Gita Talk 87–Threefold Happiness

The eighty-seventh in a series of talks by Swami Nirmalananda Giri (Abbot George Burke) on the Bhagavad Gita, India's most famous scripture: the unforgettable dialog between Sri Krishna and Arjuna about the essence of spiritual life.

In this talk, beginning with Chapter 18:36, Swamiji discusses three types of happiness according to the gunas: sattwa, rajas, and tamas.

Context of the Verse: The talk focuses on Bhagavad Gita Chapter 18, Verse 36, discussing the threefold nature of happiness (sukha) as understood through yogic practice.

Sukha vs. Ananda:

• Sukha = pleasure or ease experienced in the mind.

• Ananda = bliss, the deeper, inherent nature of the Self.

• The Gita takes a practical psychological approach, helping yogis discern real happiness from delusions.

True Sukha Requires Practice (Abhyasa):

• True happiness arises from long-term dharmic living and yogic discipline, not surface-level cheerfulness or forced positivity.

• Practice includes the observance of Yama and Niyama, forming the foundation for deep sadhana.

Metaphor of Churning the Ocean:

• Symbolizes spiritual effort through sadhana.

• Both Halahala (deadly poison) and Amrita (nectar of immortality) arise—representing inner negativity and divine bliss, respectively.

• Yogic practice forces one to face the inner poison before attaining the nectar.

Facing Inner Negativity:

• Many seekers feel worse after beginning meditation because it reveals inner faults, not because something is going wrong.

• Real yoga surfaces egoic darkness, unlike false systems that induce fake euphoria.

• Spiritual effort leads to awakening, not immediate pleasure.

Threefold Happiness Described:

1. Sattwic Happiness:

• Like poison at first, but nectar in the end.

• Requires spiritual effort, facing inner discomfort, and burning away ignorance.

• Leads to clarity, peace, and liberating self-awareness.

2. Rajasic Happiness:

• Like nectar at first, but poison in the end.

• Comes from sense contact—pleasures that feel good initially but destroy spiritual sensitivity.

• Chief example: indulgence in sex as delusive bliss.

3. Tamasic Happiness:

• Delusive from the start, arising from sleep, indolence, and ignorance.

• Leads to stagnation, unconsciousness, and decay of spiritual potential.

• Illustrated through a cautionary tale of a man who avoided truth and died due to self-deception and resistance to spiritual wakefulness.

Choice and Free Will:

• The Gita emphasizes that each seeker must choose between the path of nectar and poison.

• God doesn’t force—yogic evolution is self-driven, though it is empowered by divine origin.

Spiritual Heat and Inner Fire:

• Physical symptoms (e.g., heat, sweating) during intense practice are not uncommon.

• They represent the burning away of impurities—a symbol of real transformation.

Closing Insight:

• “Do or die—but you won’t die.” The seeker must face the fear of ego-death to realize eternal life.

• Bliss (Ananda) comes only when the seeker endures, purifies, and awakens fully.