Amar Vani

Author(s): Amarmuni
Publisher: Sanmati Gyan Pith Agra

Page 83

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AMAR VAN
which you may never detach yourself. Be a fly sitting upon the crystal of sugar, tasting it but free to fly away whenever it chooses to do so.
Imagine a bird sitting on the branch of a tree. If the branch breaks down, it causes no harm to the bird. The bird flies up in the sky. But if there is a monkey in place of the bird, it will fall down on the earth along with the branch of the tree. The monkey cannot fly up in the sky. In the same way, there are two types of men sitting upon the branch of the huge tree of the world. He who is attached to the world is like the monkey. When his possessions slip away from his grasp, he falls down; weeps, cries and repents. The nonattached man is like the bird, who flies up when his possessions slip away from his hold. He dwells in the world in a spirit of detachment. He takes the gains and losses in life as a mere sport. Therefore noting can cause him pain.
The Centre of Happiness
Where is happiness? It is not to be found in the possession of material things, but in their renunciation. The sensuous pleasure that you get through the fulfilment of your worldly desires is not real happiness. This enjoyment is mixed with sorrow, and it is no more than a shadow of true happiness. Real happines lies not in fulfilling your desires but in renouncing them. Falling ill and recovering from it is not a mark of good health. Good health implies that one should not fall ill at all. Therefore real happiness is that which brings real peace to the human heart. Peace is there in the heart of the man, whose mind is not restless. This in its turn means the man who has no desire for mundane pleasures. Again, he alone will forbear such desire, who is