You Are Responsible For Your Own Happiness


If you are sensitive and your intention is not to hurt anybody, that is good enough. But sometimes in spite of you being so cautious, some people get hurt. There is nothing that you can do about it. Some people feel that anything you say will hurt them. You compliment them and they think you are taunting them. You give them an honest feedback and they think that you are cruel and rude.
So there are some people who are in that mindset, they may feel upset anyway.
If you invite them for a party, they are unhappy because they think you are showing off. If you don’t invite them then of course, they feel that you don’t care for them. What do you do! So, you don’t worry about it. They have to deal with their hurt.
From your side, you don’t use harsh words. From your side be courteous. From your side be caring. That is all you can do. Don’t worry about what is going on in their minds because there are millions of people around and their minds are all going in different directions. You have no say over it. You cannot make everybody happy.
If two people don’t like each other and you talk to one of them, the other becomes your enemy automatically! If you are simply talking to one person, that can irritate somebody else because you spoke to them. And that is what is happening in the world today.
What is happening in Gaza? If you show sympathy for Gaza, or say something about it like, 'Oh it is wrong, so many children are dying', then Israel will get upset with you. And if you say, 'Israel is right', then Gaza will get upset about you. What do you do? That is why in this world you can’t make everyone happy. You listen to your conscience and see that to the maximum extent, from your side you have no intention to hurt anybody. That is good enough. You cannot be a football of so many people’s emotions and feelings; what they feel, what they don’t feel.
There is a saying in Sanskrit, 'There is no giver of happiness of misery. You create your own happiness and you become miserable on your own, and nobody can stop you from being miserable'.

Simple or Complex?


Life is utterly simple and yet most complex. You have to simultaneously attend to both facets of life. When life appears most complex, turn to the simplicity. Simplicity brings peace. When you are peaceful, attend to the complexity within you. That will make you more skilful. If you are only with simplicity, it makes you lazy and dull. Being only with complexity makes you angry and frustrated. The intelligent ones balance them and rejoice in both. If you look only to simplicity, growth is not there. Looking only at the complexity, there is no life at all. All that you need is a skilful balance. If you recognize both simplicity and complexity of life, you will be skilfully peaceful! Colors are the complexity of life. White is the simplicity. When your heart is pure, your life becomes so colorful.

The Noise Of Non-Violence


Often violence comes with noise. Non-violence happens in silence. People who are violent make huge noise; they make it known. People who are non-violent are quiet. But the time has come for people who are non-violent to make noise so that the violence will quiet down. The message of non-violence has to come loud and clear so that it can be heard from a young age.
A sense of shame has to be connected with anger and violence. The reason for violence in young people is a sense of pride in anger and violence, not a sense of shame. People feel proud that they are violent or angry. They think it is prestigious or a status symbol to be aggressive. Aggression is not thought to be a quality to be ashamed of. This promotes aggression and violence in the whole society, and when aggression and violence are promoted, human values diminish. Some movies and modern music glorify frustration, anger and revenge and make these a role model for children.
We need to promote human values especially love compassion and belongingness loud and clear. Speak to groups or through your local media in the newspaper and on TV and create as many Art Excel and Art of Living courses in your area as possible.
David asks : "If people are ashamed to be angry, won't that keep them unnatural and set up resistance in them that will persist?"
Sri Sri : "If they are not ashamed, they will feel a free license to get angry and violent. Sometimes resistance is a good thing (Like resistance to disease or resistance to bad habits)."

Negativity Needs an Anchor

Negativity cannot remain without a support. Positivity, happiness can be without any reason. The mind goes on trying to find support for its negativity. It looks for a hook to hang its negativity on - if not this person, then that thing or that person and so on. This perpetuates the maya! The creeper of negativity needs a support in order to grow. But negativity or aversion for even one person can guarantee a one-way ticket to hell - you need nothing else! All negativity is a pointer to move to the centre and broaden the vision to the cosmic intelligence. Instead of focussing your attention on support for your negativity, look at the seed of negativity. With meditation, silence, kriya, the source of negativity is nipped at the root.