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Happiness of a man depends not on
what be has but on what he is.
Happiness is an abstract term. it can
only be imagined by the mind and felt by the conscience.
There can be no line drawn separating
happy and unhappy Individuals. A person, endowed with
certain bounties from God, considers himself happy,
if he looks at the condition of his less fortunate fellow
creatures. The same individual, comparing his lot with
that of persons better placed than himself, feels unhappy.
Happiness is therefore a state of mind, and any one
can imagine himself to be happy of unhappy.
The majority of the human beings consider
themselves unhappy. Is that really so ? Has god created
human beings to make them unhappy ? Not at all. God
is goodness personified. He creates everything that
is good and beneficial to mankind. The opposite is the
result of man's own actions. Take an example. God created
the Solar system to give light, If an individual turns
towards the Sun, he sees light. But as soon as he turns
his back to the Sun, he sees a spot of darkness of the
shape of his body, while there is light all round. This
dark spot is the result of his won action in turning
his back to God's bounty. Similarly, when are made known
by Him to mankind in the scriptures through prophets.
If a man acts in accordance with the divine law, he
will surely he happy, but if he acts to the contrary,
he is sure to be unhappy. A man is the architect of
his own fortune.
All this is the result of the attitude
of man towards life. Life is spoken of by poets and
philosophers in different tunes.
Some think, life is assigned to an
individual for the performance of his duties, duty towards
his Creators, duty towards the fellow-creatures and
duty towards himself. These duties are well defined
in the charge to a candidate in Freemasonry in the first
degree.
Some say "life is a big drama."
The Universe is the theatre, and human being are the
actors and actress. The human being are the actors and
actresses. The awards are given not looking to the part
played, but to the manner in which the assigned part
is played. Once a salntly person who had developed his
soul through devotion, saw a dream, in which he was
told that a sweeper in certain street was dearer to
God than he was. he could not sleep the rest of the
nigh, but started early in the morning to reach that
street. He watched the sweeper doing his work from a
distance. The latter removed the rags and stray pieces
of paper lying on the street, and went on to remove
even particles of dust. The saintly person approached
the sweeper and began a conversation with him. He asked
him as to what he was getting for his work, and expressed
surprise at the conscientious work he was putting in
for the small remineration he received. At this the
sweeper got angry and said, "What I are you here
to tempt me to slacken my work? Don't you know that
my Creator is passing along the street, and what would
He think to me, of I were to neglect my duties?".
Such conscientious work without the expectation of reward
is dear unto God, and the worker is sure to be rewarded,
if not in this world, in the one beyond.
Some say "life is a struggle,"
It is not to be construed in the usual way, as seeing
a family struggling through life without a shelter,
with clothes barely covering their bodies, and with
hardly a square meal a day. It is not the struggle between
man and man, or between beast and beast. It is the struggle
within, between goodness and evil. Man has to fight
every moment of his life against six enemies, which
are the principal vices, viz, passion, anger, avarice,
attraction to worldly things, envy and egoism. He has
to be on the alert that not a bad thought enters his
mind, not a bad word comes out from his lips and not
a bad action is done by him. Hence the importance of
good thoughts, words and deeds as expounded in the Zoroastrian
religion.
Some consider life to be a school.
When children are told by their parents and teachers
what not to do, they get eager to see what happens if
those things are done, and hence purposely do those
things. The result is that they learn by experience
what they will not follow by precept. Experience is
always a dear teacher, and they grumble when in consequence
they suffer and feel unhappy.
Life is also a trust. When a person
is favoured with children by Nature, he thinks they
are his, He forgets that they are really the children
of God, as he himself is a child of the same Supreme
Being. They are given to him in trust and as a trustee,
he has to bring them us physically, mentally and spiritually
the best way he can, till they attain the age, when
they can take care fo themselves. Similarly, in the
case of wealth, when one gets very rich, he thinks him
self to be above others in intelligence and some times
even becomes proud. He forgets that the money is only
given to him in trust, and as a trustee he has to see
that it is distributed amongst the beneficiaries, who
are most in need of it. This he learns to his great
sorry only when it escapes from him.
This to be happy, one has to keep perfect
faith in God, that whatever He does is right. He has
to remain contented in life, Whatever be his station,
and perform his duties aright, for God never forsakes
those who are on the right path.
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