Happiness Express

by Khurshed Batliwala

  Rewire Your Brain

  It was my first math lecture in G.N. Khalsa College. I was in my graduate programme there and quite excited to be taught by Prof. Marzban Dumasia. I had studied from a textbook he had authored. He was known to have a quick wit and a fiery temper. He walked into the huge lecture theatre, went up to the array of blackboards, and with a piece of chalk, made a small mark, right in the centre.

  He then turned around and boomed at us: What do you see?

  Many hands went up: a mark, a circle, a point, a tick, or something like that. He smiled, and then thundered, you guys don’t see the blackboard? A little mark is all you see? How did all of you miss this huge blackboard?!

  Years later, I was reminded of this incident when Gurudev remarked a little mote in your eye can prevent you from seeing and appreciating the vast, infinite expanse of the sky.

  Many people live their lives as if they have a mote in their eye. They look for reasons to complain. Take them to the most amazing place, and they will find something wrong with it. They are almost never happy. In fact, they are happy being unhappy. They moan and groan about their fate as they flounder pathetically through life.

  It’s just a bad habit. And like any other vice needs to be replaced with something pro-life.

  Here is a little exercise to do every night before you sleep:

  Write down or tell someone five things you are grateful for today. The challenge is that you cannot repeat anything you have said on previous nights.

  Like me, you will probably start off nice and easy—

  I am grateful for having Gurudev in my life.

  I am grateful for Art of Living.

  I am grateful that Dinesh happened.

  I am grateful that I am an Art of Living teacher.

  I am grateful I get to live in the Bangalore ashram.

  The next night—

  I am grateful for Mom.

  I am grateful for Dad.

  I am grateful for my sister.

  I am grateful that my sister is married.

  I am grateful for my dog.

  Then—

  I am grateful for all my friends—Gowri, Abhi, Salman, Ankita, Devang and soooo many others.

  I am grateful for Café Vishala.

  I am grateful I get to travel and teach meditation to so many amazing people,

  I am grateful that I have good health.

  I am grateful that our first book Ready, Study, Go! became a bestseller.

  I continued like this for a few days and quickly realised that I was running out of things to be grateful for, and I have to write at least five before I sleep. So I spent the day actively looking for things to feel grateful for and started noticing the small things that are such blessings. These days my list looks like this—

  I am grateful for the shower in my bathroom and the supply of refreshing hot water.

  I am grateful for electricity.

  I am grateful for mangoes!

  I am grateful for air-conditioners.

  I am grateful the bike didn’t work, and I had to walk to satsang. It was lovely weather, and a delightful evening. I would have missed so many beautiful things if I had just zipped off on a bike.

  Research shows that if you do 40 nights of writing in your gratitude journal, it completely rewires your brain. You become a much more positive person. You smile more and make others smile more. You look at problems as challenges and opportunities. MRI scans show that parts of your brain visibly grow as you continue to feel and express gratitude.

  Rewire your brain to be grateful. It can be done in just 40 days, and years and years of the dead weight of negativity will drop off, leaving you feeling fresh and energetic. You will start living each day to its fullest, accepting life to be the blessing that it is.

  The Best Idea of Them All

  This book is full of fantastic things you can do so you can be happy. There are lots and lots of great ideas. I have some bad news for you though. Merely reading this book is not going to be enough. Reading it again and again would flatter Dinesh and me a lot, but that wouldn’t be enough either.

  It would be like joining a gym and never going there to work out. You don’t get a great body by joining a gym. You get it by exercising. Even the best gym on earth cannot build your muscles if you don’t exercise.

  Similarly, a great tip from your friend about the share market won’t make you rich. Doing something about that information could. You could choose to heed his advice, buy shares, wait for the right moment, and then sell them. This, hopefully, will create wealth.

  Same with all the ideas in this book. . . Or any book.

  Good ideas are no good if they just remain ideas. All the ideas in this book are fabulous. An idea better than all of them, though, would be to actually implement at least a few of them in your life.

  It’s a good idea to implement a good idea.

  The important things in life are actually quite easy to do. They are also easy not to do.

  One more thing before we let go of you. . . Be careful about reading this part. It’s very easy to misinterpret, and I was almost not going to include it, but a book about happiness would be incomplete without it.

  The Happiness Express

  I am sure we have all heard this: get a great education, get a job, get married, have children, settle down in life, then you will be happy. This is the middle-class mantra, parroted again and again by our parents and by almost everyone around us. Until it begins to feel like some great truth Lord Shiva revealed to Goddess Parvati about Bhairava.

  We are made to believe that class 10 is an important year. We are pressurised to work hard and score great marks. Ditto for class 12. That’s supposed to be the crucial year. We have all heard the litany: just one more year you have to slog it out. Get into IIT. Or medical school. Or architecture. Then your life is made. Then you will be happy.

  You do that. You manage to get into IIT. That’s when the real trouble begins. After the first few lectures, you start thinking, I am going to be happy only when I get out of IIT.

  Ok. You got your graduation done. Now?

  Post-graduation of course. Either in an IIM or some university abroad. Only then will I have any chance at a great life, you think. Ok. That too happens. Then, you get your dream job. It turns out to be a nightmare. But that’s alright. Everyone is in the same situation. That’s how life is.

  Next stop? Get married. Have children. Now your thoughts are, I will be happy when this product of mine learns to pee in the right place all by himself. I will be happy when he goes to school. I will get my life back. I will be happy when he gets into IIT. I will be happy when he gets a job. Gets married. Has children. . .

  You think, I will be happy when we move to that new house. When I get a promotion. When we manage to buy that fantastic home theatre system. When we get a jacuzzi. An iPhone. When the season changes. When we go for a vacation. When we go to Bali for a vacation. . .

  This goes on and on and on, all through life. Your happiness is always on the horizon. It’s tantalisingly close, yet just like the horizon, even though you can see it, you never ever reach it. Yes, there will be glimmers of joy. But like fireworks on Diwali, their effect will be over within a few seconds. You long for something that will bring you joy that wells up in your heart and stays with you. You go through life trying desperately to find it.

  You lead a life pursuing happiness, almost never actually being happy. Or being happy for a few fleeting moments, gone like dew drops in the morning sun.

  Here is an invitation.

  Check out the list you made at the start of this chapter. Do you realise it’s full of if-then or if-when statements? I will be happy when I bag a promotion. If my backache heals, then I will be happy. And so on. You hinge your happiness on specific conditions and so push it to the horizon. Do remember that these are all decisions you are making. If the decision to be happy is yours to make anyway, why not drop the if-thens and the if-whens and simply say, Come what may, I wi
ll be happy!

  Doesn’t sound practical, I hear you think ☺

  It actually is.

  Happiness is your very nature. You truly need nothing to be happy. Let me show you how.

  Think of a few things that make you unhappy.

  If you observe carefully, there is just one way to be unhappy. It’s when something happens (or stops happening, which is actually a happening). Ask anyone who looks unhappy the reason for their sorrow and you are likely to get a story. Something had to happen to make that person feel miserable.

  On the other hand, have you noticed that there are days when you get up in the morning and feel good about life for no reason whatsoever? You go through the day with a cloud under your feet, and a song in your heart, feeling light and easy. And when people ask you, what’s the matter? How come you are so happy? You shrug and say, I don’t know.

  You realise there is no reason? You are feeling wonderful for no reason at all!

  To be unhappy, you need a reason. To be happy, you don’t necessarily need any reason. Happiness is your ground state! This is a humungous realisation.

  Being happy is synonymous to being yourself.

  The middle-class mantra was wrong. You don’t do stuff to be happy. You do stuff because you are happy.

  Happiness is an attitude. Happiness is a habit. Everything in this book will nudge you in this direction. Finally, though, you have to realise that you can be happy just like that. It is supremely simple. There is nothing to do. Just be.

  Instead of living life in pursuit of happiness, live your life as an expression of happiness!

  How about boarding the Happiness Express?

  All the very best!

  Jai Gurudeva!

  Love,

  Bawa & Dinesh

  P.S. Someone asked Gurudev, ‘How to be happy always?’

  He replied, ‘Drop the always. Then you will be happy!’

  Appendix 1

  SRI SRI RAVI SHANKAR

  Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar is a universally revered spiritual and humanitarian leader. His vision of a violence and stress-free society through the reawakening of human values has inspired millions to broaden their spheres of responsibility and work towards the betterment of the world.

  He is a multi-faceted social visionary whose initiatives include conflict resolution, disaster and trauma relief, poverty alleviation, women empowerment, prisoner rehabilitation, education for all, and campaigns against female foeticide and child labour. He is engaged in peace negotiations and counselling in conflict zones around the world.

  In 1981, He established The Art of Living, an educational and humanitarian Non-Governmental Organisation. In 1997, Gurudev founded the International Association for Human Values (IAHV) to lead sustainable development projects. He is also a co-founder of India Against Corruption (IAC).

  He has reached out to many millions of people worldwide through personal interactions, public events, teachings, Art of Living workshops and humanitarian initiatives. He has brought to the masses ancient practices that were traditionally kept exclusive, and has designed many self-development techniques that can be easily integrated into daily life to calm the mind and instill confidence and enthusiasm. One of Gurudev’s most unique offerings to the world is the Sudarshan Kriya, a powerful breathing technique that facilitates physical, mental, emotional and social well-being.

  Gurudev has received numerous accolades, including the highest civilian awards of Colombia, Mongolia and Paraguay. In 2016, he was conferred the ‘Padma Vibhushan’, one of the highest civilian awards of India. He has addressed several international forums, including TED 2010 at Monterey, the United Nations Millennium World Peace Summit (2000), the World Economic Forum (2001, 2003) and several parliaments across the globe.

  Gurudev travels to nearly 40 countries every year, exemplifying his call to globalise wisdom.

  His universal and simple message is that love and wisdom can prevail over hatred and distress.

  Appendix 2

  THE ART OF LIVING FOUNDATION COURSES

  It’s a well-established scientific fact that happy people are more productive, creative, efficient and effective. Who wouldn’t want all this and more in their lives? Gift yourself this Happiness Advantage by engaging yourself with Art of Living’s various programmes for individuals and communities.

  And if you are thinking, but, I am already happy. . . surely you are not allergic to more happiness? Right?!

  The Happiness Programme

  Weight gain (or loss) without a diet change, hair fall, stomach ache and stomach disorders, forgetfulness, sleep disorders, headaches, frequent colds, high or low blood pressure and infections are only a few symptoms of stress.

  Most people just accept stress and tension as an inevitable part of their lives. They feel that they simply have to ‘cope’ with the problems associated with stress and get on with life.

  The Art of Living Happiness programme includes techniques that allow you to de-stress and live your life without all the associated distress.

  Positive psychology is a powerful new branch of mental health founded on the belief that people want to lead meaningful and fulfilling lives, to cultivate what is best within themselves, and to enhance their experiences of love, work and play. The Art of Living courses feature yoga, meditations and interactive processes that allow you to do exactly that.

  The profound and powerful Sudarshan Kriya that is taught in the Happiness programme enables you to effortlessly let go of your stresses and tensions and introduces within you a tranquillity you never knew existed.

  You can be what you have always wanted to be: healthy, poised, calm, relaxed and confident.

  The YES!+ Programme

  Anyone who is 12 or 13 can’t wait to be 18. A 35-40-year-old yearns for his youth. Everyone wants to be 18, except the ones who are 18!

  The age group 18-30 is a wonderful time in life. You feel you can do absolutely anything. That you can conquer the world! Your body and mind are at their peak. Unfortunately, so is the confusion. There are too many options and challenges. To top it off, you have raging hormones. Things you do or don’t in this period can profoundly affect the rest of your life.

  You desperately need a calm, poised mind to be able to take sensible decisions. The YES!+ course was created by me and Dinesh under the guidance of Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar to address all these issues and more.

  The course sparkles with dialogue, is peppered with fun and humour, and liberally sprinkled with insightful interactive processes. This allows our participants to explore a dimension of the mind most people don’t even know exist. This course is a delectable treat for a young person who is going places.

  The Sudarshan Kriya is taught during this course, along with a few other techniques to enhance focus and concentration levels.

  You will have the tools and the ability to be able to live the life you want to live instead of the life you have to live.

  Sahaj Samadhi Meditation

  Everyone has experienced a meditative state in moments of deep joy, or when completely engrossed in an activity—the mind becomes still, light and at ease for just a few moments. Almost all of us have sporadically experienced such moments of utter calm and peace, but we are unable to repeat them at will.

  The Sahaj Samadhi Meditation programme teaches you how. This technique almost instantly alleviates the practitioner from stress-related problems, deeply relaxes the mind and rejuvenates the system.

  ‘Sahaj’ is a Sanskrit word that means natural or effortless. ‘Samadhi’ is a deep, blissful, meditative state. ‘Sahaj Samadhi Meditation’ is hence a natural, effortless system of meditation.

  Regular practice of the technique can transform the quality of one’s life by culturing the system to maintain the peace, energy and expanded awareness throughout the day.

  The Advanced Meditation Course

  The AMC is a 4-10-day residential silence programme. It begins early in the morning with yoga and Sudarshan Kriya, has
guided meditation sessions through the day, and ends with blissful chanting and knowledge from Gurudev in the evening. Tasty, healthy food is served to all course participants at meal times.

  The course helps you recharge and rejuvenate yourself so that you are better equipped to respond with equanimity and poise to the stresses and challenges that contemporary life throws at you. It is an intensive work-over for the mind and body. People who have undergone this course report feeling refreshed, their faces aglow and with their hearts at peace.

  After more than two decades of practising meditation, Dinesh and I still attend one AMC every year, and we recommend that you do too. Take a few days off, unplug yourself from the world and totally relax.

  Though AMCs are now conducted in cities and towns all over the world, we feel the best way to get the most out of them is to go do them at one of Art of Living’s many ashrams.

  Our favourite places to do an AMC? The Art of Living ashrams in Bangalore, Rishikesh, Gujarat, Germany, the US and Canada.

  The Divya Samaj ka Nirman Course (DSN)

  There are rivers to cross and mountains to climb. . . but the biggest mountains are mostly the mountains in our own minds.

  The DSN is an evening and three full action-packed days of learning about our self-imposed limitations and breaking them. It is an emotional, physical and spiritual roller-coaster ride, an exciting challenge for the courageous and an inspiration for the ones who want to be so.

  All of us have good intentions and fantastic ideas, for ourselves, our families and friends, and for society. Regrettably, these good intentions hardly ever translate into action. These wonderful ideas remain as ideas and frequently we are forced to compromise on our dreams and ambitions.

  The mind stuff disempowers us and doesn’t allow us to lead the life we are born to live. It buries us in the humdrum and the mundane and keeps us from reaching for the stars. It is quite a journey to get rid of these limitations and the DSN programme provides a fantastic start.