DR SANJAY TEOTIA says that our primary goal is to find wisdom; only the wise find true peace and happiness, a state of mind that comes when we are self-realised
Only wisdom brings peace and happiness to us; and it is only wisdom that leads us to self-realisation. Wisdom from above, procured through devotion is pure; this wisdom is holy and comes from our Heavenly Father. He only bestows that which is good and peaceful upon us. The answers that God provides us when we seek knowledge from Him bring us peace.
Wisdom Vs. Foolishness
On the other hand, foolishness leads to disorder, chaos and unhappiness. A glance at a foolish person’s life reveals numerous disturbances, mostly caused by the number of imperfections within such a person. If we attempt to list these imperfections, the list might be longer than the paper we attempt to write it on!
Wisdom brings in us, the desire to be gentle, be merciful and always ready to perform good actions without expecting results. Peaceful wisdom embodies tranquility, harmony, and wholeness. Since God is the source of true wisdom, the connection between wisdom and peace is not surprising.
Blessed is the person who finds wisdom and understanding. His ways are pleasant, and all the paths he chooses are peaceful. Such a person seeks wisdom from the Bhagavad Gita – man’s spiritual guide that leads us towards the true goals behind all material pursuits and experiences. Everyone seeks peace, even though we may not be consciously aware of it.
When one attains wisdom, one finds that it is linked to improved physical and mental health, happiness, and satisfaction. Such feelings deepen with age as individuals learn through life’s experiences.
Wisdom is the pursuit of long-term happiness, something one gets when one meticulously plans one’s future with clarity and self-awareness. Happiness consists of positive and balanced emotions that depends on how well you use your intelligence, creativity, common sense, and knowledge, and blend it with positive ethical values to achieve the common good.
Happiness is an emotional state characterised by feelings of joy, satisfaction, contentment, and fulfilment, and as stated before, depends on the balance one can strike between one’s emotions, and our positive and negative feelings and moods. Happiness finally comes when one experiences more positive emotions than negative ones.
Sri Krishna discusses happiness in the Bhagavad Gita, emphasising its pursuit and its connection to our desires and actions. He also conveys that true happiness stems from a peaceful mind that remains impervious to external factors and comes to the one who remains undisturbed in all situations.
Wisdom comes from self-realisation and when one figures out the importance of understanding who and what we are — and understand that we are far beyond our physical body and are connected to the universe. Our true nature is beyond the illusory ego-self; we are non-physical and selfless. Material possessions bring worry, stress, pain, and sorrow, and never bring us genuine well-being. We often forget our purpose for being on Earth – which is focused on finding a state of self-realisation and overcoming the cycle of endless births and deaths.
According to Ramana Maharshi, self-realisation is the most significant goal we can achieve. Happiness then becomes intrinsic to our nature; desiring it is not wrong, but we have to learn that it is useless to seek it externally when it resides within us.
Dr. Sanjay Teotia is an eye surgeon and is Senior Consultant, Balrampur Hospital, in Lucknow (U.P.) He is a prolific spiritual writer and his articles appear regularly in Navbharat Times and in Times of India, apart from YoursPositively