The 7 Maxims for Soul Happiness

Happiness is something we all look for, whether in food, sex, entertainment, relationships, children, career, hobbies or sleep. Happiness drives us, and indeed it defines the quality of our life. One may have immense wealth but if they are not happy, then mostly, they have failed in life. Without happiness, life loses its value and so with the apparent decrease in satisfaction, we are seeing an increase in suicide all around the world. In a world where mental and physical stimuli are in abundance, it seems inconceivable that anyone could be unhappy. Surely, everyone can find some form of happiness, but alas, many, many people fail and live their lives sad and exasperated; or hope against hope for some sliver of joy to appear over the horizon of their destiny. Happiness is the nature of the spirit, as stated in the Vedanta-sutras: anandamayo 'bhyāsāt —“the soul, is by nature full of joy.” However, due to misidentifying our true self with matter, we lose touch with this natural blissful state and identify with the pain and suffering of a physical form. When a soul is entrapped by a material body, it at once identifies with physical relationships and forgets its true identity as a spiritual being. This false ego, influenced by the modes of material nature further entraps the soul in a web of karmic actions and reactions. While the mind is the instrument for feeling, the intelligence has a deliberative function and can help us navigate our way through the mire of materialism. The intelligent person, therefore, can attain release from the illusion of material existence by the proper use of intelligence. Vedic scholar and my spiritual mentor, Srila Prabhupada once wrote: “An intelligent person can detect the awkward position of material existence and thus begin to inquire as to what he is, why he is subjected to different kinds of miseries, and how to get rid of all miseries, and thus, by good association, an advanced intelligent person can turn towards the better life of self-realization.” The “modes material nature” are subtle forces that influence our behavior as well as every aspect of our physical, mental, and emotional experience. The Sanskrit term for these forces is guna, “rope,” and the Gita explains how they pull us to act in various ways, even against our better judgment. These "ropes of influence" appear in three ways: sattva (goodness), raja (passion), and tamas (ignorance). The effects of the sattva-guna, the mode of goodness, are seen when an atmosphere of peace, serenity, and harmony prevails in our environment and within our mind. The mode of passion or raja-guna rears its ugly head when we feel an overwhelming, insatiable desire for mortal things, striving for more, and when we feel persistently dissatisfied. Tamo-guna, the mode of ignorance, is indicated when a person feels lazy, depressed, or unmotivated and also when they are intoxicated or mentally unstable. Srila Prabhupada believed that the most critical component for success in self-realization is to learn from great sages and saints who will “slacken the soul's attachment for matter.” Thus a person can gradually rid themselves of the illusion of matter and false ego and be “promoted to the real life of eternity, knowledge and bliss.” In fact, association with such great souls is considered the “only auspicious activity” in this material world. According to the 5000-year old Vedic scriptures of India, each soul migrates through millions of different life forms before reaching the human form. These same Vedic scriptures state that there are apparently 8.4 million different species of life on earth (mainstream science estimates 8.7 million ) and most souls will transmigrate through each and every kind of species before reaching the human form. Of course, there is no way to actually prove this. We just have to accept the fact that within each and every body a soul is present animating that life form and each one of them has their unique evolution story. Someone has to be a pig; someone has to be a cockroach, yes? If we are to accept the notion that God is all good and fair, then it makes perfect sense that each and every one of us has transmigrated through each life form on our journey to enlightenment. You may find it very difficult to imagine yourself in the body of another species, but keep in mind that along with a physical form, the soul is given a certain mentality, intelligence, and consciousness that is perfectly suited for that particular physical form. The human form is indeed a wonderful blessing as it is only in the human form that we can actually start to grasp the magnitude of life and the amazing opportunities afforded those in the human form. According to the Vedas, it is in the human form that the soul has the capacity to understand the difference between spirit and matter and to investigate the mysteries of life itself. Whereas other life forms can experience happiness, peace and the joy of companionship, it is only in the human form that we can understand what these experiences mean and how each and every decision we make can either entangle us or free us from physical bondage. The perfection of human life therefore is to learn as much about your higher self as you can in each human incarnation. How you go about that is uniquely yours. This is your life and you are the one experiencing it, not someone else. So do not fall into the self-deprecating trap of living your life according to the demands of someone else. Of course, there is a time in all our lives where we must submit to a superior teacher for bettering ourselves, but at a certain point in time, one must “fly their own plane”, or “leave the nest” and find their way in life according to one’s unique set of skills and passion. We ourselves must become a teacher of souls and share the wisdom.