Everywhere, in every walk of life, man, without exception, is thirsting for happiness. From the diverse allurements of the sensual life and from the many possessions and attainments that feed and tickle the ego, as also from the numberless experiences which stimulate the intellect, excite the mind, calm down the heart or energize the spiritfrom all these he seeks happiness of diverse kinds. But he seeks it in the world of duality and in the passing shadows of the Mayavic Illusion, which we call the universe. And he finds that the happiness which he gets therein is so transient that it has almost disappeared in the very moment of experience. And after it disappears, what remains is a bottomless vacuity, which no multiplication of similar experiences can ever completely fill. But true Bliss can come only to one who would take courage in his hands and become free of all attachment to forms, which are nothing but the illusions of duality. Only then can he get united with his true Beloved, who is God as the eternal and abiding Truth behind all forms, including what he regards as his own body. The endless and fathomless Ocean of Bliss is within everyone. There is no individual entirely devoid of happiness in some form; for there is no individual who is entirely cut off from God as the Ocean of Bliss. Every type of pleasure which he ever has is ultimately a partial and illusory reflection of God as Ananda. But pleasure, which is sought and experienced in ignorance, ultimately binds the soul to endless continuation of the false life of the ego and leaves the soul exposed to the many sufferings of the ego-life. The pleasures of the illusory world are comparable to the many rivers of mirage that apparently pour themselves into the ocean. Divine Bliss is everfresh, everlasting, continuous, and is endlessly experienced as self-sustaining and infinite joy of God. Be ye united with your Real Beloved, who is God as Ananda or Bliss!
