1
00:00:06,940 --> 00:00:08,740
I'm now here to speak about happiness

2
00:00:08,740 --> 00:00:11,280
and the factors
that are said to lead to it.

3
00:00:11,780 --> 00:00:13,470
I know, presumptuous.

4
00:00:14,470 --> 00:00:17,390
Now, what's very interesting
about these factors

5
00:00:17,390 --> 00:00:20,551
is that all of us, kind of, know about it.

6
00:00:20,551 --> 00:00:23,020
After all, they've been around for ages.

7
00:00:24,130 --> 00:00:29,000
And in this permanence,
in this immutability of the factors,

8
00:00:29,000 --> 00:00:31,100
lies the paradox of happiness.

9
00:00:31,440 --> 00:00:33,670
All of us want happiness,

10
00:00:33,670 --> 00:00:36,800
all of us kind of know
where happiness exists,

11
00:00:36,800 --> 00:00:39,924
and yet so few of us are genuinely happy.

12
00:00:40,324 --> 00:00:41,342
Yes, so few,

13
00:00:41,342 --> 00:00:45,411
because those gleeful photographs

14
00:00:45,411 --> 00:00:48,341
on Instagram and Facebook,
notwithstanding. (Laughter)

15
00:00:48,341 --> 00:00:49,870
So, with this in mind,

16
00:00:49,870 --> 00:00:53,240
I intend my talk today to be
about three main themes.

17
00:00:53,240 --> 00:00:56,610
One, we are reiterating
the well-known paths of happiness;

18
00:00:56,610 --> 00:01:02,240
two, pinpointing the inbuilt
impediments in these paths;

19
00:01:02,240 --> 00:01:08,210
and three, suggesting certain ways
to counter these impediments.

20
00:01:08,950 --> 00:01:12,380
So, what are the well-known
paths of happiness?

21
00:01:13,120 --> 00:01:15,120
Broadly speaking, there are three of them.

22
00:01:15,120 --> 00:01:17,120
But before I get into the details of each,

23
00:01:17,120 --> 00:01:20,390
a word on their universal
character and validity,

24
00:01:20,390 --> 00:01:22,320
that how the same three paths

25
00:01:22,320 --> 00:01:25,580
seem to be suggested by philosophy,
religion, and empirical evidence.

26
00:01:25,580 --> 00:01:27,549
Let's take philosophy first.

27
00:01:27,549 --> 00:01:31,030
Let's first take the first rate
in Western and Eastern philosophy.

28
00:01:31,030 --> 00:01:34,250
Let's take Spinoza
and let's take the Bhagavad Gita.

29
00:01:34,810 --> 00:01:36,520
Now interestingly,

30
00:01:37,370 --> 00:01:39,230
the three paths suggested by Spinoza --

31
00:01:39,230 --> 00:01:41,820
the path of feminine virtues, 
masculine virtues,

32
00:01:42,530 --> 00:01:44,890
virtues of the informed mind --

33
00:01:44,890 --> 00:01:49,850
happen to be practically identical
with the paths suggested by the Gita:

34
00:01:49,850 --> 00:01:56,010
the paths of Gyana yoga,
Karma yoga, and Bhakti yoga.

35
00:01:56,600 --> 00:01:58,610
After philosophy,
when we come to religion,

36
00:01:58,610 --> 00:02:00,640
it's again very remarkable to note

37
00:02:00,640 --> 00:02:03,940
that most religions
tend to have a trinity.

38
00:02:04,470 --> 00:02:07,341
And that the three aspects of the trinity,

39
00:02:07,341 --> 00:02:09,511
they happen to be
in perfect correspondence

40
00:02:09,511 --> 00:02:13,450
to the three paths of happiness
suggested by the best in philosophy.

41
00:02:13,450 --> 00:02:16,270
How they correspond --
I'll gradually come to that.

42
00:02:16,270 --> 00:02:20,400
By trinity, of course, what I mean
is Brahma, Vishnu, Mahesh of Hinduism;

43
00:02:20,400 --> 00:02:23,150
the son, the Father,
and the Holy Spirit of Christianity;

44
00:02:23,150 --> 00:02:25,770
Mohammed, Allah, and Al-Haqq of Islam;

45
00:02:26,020 --> 00:02:28,979
Dharmakaya, Sambhogakaya
and Nirmanakaya of Buddhism.

46
00:02:28,979 --> 00:02:31,889
The Good, the Bad and the Ugly 
of Clint Eastwood. (Laughter)

47
00:02:31,889 --> 00:02:34,540
OK, that was to see
whether you're still with me.

48
00:02:36,110 --> 00:02:39,000
Finally we come to empirical evidence.

49
00:02:40,000 --> 00:02:41,700
Now, according to this,

50
00:02:42,220 --> 00:02:46,097
humanity can be broadly classified
into three personality types.

51
00:02:46,097 --> 00:02:47,670
Yes, the three personality types

52
00:02:47,670 --> 00:02:49,673
correspond to the three paths
of happiness.

53
00:02:49,673 --> 00:02:52,730
Now the three types are endomorphic,
mesomorphic and ectomorphic.

54
00:02:52,730 --> 00:02:55,673
Endomorphic: these guys
are soft and chubby.

55
00:02:55,673 --> 00:03:00,001
They're fond of luxury,
food, social company.

56
00:03:00,001 --> 00:03:03,000
The mesomorphic: they are
large-boned and muscular.

57
00:03:03,720 --> 00:03:05,920
They're active, combative,
lustful for power.

58
00:03:05,920 --> 00:03:08,450
And ectomorphic,
they're small-boned and slender.

59
00:03:08,450 --> 00:03:13,001
They're cerebral, sensitive, introverted.

60
00:03:13,001 --> 00:03:18,090
And all of us
are a combination of all three.

61
00:03:18,090 --> 00:03:21,010
Most of us are a combination
of all three in varying degrees,

62
00:03:21,010 --> 00:03:23,230
which also explains
why one man's happiness

63
00:03:23,230 --> 00:03:25,900
is so different than that of another.

64
00:03:26,470 --> 00:03:30,070
So now coming to the first path
of happiness: Bhakti yoga,

65
00:03:30,480 --> 00:03:36,760
the path of the Incarnation,
the path of the soft and chubby endomorph.

66
00:03:36,760 --> 00:03:39,750
So, the path of you can say,
love and devotion.

67
00:03:39,750 --> 00:03:43,460
Love, primarily, because what incarnation
is primarily asking us to do

68
00:03:43,460 --> 00:03:47,000
is to lead a life of love,
a life devoid of sin.

69
00:03:47,620 --> 00:03:49,520
The connection between love and sin?

70
00:03:50,000 --> 00:03:52,000
Sins are absence of love.

71
00:03:52,720 --> 00:03:55,640
They're forms of hatred,
greed, pride, anger, envy;

72
00:03:55,640 --> 00:03:56,920
hatred all.

73
00:03:56,920 --> 00:04:00,000
Hatred is not compatible with happiness.

74
00:04:00,000 --> 00:04:01,690
So with sins gone, hatred gone.

75
00:04:01,690 --> 00:04:03,190
Hatred gone, love comes in.

76
00:04:03,190 --> 00:04:06,790
And once love comes in --
well, you're happy.

77
00:04:06,790 --> 00:04:10,000
Think about it. I mean,
as cheesy as this might sound,

78
00:04:10,000 --> 00:04:14,050
your happiest days are ones
when everyone seems nice,

79
00:04:14,050 --> 00:04:16,125
when you're running low on hatred.

80
00:04:16,125 --> 00:04:18,765
The demanding wife seems justified,

81
00:04:18,765 --> 00:04:20,620
the cab driver seems amiable,

82
00:04:20,620 --> 00:04:22,590
the obnoxious boss seems to have a point,

83
00:04:22,590 --> 00:04:26,760
and the receptionist seems
positively, positively endearing.

84
00:04:27,360 --> 00:04:29,000
Which brings me to first love.

85
00:04:29,010 --> 00:04:30,540
Now when...

86
00:04:30,910 --> 00:04:32,773
you might have been in love, I believe,

87
00:04:32,773 --> 00:04:34,080
if you remember first love,

88
00:04:34,080 --> 00:04:39,260
you remember the wonderful feeling
of bliss that went with first love.

89
00:04:39,260 --> 00:04:42,000
The feeling of perpetually
being on cloud nine.

90
00:04:42,920 --> 00:04:44,750
Or could it be that Providence

91
00:04:44,750 --> 00:04:50,000
has deliberately embedded
this program of first love in all of us

92
00:04:50,000 --> 00:04:52,670
to acquaint us with the power of love?

93
00:04:52,670 --> 00:04:55,050
If love for one can lead
to this kind of happiness,

94
00:04:55,050 --> 00:04:58,309
imagine what kind of happiness
could be yielded by a love for all.

95
00:04:58,899 --> 00:05:02,830
The question is that what prevents us
from walking this path of love?

96
00:05:02,830 --> 00:05:05,350
What prevents us from loving all?

97
00:05:06,850 --> 00:05:10,450
A tempting and politically
incorrect answer.

98
00:05:10,450 --> 00:05:13,820
We don't love all people
because most people are bums.

99
00:05:13,820 --> 00:05:15,900
They don't deserve to be loved.

100
00:05:15,900 --> 00:05:18,040
Now how do we get past this impediment?

101
00:05:18,760 --> 00:05:24,000
With the simple realization
that be the best or worst of us,

102
00:05:24,780 --> 00:05:27,807
we actually don't have
much control over the way we are.

103
00:05:27,807 --> 00:05:30,480
We don't have much contribution
to the way we are.

104
00:05:32,110 --> 00:05:34,730
The family to which we were born,
the school we went to,

105
00:05:34,740 --> 00:05:36,950
who sat next to us in class,

106
00:05:36,950 --> 00:05:39,520
which book we read
at what point in time, and all such.

107
00:05:39,520 --> 00:05:42,320
Neither our DNA
nor our circumstances are our doing.

108
00:05:42,320 --> 00:05:46,180
So, let's cut the bums some slack.

109
00:05:46,930 --> 00:05:49,220
We won't be able
to cut all that slack in one go,

110
00:05:49,220 --> 00:05:51,020
so let's do it in phases.

111
00:05:51,020 --> 00:05:54,750
Let's remember that on that long road
from hatred to love,

112
00:05:54,750 --> 00:06:00,000
you have certain pit stops of resentment,
apathy, tolerance, cordiality, affection.

113
00:06:00,300 --> 00:06:03,200
So don't rush it, alright.

114
00:06:03,200 --> 00:06:05,300
Promote your subjects
one pit stop at a time,

115
00:06:05,300 --> 00:06:07,690
and then experience it for yourself.

116
00:06:07,690 --> 00:06:09,400
Experience how with each promotion

117
00:06:09,400 --> 00:06:12,620
a packet of happiness
just bursts into your being.

118
00:06:13,950 --> 00:06:18,330
For added flavor, for added pleasure,

119
00:06:18,330 --> 00:06:20,760
you might want to add
some action to that promotion,

120
00:06:20,760 --> 00:06:25,670
because in the end, real love
is not an emotion, it's an act.

121
00:06:25,670 --> 00:06:29,726
It's an act of the will that ultimately
transforms into a spiritual experience,

122
00:06:29,726 --> 00:06:33,880
and because it is an act,
we can hope to get better with practice.

123
00:06:33,880 --> 00:06:36,890
Which brings me
to the second path: Karma Yoga.

124
00:06:36,890 --> 00:06:38,470
Selfless action.

125
00:06:38,990 --> 00:06:42,230
One acts but he abandons
the rights with the results of that act.

126
00:06:43,000 --> 00:06:45,400
The path of the active
and combative mesomorph,

127
00:06:45,400 --> 00:06:48,210
in the Trinity of the Father,
the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

128
00:06:48,210 --> 00:06:50,760
This is the father; father indeed,

129
00:06:50,760 --> 00:06:53,210
because when you consider
a kindergarten-going kid,

130
00:06:53,650 --> 00:06:56,514
that kid knows that it is him
who has to finish his homework,

131
00:06:56,514 --> 00:06:58,704
it is him who has
to tackle the school bully,

132
00:06:58,704 --> 00:07:00,300
who has to deal with the teacher.

133
00:07:00,300 --> 00:07:03,004
But yes, if something
drastically wrong happens,

134
00:07:03,004 --> 00:07:04,730
his father will be there for him.

135
00:07:05,610 --> 00:07:06,610
Alright.

136
00:07:06,610 --> 00:07:10,200
So Karma yoga then,
if I may borrow a cliché,

137
00:07:10,200 --> 00:07:13,320
is about "do your best, forget the rest."

138
00:07:14,020 --> 00:07:15,360
Sounds simple and soothing

139
00:07:15,360 --> 00:07:18,420
but all of us know
that it's easier said than done.

140
00:07:18,420 --> 00:07:19,490
Why?

141
00:07:20,310 --> 00:07:22,199
Because no matter how much we do

142
00:07:22,199 --> 00:07:25,204
there's always that nagging feeling
that we haven't done enough.

143
00:07:25,514 --> 00:07:27,666
You know, we've over the years
come to abandon

144
00:07:27,666 --> 00:07:31,374
that wonderful, wonderful
commodity called resignation.

145
00:07:32,024 --> 00:07:33,000
Too bad,

146
00:07:33,000 --> 00:07:34,640
because neuroscience tells us

147
00:07:34,640 --> 00:07:39,069
that while grappling with a problem,
when the mind resigns to an outcome,

148
00:07:39,819 --> 00:07:42,650
then the amygdala in the brain
stops sending forth signals

149
00:07:42,650 --> 00:07:44,280
of stress and anxiety.

150
00:07:46,250 --> 00:07:50,700
And here lies the inbuilt
impediment of Karma Yoga.

151
00:07:52,000 --> 00:07:54,743
All of us know that we need
to resign at some point.

152
00:07:54,743 --> 00:07:57,600
We're never able to figure out
where exactly that point lies.

153
00:07:57,600 --> 00:08:02,000
I mean, how much effort is commensurate
for me to say that I did my best?

154
00:08:02,880 --> 00:08:07,160
Well, one way to look at that question
could be to change perspective.

155
00:08:08,020 --> 00:08:09,020
OK?

156
00:08:09,020 --> 00:08:11,970
And when we see
that "change perspective,"

157
00:08:11,970 --> 00:08:15,400
I mean instead of figuring out ways

158
00:08:15,400 --> 00:08:20,900
to see how much more
could be done to achieve a goal,

159
00:08:20,900 --> 00:08:23,300
what could be done to achieve a goal,

160
00:08:23,300 --> 00:08:27,140
we try to figure out
how relevant the goal is.

161
00:08:29,000 --> 00:08:32,400
We disentangle ourselves
from the goal, we step back from it.

162
00:08:32,400 --> 00:08:36,680
We take a wider view of it
and then it starts to come to us.

163
00:08:38,340 --> 00:08:40,520
That how much effort is commensurate.

164
00:08:40,520 --> 00:08:42,801
However, that still
leaves us with a big problem.

165
00:08:42,801 --> 00:08:46,580
Because when you've been in this business
for sizing up your goals for long,

166
00:08:46,580 --> 00:08:47,920
eventually what could happen

167
00:08:47,920 --> 00:08:52,000
is that most goals
could begin to seem trivial.

168
00:08:52,000 --> 00:08:54,795
And a trivial goal
does not instigate action.

169
00:08:54,795 --> 00:08:56,364
We're up against a paradox again.

170
00:08:56,364 --> 00:08:59,458
Give too much relevance to your goals
and you see nervous tension;

171
00:08:59,458 --> 00:09:02,500
give too little relevance
and you see inactive depression.

172
00:09:02,880 --> 00:09:04,100
The solution?

173
00:09:04,100 --> 00:09:05,640
Well, not a clear cut one,

174
00:09:05,640 --> 00:09:09,110
but I get hints of it
in my morning tennis every day.

175
00:09:10,670 --> 00:09:13,820
This a place where I'm running,
I'm sweating, I'm strategizing.

176
00:09:13,820 --> 00:09:18,820
I've even been accused
of deliberately making false line calls.

177
00:09:18,820 --> 00:09:21,000
In short, I'm really keen to win.

178
00:09:21,000 --> 00:09:26,000
However, if I lose, that loss doesn't stay
with me for more than 15 minutes.

179
00:09:26,690 --> 00:09:29,270
So I guess the real trick of Karma Yoga

180
00:09:29,270 --> 00:09:33,490
lies in being able to replicate
that tennis match sagacity

181
00:09:33,490 --> 00:09:35,110
into everyday endeavor.

182
00:09:36,000 --> 00:09:40,000
And that brings me finally
to the final path that is Gyana Yoga,

183
00:09:40,000 --> 00:09:43,280
the path of the sensitive
and introverted ectomorph.

184
00:09:43,810 --> 00:09:45,150
The path of the Holy Spirit,

185
00:09:45,150 --> 00:09:49,660
that all transcending
and yet all pervading divine reality --

186
00:09:50,000 --> 00:09:54,370
Nirgun, Nirvishesh, Nirakar, Akarta.

187
00:09:54,370 --> 00:09:57,730
Without quality, without attribute,
without form, non-agent.

188
00:09:58,400 --> 00:09:59,930
In the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad,

189
00:09:59,930 --> 00:10:03,357
when the boy's father is finished
telling about the divine reality to him

190
00:10:03,357 --> 00:10:05,074
he in the end adds,

191
00:10:05,074 --> 00:10:07,860
"And that, Svetaketu, art thou."

192
00:10:07,860 --> 00:10:09,230
"Tat twam asi."

193
00:10:09,230 --> 00:10:12,290
Not just Svetaketu,
but all of us are this divine reality.

194
00:10:12,290 --> 00:10:15,170
It is this divine reality
that is the core of our existence.

195
00:10:15,175 --> 00:10:16,530
Vedanta says so.

196
00:10:16,530 --> 00:10:18,443
Eckhart and Thomas Aquinas say so.

197
00:10:18,443 --> 00:10:20,630
The Muslim Sufi Al-Ghazali says so.

198
00:10:20,630 --> 00:10:22,570
Buddhism says so. Tao and Zen say so.

199
00:10:22,570 --> 00:10:24,675
Also, quantum physics says so.

200
00:10:24,675 --> 00:10:27,840
What is quantum entanglement
or the collapsing of wave functions?

201
00:10:27,840 --> 00:10:28,982
It is the divine reality

202
00:10:28,982 --> 00:10:32,230
where the observer, the observed,
and the observation blend into one.

203
00:10:32,230 --> 00:10:34,805
What is the phenomenon
where they successfully separate

204
00:10:34,805 --> 00:10:37,024
a subatomic particle
from its magnetic moment?

205
00:10:37,024 --> 00:10:40,218
Is it not a reality of which
quality is not an attribute?

206
00:10:40,218 --> 00:10:42,410
To realize our oneness
with this divine reality

207
00:10:42,410 --> 00:10:44,650
is the ultimate goal of every human life.

208
00:10:44,650 --> 00:10:46,730
But why aren't we able to do so?

209
00:10:47,470 --> 00:10:49,980
Because as Al Pacino says
in "Scent of a Woman,"

210
00:10:49,980 --> 00:10:51,970
"It's too damn hard."

211
00:10:51,970 --> 00:10:53,690
(Laughter)

212
00:10:53,690 --> 00:10:55,490
Hoo-ah!

213
00:10:56,240 --> 00:11:00,470
Actually, it's hard because
it's all uncharted territory.

214
00:11:01,280 --> 00:11:05,800
And what further cripples us
in this uncharted territory

215
00:11:05,800 --> 00:11:10,000
is the fact that we are
totally ignorant of our limitations.

216
00:11:10,000 --> 00:11:15,490
We will not believe that there is a limit
to our levels of understanding,

217
00:11:15,490 --> 00:11:18,970
that we share 98 percent
of our DNA with chimpanzees,

218
00:11:18,970 --> 00:11:21,020
and that the two percent jump in DNA

219
00:11:21,020 --> 00:11:24,980
should not result
in an infinite jump in brain capacity.

220
00:11:25,500 --> 00:11:28,355
So just as a chimpanzee
will never understand quantum theory,

221
00:11:28,355 --> 00:11:30,980
there are certain things
which even when explained to us

222
00:11:30,980 --> 00:11:32,490
we will not understand.

223
00:11:32,490 --> 00:11:34,860
Similarly, we will not believe

224
00:11:34,860 --> 00:11:38,320
that there could be stimuli
and sense perceptors

225
00:11:38,320 --> 00:11:39,670
other than the ones we know.

226
00:11:39,670 --> 00:11:42,620
We will not believe
that language and reason

227
00:11:43,140 --> 00:11:45,620
are prime tools of understanding,

228
00:11:45,620 --> 00:11:48,070
have some inherent
and inbuilt limitations.

229
00:11:48,580 --> 00:11:50,070
Wittgenstein in his "Tractatus"

230
00:11:50,070 --> 00:11:53,764
and Immanuel Kant
in his "Critique of Pure Reason"

231
00:11:53,764 --> 00:11:56,870
made some really valid expositions
about these limitations.

232
00:11:57,680 --> 00:11:59,800
Which is not to say
that knowledge and reason

233
00:11:59,800 --> 00:12:01,634
have no role whatsoever in Gyan yoga.

234
00:12:01,634 --> 00:12:05,310
They do. It's just that by themselves,
they are insufficient,

235
00:12:05,310 --> 00:12:06,850
they're not enough.

236
00:12:07,390 --> 00:12:09,440
It's like if you're a painter,

237
00:12:10,190 --> 00:12:11,720
then a good book

238
00:12:11,720 --> 00:12:15,189
containing some great critiques
on painting could be of great help to you.

239
00:12:15,189 --> 00:12:17,820
But the book itself
will not get you there.

240
00:12:17,820 --> 00:12:20,062
At some point, you need
to get your hands dirty,

241
00:12:20,062 --> 00:12:21,980
you need to pick up paint and brush.

242
00:12:22,470 --> 00:12:25,110
So, how do you pick up paint and brush?

243
00:12:25,110 --> 00:12:28,470
And how do you get
your hands dirty in Gyan yoga?

244
00:12:28,860 --> 00:12:32,160
Simple. Mindfulness and meditation.

245
00:12:32,160 --> 00:12:33,977
I won't go into the technique details,

246
00:12:33,977 --> 00:12:37,650
but I'll say what happens with your brain
and mind when you start to meditate.

247
00:12:38,050 --> 00:12:41,850
Your brain starts to alter itself
on a permanent basis.

248
00:12:42,530 --> 00:12:44,570
It's called neuroplasticity.

249
00:12:45,000 --> 00:12:49,520
Feel-good chemicals are secreted,
neural networks get rewired

250
00:12:49,520 --> 00:12:54,260
in a fashion that helps
to keep you stress-free.

251
00:12:54,260 --> 00:12:55,850
Cortical thickness increases,

252
00:12:55,850 --> 00:13:00,520
which assists in problem-solving,
planning and emotional regulation.

253
00:13:00,520 --> 00:13:02,530
Cell density decreases,

254
00:13:02,530 --> 00:13:05,000
but in areas
that are responsible for stress.

255
00:13:05,000 --> 00:13:09,170
In short, feel good after meditation
isn't just psychological.

256
00:13:09,750 --> 00:13:10,800
Alright.

257
00:13:10,800 --> 00:13:13,490
And which brings me to the point that...

258
00:13:13,490 --> 00:13:16,780
But anyway, just leave aside
the neuroscience.

259
00:13:16,780 --> 00:13:21,823
Let's come to the fact of what
is happening in terms of real experience.

260
00:13:22,413 --> 00:13:25,282
Well, in real experience,
when you're being mindful

261
00:13:25,282 --> 00:13:27,794
you're learning to respond
rather than react.

262
00:13:28,194 --> 00:13:29,260
When you're meditating

263
00:13:29,260 --> 00:13:31,881
you're learning to increase control
over your attention.

264
00:13:31,881 --> 00:13:34,330
You're thus making yourself
less and less vulnerable

265
00:13:34,330 --> 00:13:38,260
to any stray stimuli
that might aggravate you.

266
00:13:38,260 --> 00:13:40,760
With the stray stimuli
and the uncontrolled reactions

267
00:13:40,760 --> 00:13:41,937
out of the way,

268
00:13:41,937 --> 00:13:44,770
the dust begins to settle,
the mind becomes clearer.

269
00:13:44,770 --> 00:13:48,372
You can thus view yourself,
know yourself, at far greater clarity.

270
00:13:48,372 --> 00:13:52,660
Your prejudices, your preferences,
your desires, your aversions.

271
00:13:52,660 --> 00:13:55,890
You can clearly see their machinations,
their manipulations.

272
00:13:57,230 --> 00:13:59,050
Far more important than all this,

273
00:13:59,460 --> 00:14:01,210
when you're mindful,

274
00:14:01,210 --> 00:14:04,310
you begin to enjoy this whole show
as a spectator or witness.

275
00:14:04,310 --> 00:14:09,510
You know, the actor -- I, me, myself,
gradually starts to lose relevance.

276
00:14:10,070 --> 00:14:12,040
And when you start to view the world

277
00:14:12,450 --> 00:14:14,640
with a little less of self-reference,

278
00:14:15,080 --> 00:14:19,950
things automatically begin to seem
a bit more calm, a bit more pleasant.

279
00:14:21,070 --> 00:14:23,350
Well, that was about happiness
and the paradox.

280
00:14:23,350 --> 00:14:25,084
If you allow me just one more minute

281
00:14:25,084 --> 00:14:27,860
I'll let you know all the clichés
related to happiness.

282
00:14:28,530 --> 00:14:31,200
The clichés -- those phrases
which we hear so often

283
00:14:31,200 --> 00:14:34,070
that they cease to have
any meaning for us whatsoever.

284
00:14:34,620 --> 00:14:38,890
Now when we consider a cliché,
we view it as a point, that red point,

285
00:14:38,890 --> 00:14:40,691
on the circle of our understanding.

286
00:14:40,691 --> 00:14:41,850
When we take a side view

287
00:14:41,850 --> 00:14:46,310
we realize that what we thought
to be a circle is, in fact, a spiral.

288
00:14:46,310 --> 00:14:47,680
OK?

289
00:14:49,000 --> 00:14:52,132
Then it's further revealed
to us -- this is getting technical --,

290
00:14:52,132 --> 00:14:53,650
it's further revealed to us

291
00:14:53,650 --> 00:14:57,240
that the cliché which from
our top view appears to be fixed,

292
00:14:57,810 --> 00:15:03,140
actually has the potential to exist
at higher and higher planes of profundity.

293
00:15:03,800 --> 00:15:07,590
For example, the simple words,
the simple cliché:

294
00:15:07,590 --> 00:15:09,500
"Do your best, forget the rest"

295
00:15:09,500 --> 00:15:14,070
is true for both a school-going child
and the great philosopher Spinoza.

296
00:15:14,070 --> 00:15:18,429
But the insight that each derives
from these words is hugely different.

297
00:15:18,429 --> 00:15:19,690
So all I'm trying to say

298
00:15:19,690 --> 00:15:24,000
is that when it comes to clichés
related to happiness and spirituality,

299
00:15:24,000 --> 00:15:26,345
they tend to have
more than one layer of meanings.

300
00:15:26,610 --> 00:15:29,250
So, the thought that I want
to leave you with is:

301
00:15:32,150 --> 00:15:34,560
Let's not be shy
of revisiting our clichés.

302
00:15:34,560 --> 00:15:37,500
Let's not be shy of trying to unlock them

303
00:15:37,500 --> 00:15:40,320
using any combination of techniques
from the three paths.

304
00:15:40,320 --> 00:15:42,590
And yes, while using the three paths,

305
00:15:42,590 --> 00:15:44,610
let's not forget,
let's always keep in mind

306
00:15:44,610 --> 00:15:47,094
the basic principle
that lies at their core.

307
00:15:47,094 --> 00:15:51,074
The principle that before
we seek happiness,

308
00:15:51,994 --> 00:15:54,689
let's make ourselves
more conducive to receiving it.

309
00:15:55,009 --> 00:15:56,150
Thank you.

310
00:15:56,150 --> 00:15:58,310
(Applause)