Children teach us how to be truly happy

Today India is celebrating children’s day. Children are having fun everywhere. In fact, children don’t need a children’s day to be happy or have fun. It is just another reason for them to be happy.  What is the secret for their happiness?

It is easy to see that children are happy because they have no worries. Whatever they need is provided by their parents. For example, a mother cooks the favorite food for her child. A father buys all the clothes and toys a child needs or wants. In this way, a child is happy although it is completely dependent on the parents for everything the child needs or wants.

Even if a child does not have better material comforts, still it does not matter as much with regards to a child’s happiness. A baby is just happy to be in a mother’s arms whether the mother is poor or rich. Children who are impoverished and live on the street are just as happy as those who are living in nice bungalows.

However, this situation for the children is temporary. As children grow into young adults, they are expected to study well, graduate from college and find a good job. They are expected to start being independent. The young adult is now suddenly filled with anxiety.  They begin to worry if they will be able to take care of themselves, let alone their future families. They carry a big burden on their shoulders. This worry turns into fear. Where there is anxiety and fear, how can there be true happiness? This sense of anxiety now continues for the rest of their life and happiness continues to elude them.

As adults, who have gone through this experience, we should recognize the fact that the secret of our happiness does not lie in material comforts. Material comforts come with it a sense of responsibility to maintain and protect it. It only serves to increase our anxiety and not in any way decrease it.  For example, a house with a nice green lawn needs constant maintenance. A nice expensive car requires us to make higher monthly payments and therefore force us to work harder and earn more money.

The secret of our happiness does not lie in being independent as well. We strive to become independent and achieve higher positions in society or amass more money. However, the higher your position is in society, the higher your anxiety is. A CEO of a company is more worried about the success of the company than a lower level employee. The head of a state is in more anxiety than a clerk in the government establishment. The richer you are, the more you worry about protecting all your money. We wonder, how can I prevent the thieves from taking all my money? How can I prevent the government from unfairly taxing my money? We may even worry that our own family may steal our money.

What then is the secret to our happiness? Can we remain under the shelter of our parents all our lives? If so, we can avoid all anxiety. However, we know that it is practically not possible. They will not be with us forever nor may be able to support us all their lives. The answer to the secret of happiness, can be found in Bhagavad Gita.

In Bhagavad Gita 9.17, Lord Krishna says, “pitāham asya jagato…”, I am the father of this universe. This means that we have a Supreme father. 

In Bhagavad Gita 2.12, Lord Krishna says,

na tv evāhaṁ jātu nāsaṁ
na tvaṁ neme janādhipāḥ
na caiva na bhaviṣyāmaḥ
sarve vayam ataḥ param

“Never was there a time when I did not exist, nor you, nor all these kings; nor in the future shall any of us cease to be.”

Here Krishna is referring to us as spirit souls. He is telling us that as spirit souls, we are eternal just like the Him, as the Supreme Lord.

If we make sense of these two instructions from the Lord, it is clear that He is the source of this entire universe.  Therefore, He owns everything. It also means that this same person who owns everything is eternal.  Therefore, we have an eternal father whose opulence is unlimited. There is no question that the Supreme father of this entire universe cannot support us with our daily needs. 

The next question one may ask is, “Even if He can support us and take care of us, will He?”  I remember as a child always wanting to be with my grandfather and grandmother. Today, my son echoes my sentiments. I think we all agree that our parents love our children more than us! Of course, that does not diminish the love and care they showed us in any way. If our parents can show us so much love and our grandparents can shower even greater love on us, imagine how much more our Supreme father, Supreme great, great, great… grandfather can love us! Is it even possible for Him to love us so much and not take care of us? 

Therefore, recognizing that we have a Supreme eternal father who is supremely opulent and who has unlimited Love for us, we do not need to have any fear or anxiety. He will protect us unconditionally. We may call Him Krishna, Allah or just the Lord.  A child may call his father, Dad, Padre, Papa or Nana depending on what language a child may be using, but the person he is referring to is the same. It does not matter what we call our Supreme father, all we need to do is remember Him and reestablish our relationship with Him. By doing so, the anxiety that stems in us because of our forgetfulness of our Supreme father will instantly disappear. Once we are free from anxiety, we are in complete peace and therefore will be situated in true happiness.

Let us thank our children on this Children’s day for helping us reflect on our Supreme father and his Supreme love for us. Happy Children's Day!