7 Steps To Joy And Happiness According To Hinduism
Hinduism tells the story of the only happy man in an ancient kingdom. In this place lived some very wealthy people, but they could not enjoy their wealth. They always wanted more. Therefore, they invested most of their time in doing business and increasing their wealth. Others, on the other hand, were very poor. Nor were they happy because they dedicated a good portion of their lives to dreaming and thinking about the things they did not have.
When the rumor came out that there was a man who was completely happy, everyone was very interested in meeting him. They said that this man had a coffin, and inside it lived all the secrets needed to obtain joy. The wealthy sought him and wanted to buy the coffin from him, but the man refused to sell it. The poor prayed him, but the wise man did not come. They even tried to rob him, but did not succeed
“We seek happiness, but without knowing where, like drunken men seeking their home, only knowing that they have one.”
–Voltaire–
After a while, a child arrived at where the man was with his precious coffin. He told the man he would be happy too. Seeing the child’s innocence, the happy man was moved. He told him that happiness was like a ladder and that every step towards it required a new lesson learned. This is how he showed him the 7 steps to being happy.
Step 1 to happiness according to Hinduism: to cultivate self-love to be happy
The man with the coffin told the child that the first condition of being happy is to love oneself. Self-love means feeling worthy of happiness. To achieve this, you need to give your life value. You need to take care of your health and physical well-being.
It is also necessary to understand that we are unique beings in this world. This means that each and every one of our virtues and shortcomings is the result of a unique story in the universe. We are no more or less than anyone else, simply the impact of millions of irreparable causes.
Step 2: to act, to put things into practice
One of the things that can make people most unhappy is to think about being the best or having a better life, but just to let it be as a thought. This only leads to frustration and guilt. If you think you can or should do something, just do it. You do not have to hesitate or think so much about it.
It is also important that your actions are consistent with your words. And of course with your thoughts. If you think in one way but act in another, you will only create confusion. Instead, when there is harmony in your inner world, everything flows much easier.
Step 3: Tear up envy
People who spend their lives thinking about the accomplishments of others before considering their own create a path to bitterness. You never know what another person has gone through to achieve or get what they have. Thus, you are not fit to judge whether they deserve it or not.
Instead of thinking about whether others will do it or not, take care of your own success. If you allow envy to flourish in your heart, you will suffer. And your suffering will be useless and destructive. If you manage to feel happy with the success and results of others, your happiness will be double. You have more strength in your heart to reach your goals.
Step 4: Fight anger
Sometimes we receive insults and they are so strong that the pain stays forever in our heart. Over time, the pain becomes frustration. And it later becomes anger. You end up hosting a very negative feeling and it ends up paralyzing you.
Indignation is another of these useless passions that greatly harms the person who has it. Life has its own logic. Therefore, keep in mind that the person who caused it gets justice on his own when confronted with an insult. Sooner or later, everyone harvests what they have sown. That is why everyone should strive to forgive, forget and let go.
Step 5: Do not take what does not belong to you
According to Hinduism, anything you illegally take from others creates serious consequences. Over time, the perpetrator will lose something of much greater value. Not respecting the possessions of others also means that whatever you acquire will eventually disappear.
This does not only apply to tangible goods. It also has to do with the granting of ideas, devotion or benefits that do not correspond to you. For Hinduism, this form of disrespect leads to moral and material destruction for the individual.
Step 6: Eradicate Abuse in Your Life
No living being should ever be abused, Hinduism believes. This includes humans and of course plants and animals. He who manages to interact lovingly with life manages to be happy. All living beings are a source of joy and well-being, therefore they should be valued.
This, of course, implies a radical refusal to be abused. It is good for you to be firm, to reject any situation or person who abuses or abuses you. No abuse is “for your own good” or for any other. In order to develop or correct errors, it is not necessary to resist destructive treatments.
Step 7: Be grateful every day of your life
It is very simple and it has a very powerful effect on your emotions. Every day you have reasons to be grateful, there is no doubt about that. If you get into the habit of making the word “thank you” the first thing you use every day, you will see how your life simply fills with color.
This simple ritual changes lives. When it becomes a habit, it will place you in goodness and good disposition to everything. It makes you feel happier and it makes you a more generous person. In addition, it allows you to have a clearer sense of all the value that your life has.
We already mentioned that the 7 steps to being happy are like a ladder. One follows after the other. They constitute an evolutionary process leading to inner peace. This peace is the only indispensable condition for achieving happiness, according to Hinduism. And to be happy means to reach a state where the individual accepts himself, with nobility and intelligence, all the turn of life.
