A Yogic Perspective on Inner Peace, the Self, and Why Most Pursuits Fall Short of Finding Lasting Happiness
By Acharya Dharmadas
The Agitation Beneath Our Search for Joy
In a world that spins faster each day, stillness is increasingly rare.
So the dilemma is how to find lasting happiness
The seasons change. Fortunes rise and fall. Relationships shift. Our own bodies—once full of vitality—inevitably change over time. Even our minds can’t hold still for long.
Despite this ever-changing reality, a longing for steadiness lives within us.
Accordingly, we seek a place to rest—a center that won’t dissolve as everything around us moves. This deep yearning is not a flaw; rather, it points to something profound within us. It reminds us that not everything in life has to be fleeting.
The Human Dilemma: Seeking Joy in What Cannot Last
To begin with, it’s natural to want happiness. That desire is not the issue. However, trouble arises when we search for fulfillment in things that are, by their nature, impermanent.
We often chase joy through:
- Accomplishing the next goal
- Finding the perfect partner
- Taking a break with a weekend retreat
- Curating a polished image online
- Receiving praise, recognition, or validation
At first, these things may bring satisfaction. Sooner or later, though, they change—or disappear. The job ends. The compliments quiet down. The glow of success fades. Eventually, we’re left with a quiet ache, sensing something essential is still missing.
Yoga offers an insight here. It teaches that this cycle of striving, achieving, and disappointment isn’t just exhausting—it’s the very structure of suffering. Accordingly, the invitation is not to chase more effectively but to wake up from the chasing itself.
The Yogic Approach: Turning Inward
Rather than looking outward to find lasting happiness, the yogic path—especially Babaji’s Kriya Yoga—guides us inward. This change in direction is both radical and deeply healing.
Beneath the surface of our thoughts and emotions lies something unchanging. Yogis refer to it as the Self, Pure Awareness, the Witness, or the Divine. Regardless of the name, this still point is not a belief—it is something you can directly experience.
Perhaps you’ve already touched it. For example, moments of silence, deep love, or awe in nature often reveal a sense of calm that feels timeless. That experience, however brief, comes from within—not from the world around you.
What’s more, this presence doesn’t need to be created. It’s always been there. The only real task is to remember it.
You Don’t Have to Escape Life—Just See More Clearly
Fortunately, the yogic journey does not require you to reject the world. On the contrary, it allows you to fully engage with life from a deeper place of stillness.
When we live anchored in Pure Awareness:
- Work becomes meaningful, but not consuming
- Love flows with openness, not fear
- Success and failure both lose their grip on our identity
Moreover, we stop clinging. Life softens. Gratitude becomes more natural. We begin to welcome each moment, not as a test to pass, but as something to be lived.
This is not withdrawal. Instead, it’s deeper participation. With awareness as your ground, you meet life not from reactivity, but from presence.
Rest in What Doesn’t Change
So what is the heart of this path?
Lasting happiness cannot be found by trying to control the world outside of us. It emerges when we learn to rest in what doesn’t change—our true Self.
While circumstances shift, the Self remains unmoved. By anchoring in that, we find that joy, clarity, and contentment naturally arise. Peace becomes a state of being, not something to chase.
In essence, this is the gift of Babaji’s Kriya Yoga. It offers not a new belief system but a new relationship with your own experience. And from that shift, everything changes.
An Invitation to You
So if you feel tired of running…
If you’ve been quietly seeking something more enduring…
If a part of you senses that real peace must come from within—
Then I invite you to join me.
Each week at Ananda Yoga Space, I lead Kriya Hatha Yoga classes designed to gently guide you back to your center. Through breath, movement, and meditation, we remember the stillness that has always been with us.
No previous experience is required. You don’t have to believe anything. You don’t even need to be flexible.
Just come as you are.
Let the practice meet you where you are—and let yourself return home.
