The goal of human life is to find happiness and put a stop to the suffering of this material world. We are always looking for happiness, but we don’t always succeed in finding it. While we could experience brief moments of bliss, they are fleeting. Although we wish to escape suffering, it is unavoidable. According to scriptures, we are spiritual creatures that are a part of the Almighty Lord Sri Krishna. We are also happy by nature, or ānandamayo ‘bhyāsāt (vedānta-sūtra). Why therefore do we suffer? How can we get the happiness we once had again and live a happy life?
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We have this chance for a joyful and peaceful existence because to Srila Prabhupada, our loving spiritual teacher and the founder-acharya of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON). All we need to do is put these guidelines into practice:
Recite the holy names and the Hare Krishna mantra on a daily basis.
Read the Srimad Bhagavatam, the pure purana that exalts the Almighty Lord. Respect prasadam, the meal consecrated by sacrifice to the Almighty Lord.
Real happiness in life may be attained simply by adhering to the three aforementioned guidelines. How does one go about doing this?
Let’s start by figuring out what the main source of our troubles is that makes our lives so unhappy. Since the beginning of time, humans have been imprisoned in this material world, and the enjoyment we seek there is fleeting and deceptive. We participate in a variety of pious and wicked behaviors that further entwine us in this material world in the search of this bliss.
Because immoral reactions are the cause of our sorrows, adhering to these three principles cleanses us of all material impurities and sins, restoring us to our true constitutional position of boundless peace and ecstasy.
Ceto-darpaṇa-mārjanam bhava-mahā-dāvāgni-nirvāpaṇaṁ, according to Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, means chanting the holy names of the Lord to purify the heart’s mirror and put an end to the suffering caused by the raging fire of material existence.
Reading Srimad Bhagavatam every day fully destroys all the inauspicious things in our heart. This is what Srimad Bhagavatam says: naṣṭa-prāyeṣv abhadreṣu nityaṁ bhāgavata-sevayā. When the ignorance of darkness dissipates, we find ourselves in the mode of goodness and acquire all the virtues that the gods possess.
Prasadam, or food presented to the Lord, is respected, and this keeps us from experiencing further wicked behavior. yajña-śiṣṭāśinaḥ santo mucyante sarva-kilbiṣaiḥ, says Krishna in the Bhagavad-gita (3.13), devotees who consume food presented first as a sacrifice (as an offering to the Lord) are freed from all sorts of sins.
We can thus attain a happy life, excellent health, mental tranquility, and all other virtues by adhering to these three straightforward yet powerful principles that Srila Prabhupada taught us.