Have you ever thought after reaching your goal, why aren’t you happy? It’s because that is not what you need to be happy.

The major problem today in this world is that everyone is searching for joy in materialistic objects like money, fame, respect, and whatever. But the fact is, the most successful personalities in the world which you admire so much are not happy at all! If that was the case, they won’t ever get depressed or sad. Is that what the reality is? No, in fact, they’re the one who takes depression therapies and drugs to be happy.

What are all the fundamental problems that we all face? There is a sense of lack that exists in all of us, a sense of loneliness, a sense of incompleteness, a sense of being restricted, a sense of fear, fear of death. So these fundamental problems can only be overcome through self-investigation; there’s no other way around. 

Being happy is a basic nature of human beings, just like the basic nature of fire is hot. But the error we make is we’re searching for happiness outside, which is impossible to achieve. Say, you wanted something for a very long time; what happens after you achieve it? You’ll be happy for a while, but then you’ll need something else to be happy, you’ll then run after some other goal; it’s an endless cycle!

The good thing is, there’s a way to be happy at every moment, but to make it happen you must understand in a peaceful state of mind “Who Are You?” 

You’ll have to self-enquire! If you do so, all your fears and doubts will come to an end; not temporarily, but forever. All internal conflicts will fall to zero, and psychological pain will cease to exist. 

Basically, we all encounter two kinds of problems; the first is subjective or personal problems at a superficial level that you may have but I don’t, or I may have but you don’t. This means that one person may have a problem but another may not have that.

The other is the fundamental problems which every individual has at a deeper level, be they the poorest of the poor or the richest of the rich. Be it India, The United States, The United Kingdom, anywhere, there won’t be a single person who doesn’t suffer from these problems. These are the issues that we need to address.

In fact, all the questions you ask are from your own viewpoint, like I have this problem or I’m suffering from this or that. But we never ask if I really am or not. “Who are you?”

If you think of yourself as another person or entity, then the whole discussion is pointless, whatever you are questioning or thinking if ‘I’ in the first place is misplaced. Let’s say you think, ‘I’m a body,’ then whatever you ask thinking you really are, a body, is wrong.

A body is being born, a body dies; different people are associated with the body, this happened to the body or that happened to the body, whatever it may be. There may be unlimited problems, but we never ask ourselves, ‘Am I really a body or not?’

Just because the entire world thinks they’re just limited to their bodies, so even I assume that I’m a body and question things based on ‘Me’ being a body. In that case, you’re even listening to me thinking you are a body. How will you understand anything then? So assume nothing, listen with an open mind.

What are all the fundamental problems that all of us face then? There is a sense of lack that exists in all of us, a sense of loneliness, a sense of incompleteness, a sense of being restricted, a sense of fear, and fear of death. Therefore, these fundamental problems can only be overcome through self-investigation; there’s no other way around.

Let’s just assume your problem is, ‘You’re restless.’ Is restlessness the issue that only one person faces, or is it something that all the humanity faces?

So there are two kinds of scripture, one of which will tell you how you can resist this restlessness for some time. Meaning, just do this and you’ll have peace of mind for a little while, do this then this will happen, or do this then that will happen. Practice what is written in these scriptures, obey it, and regulate your desires. Control your rage, control your greed, control your attachments, and your expectations; and a day will come when you’ll be fully enlightened.

What’s the other way around? Whatever the truth is, whether you accept it or not, things are being declared. That’s just what the Ashtavakra Geeta is!

But in order to realize the truth, you need to put your notions aside. Any preconceived notions or opinions or feelings you might have, you need to set them behind and see things as they are. Please keep on reading, what will happen is that the truth will be revealed.

Is the desire for happiness just limited to a person or does everyone wants to be happy? Everyone wants it! The quest for happiness ends by knowing the truth. Because I’m happy, I don’t need to search for it! The search for the truth ends as you realize that I am the truth.

All this racing around the mind is what we call restlessness. The mind doesn’t seem to be still for a second. Why is that happening? This happens when you feel like, ‘I need to be somewhere’, ‘I need to get somewhere’, ‘I need to do something’, or ‘I need to be something’.

Everyone is trying to do things to put an end to the restlessness in them, to forget about the restlessness in them. The fact that they’re trying to do this is basically an issue. The moment we realize that I am absolutely complete, all the restlessness dies.

What’s the root cause of all the problems? It’s because we never wonder why we keep chasing something or the other. They’re all doing it, so I do it, too. Everyone’s going in different directions, though, not all of them are going the same way. One wants this; the other one wants something different.

We idealize one of these directions and start to follow it but when we finally reach the destination, there’s actually nothing there. Then we see someone else, or we’ll get drawn to something else, and we’ll start running in that direction. And when we actually get there, there’s nothing there either.

So, what’s the solution to all this? Tell me one thing; do you think the rich people you admire so much are satisfied or happy? Of course not, otherwise they may not be taking drugs and anti-depressant to feel well. USA, which is the richest nation, has leading number of depression cases (16.2 million adults in the United States, or 6.7 percent of American adults).

Therefore, stay right where you are; Be the one you are. You don’t need to do anything! The dilemma you’re facing is that you think you have to reach somewhere. You may assume, for example, that I have to attain enlightenment. What is enlightenment now? Every concept of enlightenment will be different. Everyone has some preconceived notions, ‘If I can get this, I’ll be enlightened’, or ‘I’ll be enlightened when I see the God’, whatever.

Let’s say you got engaged to the girl you liked, is it the end of your restlessness or will there still be conflicts? So how are we going to get rid of this restlessness? There’s someone telling you, you don’t need to do something, just take a step back to relax and listen to what I’ve got to say. If you really understand that you don’t need to go anywhere you’re already there!

So do you need thoughts then, this is called the state of thoughtlessness. Many could not understand this; they believe that thoughtlessness means either a state of intense concentration or deep sleep. But that’s not the case; you’ve got to wake up after a while, right? You’re going to break the focus at some point? Is this the solution?

When does the problem exist? When you’re sleeping, when you’re in a state of intense concentration, or when you’re wide awake? It’s when you’re awake! So in that situation, the solution needs to be sorted out. We’re going to get nervous the moment we wake up. Why is this happening? This happens when we believe we need to do something, action or karma is something that needs to be understood, but not theoretically. Leave behind all the myths you’ve read about, try to understand what action really is, what thought means.

You need to plan; you need physical activity, and you need a lot of other things if you want to go from one location to another. You need a time unit, money too, you’ll have to fight. So the fight, the emotions, the action comes to an end temporarily when you reach where you want to go. But it’s only a short time, whether it’s in the material world or the spiritual world.

But then again, because of your old pattern of thinking new thoughts develop in your mind and the fight starts again. This is a cycle that never ends. It’s a loop; It’s a loop that never ends.

If I feel awful, I might find happiness in eating something. Now that I’ve had this, the thought ends temporarily, when the task is finished the thought ceases to exist, when it is taken care of we feel relaxed. Then the desire comes again, and the cycle begins again.

This is what happens: action and reaction, cause and effect, cause and effect. What will happen is that we tire out of this.

This is just one way. The other way around is that you don’t need to move at all, to move in the sense that, ‘I want to be someone or I want to do something’. You don’t need that kind of thinking because you’re already what you need to be. Just sit back and understand who you really are once you’ve fully understood the research has already been completed.

Finally, there is no need for information or words to help you see the reality. All the clutter of words, then, will cease to exist. When you travel from one place to another, is it necessary to think of reaching that place? No, the idea comes to an end!

But what’s going to happen is that another impulse emerges that I need to go somewhere or do something because the feeling of incompleteness also persists. But once you realize that I don’t need to go anywhere I don’t need to change then the feeling of incompleteness ceases to exist, not only momentarily, yet forever.

You won’t have to be detached from anything; it’s like fuel in a car. When we believe that whatever is in this universe is equivalent to the fuel in a car, I’m on a path, a journey to understand the “Self.” Then for this reason whatever I collect, it’s all equivalent to the fuel the car needs to run. So I’m not really attached to the fuel, I’m just centered on the journey. It’s called abstinence!

If you want to know in-depth, “Who Are You?” Consider reading my book-

Who Are You: The Spiritual Awakening Self Discovery Guide For Enlightenment And Liberation