My pursuit of Peace, Happiness and Heartfulness

November 17, 2017 | Posted by admin << back to blog

Great Laker Swati Agarwal from PGPM Class of 2018 blogs on finding peace, happiness from the Heartfulness session, one of the many advantages of being at Great Lakes, that took place at campus a few months ago.

Amongst the ones to vehemently debate that happiness is not, and should be, the moral goal of life, I have often used the photograph “Earth – a pale blue dot in the universe” as a strong premise to conclude that happiness is overrated. I believed that happiness brings along complacency, that the chimera of happiness blinds us to an extent that we even condescend others.

Happiness to me was easily achievable – watch a meteor shower, gaze at the moon, stuff in chocolates, or go shop!! Listening to the musical notes when the strings of sitar reverberated in resonance after being plucked by a ‘Mijrab‘, watching ripples being formed at Sukhna when air gently caressed the surface water of the lake: while there were

instances when I experienced peace yet they were ephemeral and the source was not internal. Little did I notice then that the source of happiness was always external and cognitive dissonance was the only constant in life.

It was against this background, in the pursuit of peace that Heartfulness sessions at Great Lakes happened to me. Skeptic I was, yet I found it harmless to attend a session. I was inquisitive to know the science behind meditation. Some 100 people had gathered for the session. The trainers insisted us to feel the experience rather than cogitate about the science behind whatever was happening. I closed my eyes when the trainer instructed, only to open Pandora’s Box. There were so many thoughts, I kept on dwindling from one to another, so many voices, one was louder, or something another, it was all black and suffocating. Somehow I managed to keep my eyes shut for ten minutes. Felt completely stressed and exhausted when the trainer instructed to open the eyes.

Wasn’t it supposed to make me feel lighter opposite to feeling this heavier? We went through a relaxation technique which surprisingly made me feel very relaxed and then, it was the time of guided meditation.

This time when I closed my eyes, thoughts occurred but failed to occupy me. Some psychedelic patterns emerged against the pitch black universe. I was not lost in the pandemonium instead I felt above it, unaffected. Gradually the intensity and the frequency of thoughts lowered and I experienced “me”. It was serene, subtle and calm, lasted for twenty-five minutes and everybody in the room had a similar experience. It seemed we had just had a deep sleep. Tranquillity, peace, detachment is what I was experiencing then. Above all, I experienced contentment and happiness and unlike other instances, the source was from within. The state was so pleasure-giving and comforting that I was not any more bothered about the science behind the experience.

This was my first encounter with happiness sourced from the inner self, with peace that ensured I was more aware of me and my inner universe, and, with the powerful conscience to which the different noises of thoughts had already surrendered. An experience so enriching and empowering that I want to experience it daily and convert meditation into a daily habit.

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