In today's world, happiness has become a commodity. It's pursued with promotions and fancy houses, luxury vacations and an increasing bank balance, social media hype and praise, and so on. But anxiety, loneliness and depression still remain on the rise. The irony is profound: man is more materially rich than ever before and many more are more spiritually poor.

There is another point of view in Sanatan Dharma. It doesn't consider happiness to be something they're to be made from whatever is external to them. Rather, it has taught us the idea that the human being is happy happiness has been clouded over by ignorance, excess desire, ego and attachment. Life is not about creating happiness, it's about finding happiness.

It is a timeless philosophy, which has been developed over thousands of years in the Vedas, Upanishads, the Bhagavad Gita and the wisdom of many sages in the past and is applicable today.

Happiness Beyond Circumstances

One principle of Sanatan Dharma is that happiness can never be found in the outside world. If we make peace determined by our wealth, relationships, success, or recognition, then our peace will be dependent on the shifting of those things. You never know what you may have to forfeit today.

The wise ones are neither shaken nor shaken by success, nor by failure, nor by gain, nor by loss, nor by praise, nor by criticism balanced in all circumstances, neither attached nor thrown away; not shaken by life, but remain free in the mind. So, happiness is not an outward state but an inward state.

LIVING BY DHARMA (Not Desire)

In the 21st century, the question is, "What do I want? Sanatan Dharma poses the question: "What is the right thing to do?

Dharma is not only religion but it is righteous action, responsibility, ethics and compassion. If you make decisions based on Dharma, and not on impulse, life becomes peaceful. Who can sleep peacefully who is not exposed?The man that is honest sleeps sweetly who is not exposed. Someone serving others has a greater sense of fulfillment than a person who is only concerned with himself. Satisfaction is more certain when it is based upon Dharma than when upon desire.

Mastering the Mind

The biggest warzone in Sanatan philosophy is not out there, it's in here. We tend to spend a lot of our time in the past regretting what we did, or worrying about the future.

Yoga, meditation, mantra chanting and pranayama were never thought of as only a relaxation practice. Their ultimate aim is that the mind should be disciplined and should become our servant and not our master. When the mind is placid, it feels happier; and it is no longer slave to turbulence.

The 12th of the 13-part series: The Trap Of Desire, and The Gift Of Contentment.

The desire is not condemned in Sanatan Dharma, but unchecked desire is a great cause of suffering. The Gita states that attachment leads to desire, desire leads to frustration, frustration leads to anger, anger leads to cloudiness of judgment and cloudiness of judgment leads to loss of wisdom.

Consumer culture tells us that happiness is in the next thing or next step, but it soon becomes routine and another need arises. Sanatan wisdom is the antidote to this cycle with Santosha or contentment not giving up on ambition but appreciating what one has, and pursuing goals with balance and not desperation.

The Quiet Power of Service

However, the one thing that is least emphasised about the happiness in Sanatan Dharma is Seva or selfless service. It is the nature of humans to find fulfilment in contributing to the well-being of others. It is through service, whether on behalf of the hungry, whether to children, whether to neighbours, whether to nature, that I can go beyond "me" and "mine. The more we pursue happiness for ourselves, the less happiness we get; and the more we give it away, the more we have.

A Way of Life: Gratitude

Sanatan Dharma is grateful not just for special occasions, but on a daily basis. Each morning is a time to be grateful for life itself the sun that warms us, rivers that feed civilisations, trees that sustain life, parents that nourish us, teachers that guide us. This mindset makes all of life a holy experience. The grateful person sees abundance, not scarcity.

Love and Respect for the Natural World

Happiness cannot exist without love. In Sanatan philosophy, the family and its relationships with community and respect are of great significance. Matru Devo Bhava, Pitru Devo Bhava, Acharya Devo Bhava and Atithi Devo Bhava, are concepts that respect parents, teachers and visitors and instill in people the values of being humble and emotionally secure.

Sanatan Dharma has treated the nature as sacred, mountains, rivers, forests, water and earth are all Divine manifestations and not just a source of resource. A stroll among the trees or gazing at a sunrise helps us recognize happiness can actually be found in the simplest things of life.

The Deepest Happiness

So the most important of all, according to Sanatan Dharma, is that there is happiness beyond transitory satisfactions. Relationships bring emotional fulfillment, material comforts bring convenience, success brings satisfaction. However, spiritual realization gives permanent peace.

The Upanishads state that the human soul (Atman) is blissful by itself and is a reflection of the Supreme Reality (Brahman). Wisdom shows us our greater identity gradually, while ignorance only sees us as body and social status. As that awareness expands, fear decreases, the ego melts and inner joy flows.

The Sanatan way of happiness is not an escapism from the modern world, it is a direction for living wisely in it to function with a lot of effort but not indulge in it, to strive for excellence but never be enslaved by ambition, to enjoy wealth without becoming its idol, to have relationships but not fall in love with them, to serve society but not be its object.

Sanatan Dharma kindly reminds us that the supreme treasure has always been within us, in a world where happiness is sold. Perhaps it's not about having more, it's about being more, more compassionate, more grateful, more aware of who you are, more aware of the eternal truth in every living being. Sanatan Dharma promises you a life without trials and tribulations, but a mind without senseless trouble.