Artigo 002 (Ramana and the Perfect Happiness) - Ramanashram Brasil (en)
The Perfect Happiness
Perfect happiness
Shall not visit us tomorrow
Unless our hearts
Rest on it today.
There is no future peace
That is not hidden
In the fleeting present moment.
Sometimes, we feel
That happiness is obscured
By the world itself,
But sadness is
Nothing but a dark cloud.
Behind it,
Within our reach,
Is the perfect happiness.
We can live it if we know how to
Feel and experience the Self.
And, so, it is necessary
To keep oneself silent,
To meditate and to devote.
We cannot take
The moments of joy
For mere moments.
They keep
The divine essence.
The Self is eternally kind
And of endless love,
But the gifts it donates us,
We judge them
By the external aspects.
In all that exists
Is always
The Supreme and Divine Self.
Hurry up to feel
The presence of the Supreme self.
Free your veins
From the course of the blood.
Open your eyes
And let the light in.
Seek the essence
In yourself
And then take consciousness
Of your own self.
(Extracted from the book "Maha Gita Purusham of the Blessed One", by Sri Maha Krishna Swami)
P – What is happiness? We cannot find it in the day-to-day life. Then, when will we really feel it?
R – When we do something pleasant or when there is absence of unpleasant facts we say there is happiness. Such happiness is relative, and we would better call it pleasure. But man wants permanent happiness. Such happiness is not in the objects, but in the Absolute. It is a natural state, where man is free from pain, from pleasure and is in peace. It is enough that we meditate and devote in pure and deep manner in order to know all this.
P – Is happiness transitory?
R – The natural state of being is the essential nature of all people. How come you want it to come and go? If you don’t perceive your own essence it is because your vision is impure. What is it that obscures your vision? It is your duty to find the obstacle and remove it. The practice of meditation aims to eliminate the impurities that block your vision and hide the Truth, which is the Self. The reality remains always the same. Once one becomes conscious of it, it becomes permanent.
P – If we already are happiness, why do we seek for it?
R – Man seeks happiness because it is a natural state in him. Because he is unconscious of the Self, he does not perceive happiness. The desire of obtaining happiness is the best proof that happiness is a virtue inherent to the self. If headache were natural in man, he would not try to get rid of it. The contrary happens, because man once knew moments when there was no headache and he knows that such moments exist. The opposite happens, though, as man already experienced no-headache moments and he knows that such moments exist. There is no way of acquiring or conquering what is natural, because it is already present. When you become conscious of your real nature, without efforts, in a permanent and happy manner, you will verify that this does not contradict the regular activities of day-to-day life. A person who has achieved the natural state of meditation will have unaltered peace and happiness whether he lives isolated from the world or free among men, because this is his true nature.
(from the book "Ramana my Master", by Sri Maha Krishna Swami)
