A young man, who had secured admission in a prestigious institute to pursue post graduate studies was very happy on his achievement and rightly so. When asked what his goal was, he said it was to complete his post graduation. Then he was asked what he wishes to do next. He said he plans to go abroad for further studies and do research in his chosen field. When asked once again as to what he would do after that, he said he would take up a job. The questioner persisted and asked as to what he would do next. The young man did not know where this was leading to, but still answered amiably that he would get married and start a family. The questioner was in no mood to give up and continued with his query on what next. The young man was at a loss for words to answer and remained silent.

Is this not the story of most of us? Do we know what we are seeking in life? Each one of us in pursuit of his/her vocation or trade, continuously set targets and perform actions, be it for acquiring wealth, material comforts, knowledge, fame, performing our roles in the society etc. as these are all necessary part of living. We have the expectation/desire to achieve the targets set. Though the immediate motive for an action is different for different people, a closer examination would reveal that, knowingly or unknowingly, the end result sought by every one is the same, which is, to experience pleasure and consequent happiness and not to experience pain and consequent unhappiness.

Every target we achieve we feel happy, but we are dejected and unhappy when we fail, in which case we either start afresh with renewed vigor or give up the effort altogether. Even when we succeed, the resulting happiness is short lived and we start looking at new targets which we think, will make us happier when achieved.

We therefore, through our actions, seem to be in a constant chase of a state called ‘permanent happiness’ which we ultimately find is ever receding like the distant horizon that is unreachable. Though we seek happiness all the time, most of us do not know how it can be achieved or whether it can be achieved at all. To know, we have to understand what life is and what true happiness is all about.

We perceive the world through our sense organs. These perceptions are acted upon by mind and intellect drawing upon the impressions, emotions and knowledge previously gained (collectively called Sanskars). Our mind is the seat of all emotions and feelings, impressions and inspirations. It is the mind where the feeling of satisfaction and happiness is generated when we succeed and the same mind feels dejected and unhappy when we fail. Further we would have also come across many instances where the same situation or an event generated totally divergent responses in different people. So it is not the situation but human mind which functions differently in different people based on their state of mind. If, the state of ones mind is such that it is always happy and contented in the face of achievement or failure, favourable circumstances or adversities, such a person will always maintain a mental balance and experience happiness from all his actions. Such a state of mind is called the Enriched or the Endowed state.

The Enriched Mind is always contented, serene/calm and ever cheerful. Every action and response from a person endowed with Enriched mind, not only experiences happiness himself but also spreads it all around him. If we perform all our actions from this state of mind then we will always experience contentment and will always be cheerful to face life.

The ONLY goal of every human being therefore, must be to live life with an Enriched Mind, as this alone will fulfill his natural desire to be in a permanent state of happiness.Can one achieve such a state of mind? Spiritual-Science assures us that each one of us can live life being in this state by training our mind to remain calm and intelligently manage our desires, thoughts and actions. This journey has to be undertaken by each one of us if we want to achieve the goal of our life.

Our founder H.H. Srimad Naamchaitanya Bhanudas has, hereafter referred as H.H. Bhanudas, through years of sadhana and subsequent research on human mind, has given to the society several techniques for training the mind. These are simple to understand and when practiced sincerely and diligently one can experience the Enriched state of mind. Many seekers are using these techniques and have benefited immensely in their personal as well as professional life. These techniques are:

• Changing our (Vision) attitude to life.
• Chanting: To calm the mind.
• How to abdicate intense passions of mind – Line of restraint.
• Take a pause: To control impulsive actions.
• ICE: To intelligently manage the thoughts.
• Three step formula: Accept, Adjust, Overcome: to deal with any situation.
• The Game of Chess: To intelligently handle interpersonal relationships.
• Life - a performer’s stage: To understand and play our roles effectively.