Quest of inner happiness is all about changing your thought process

The inner state of a being is the end result of the thought process. As are your thoughts, so are your actions; as are your actions, so are your habits; and as are your habits, so is your behavior. In other words, your thought process constitutes your behavior and your personality. The seeking of inner happiness is not about changing the world around yourself. In fact, it's all about changing your thought process and eventually, your own behavior.

It is not that there is a scarcity of religious and pious people in this world. But, most of them are not willing to change their own thought process, their own behavior.

You can find people around you who continue to chant for years, who are regular to church and temples, who perform all sorts of religious rituals, who memorize holy scriptures, but still remain empty within. They even try to tell God to act as per their wish – “Oh God, please give me a son”, “Oh God, please give me success in this venture”, “Oh God, please do something to my enemy” - as if God don't know what's good for them. There is no signs of peace, inner joy or bliss on the face of such people. The reason is obvious – they all intend to impress others and change the world without willing to change their own thought process.

While conducting in the outer world most of your actions are motivated by the zeal to earn more – more wealth, more power or more popularity. Unless and until you begin to give importance to the inner world – the true wisdom of the Self, inner peace and inner happiness, your thought process won't change. No matter how many charities you perform, no matter how many austerities you undergo, you will continue to remain restless from inside. Without changing the preference in your life, without changing the goal of your life, your thought process won't change.

A Sufi poet sang:
Nazar badli to nazare badle;
Kishti ne badla rukh, to kinare badle !


Translation:
When the stance changes, scenery changes;
When the boat changed the direction, the destination also changed!

When your thought process begins to change – your stance of life would change, and hence the scenery; you would begin to look at the world with pink glasses, instead of black ones. Or I would say, you would give up all the glasses and begin to look at the world as is. This outer world will begin to appear like a dream to you without giving you the illusion of reality; You would begin to agree with the will of God in all circumstances and thereby remain equanimous or balanced in the happy and painful moments of life; Instead of being motivated by sensual desires, your actions with begin to be motivated by the zeal to perform selfless service to others.

The change in your behavior won't happen overnight. It is a slow process. But the most important thing is that you should be willing to change it. It is important for the true seeker of inner happiness to listen to the talks of self realized saints, spend some time in their company, read their literature and perform self analysis. In this manner the seeker should attempt to align his own thought process with that of the self-conscious holy beings who have found the Truth.