which directions from Swami we want to practice. Then, as Swami tells us, we will truly please the Lord by “Being happy.” I pray that all of us have much success in pleasing our beloved Sathya Sai.
“Do not encourage the multiplication of desire. It is best for you to be content with whatever you have been given. In the chapter on bhakti yoga (path of devotion) in the Bhagavad Gita, Krishna innumerates the 26 noble qualities of a devotee that endear him to the Lord. Of these, contentment stands out as one of the most important characteristics. It means not running after worldly enjoyments. Having enjoyed so much luxury and so many sensual things in your life —without gaining peace and fulfillment from them—you should now be content with whatever you have and regard it as being all you need. The heart of a person who does not have contentment can be compared to a bamboo basket riddled with holes. If you tried to draw water out of a well using such a basket, all the water would leak out before the basket reached you. Not even a drop of water would be left to quench your thirst. Similarly, when you are suffering from pangs of desire and greed, you find that all your contentment will leak out before you get a chance to enjoy the fulfillment of your desires. When contentment goes out of your heart, only discontent remains behind. Desires always breed more desires.”
~Sathya Sai Baba
