2. Consciously perceived stress increases if the conflicts in our mind increase. The conflicts increase if there are apparently contradictory sets of information bombarding us. Such conflicts cause confusion and chaos (and confused and chaotic behavior) in personal and public life. We generally turn to philosophy when we are conscious and apprehensive about our stress. But often we come across contradictory statements and we get far more stressed than before! Why does this happen? Are the philosophies and their study counterproductive? In fact many of us may arrive at such a conclusion and give up reading altogether! One of the aphorisms of various philosophies and spiritual observations; is that; happiness is within.
3. However; most of us find that pleasures or pains are actually outside; and hence the conflict and stress begins to build up! Who can deny that the pleasures of tasty delicacies, haunting music, artistic landscapes, changing skyscapes in the evenings, setting sun, twinkling stars, soul stirring moon, and romantic experiences are outside us? The pleasure or pain due to the fulfillment or otherwise of bare minimum necessities; is also outside us. Thus supply or deprivation of food, water, shelter and health care; is outside us; and determines our happiness or sadness. The success or failure of marriage, procreation and rearing of children and is outside us and causes pleasure or despair.
4. Availability or denial of employment, business, income, profits, comforts, compliments etc also; is outside and results into our joy or frustration. The fair or unfair policies for working in farms, factories, workshops and getting proper remuneration, production or price; are all outside us and contribute to our wellbeing or misery. The good or bad conditions of roads, nature of traffic, status of transport such as buses and local trains; are all outside us and provide comfort or discomfort. The time has to come to understand once and for all; that; needs, wants and ideas of happiness or sadness vary.
5. Thus for a baby sucking the breast milk, there is nothing like happiness or sadness being inside or outside. Same argument can be put in different situations and in different words! The philosophical aphorism has to be understood as; the happiness (in terms of the ultimate culmination of individual and global life; an imperishable state of being; a greatest ever aspiration of mankind) is within and is usually cluttered or blurred due to subjective and hence erroneous cognition, affect and conation. This is why; we all experience pleasures and pains, as described above. This kind of happiness and suffering is a reality for all of us and it is not at all abnormal. It is also true that the proportion of pain leads to stress which is real and needs solutions. Mere preaching of the aphorism that “happiness is within” is irrelevant and absurd for most of us; exactly as preaching a new born to eat bread, ride a horse or solve a trigonometric theorem.
6. It is only some of us, who transcend the subjective barriers; through practice of NAMASMARAN; realize the transtemporal blissful existence common to whole universe; and shower it in the form of spoken, written or silent benevolence so as to create perspective, policies, plans, rules, laws and their implementation for making; such realization possible and feasible for the whole universe. In short; some of us realize that HAPPINESS IS WITHIN; after acquiring increasingly objective and accurate cognition, affect and conation; through the practice NAMASMARAN. In yet other words; the aphorism “happiness is within” is actually the experience of some of us who have transcended their subjective and physiological existence. They in turn; give us holistic solutions in the form Total Stress Management; to conquer the stress; at an individual and universal levels. They do not merely give the aphorism; but guide us in evolving holistic perspective, policies, plans and administration so that we all (the citizens of the world of all ages, all regions, all religions, all races and all socioeconomic conditions); get empowered to share their realization.
