Lodge Burroughs Strange No. 87
Vijayawada, India

Happiness of a man depends not on what be has but on what he is.

Happiness is an abstract term. it can only be imagined by the mind and felt by the conscience.

There can be no line drawn separating happy and unhappy Individuals. A person, endowed with certain bounties from God, considers himself happy, if he looks at the condition of his less fortunate fellow creatures. The same individual, comparing his lot with that of persons better placed than himself, feels unhappy. Happiness is therefore a state of mind, and any one can imagine himself to be happy of unhappy.

The majority of the human beings consider themselves unhappy. Is that really so ? Has god created human beings to make them unhappy ? Not at all. God is goodness personified. He creates everything that is good and beneficial to mankind. The opposite is the result of man's own actions. Take an example. God created the Solar system to give light, If an individual turns towards the Sun, he sees light. But as soon as he turns his back to the Sun, he sees a spot of darkness of the shape of his body, while there is light all round. This dark spot is the result of his won action in turning his back to God's bounty. Similarly, when are made known by Him to mankind in the scriptures through prophets. If a man acts in accordance with the divine law, he will surely he happy, but if he acts to the contrary, he is sure to be unhappy. A man is the architect of his own fortune.

All this is the result of the attitude of man towards life. Life is spoken of by poets and philosophers in different tunes.

Some think, life is assigned to an individual for the performance of his duties, duty towards his Creators, duty towards the fellow-creatures and duty towards himself. These duties are well defined in the charge to a candidate in Freemasonry in the first degree.

Some say "life is a big drama." The Universe is the theatre, and human being are the actors and actress. The human being are the actors and actresses. The awards are given not looking to the part played, but to the manner in which the assigned part is played. Once a saintly person who had developed his soul through devotion, saw a dream, in which he was told that a sweeper in certain street was dearer to God than he was. he could not sleep the rest of the nigh, but started early in the morning to reach that street. He watched the sweeper doing his work from a distance. The latter removed the rags and stray pieces of paper lying on the street, and went on to remove even particles of dust. The saintly person approached the sweeper and began a conversation with him. He asked him as to what he was getting for his work, and expressed surprise at the conscientious work he was putting in for the small remuneration he received. At this the sweeper got angry and said, "What I are you here to tempt me to slacken my work? Don't you know that my Creator is passing along the street, and what would He think to me, of I were to neglect my duties?". Such conscientious work without the expectation of reward is dear unto God, and the worker is sure to be rewarded, if not in this world, in the one beyond.

Some say "life is a struggle," It is not to be construed in the usual way, as seeing a family struggling through life without a shelter, with clothes barely covering their bodies, and with hardly a square meal a day. It is not the struggle between man and man, or between beast and beast. It is the struggle within, between goodness and evil. Man has to fight every moment of his life against six enemies, which are the principal vices, viz., passion, anger, avarice, attraction to worldly things, envy and egoism. He has to be on the alert that not a bad thought enters his mind, not a bad word comes out from his lips and not a bad action is done by him. Hence the importance of good thoughts, words and deeds as expounded in the Zoroastrian religion.

Some consider life to be a school. When children are told by their parents and teachers what not to do, they get eager to see what happens if those things are done, and hence purposely do those things. The result is that they learn by experience what they will not follow by precept. Experience is always a dear teacher, and they grumble when in consequence they suffer and feel unhappy.

Life is also a trust. When a person is favoured with children by Nature, he thinks they are his, He forgets that they are really the children of God, as he himself is a child of the same Supreme Being. They are given to him in trust and as a trustee, he has to bring them us physically, mentally and spiritually the best way he can, till they attain the age, when they can take care of themselves. Similarly, in the case of wealth, when one gets very rich, he thinks him self to be above others in intelligence and some times even becomes proud. He forgets that the money is only given to him in trust, and as a trustee he has to see that it is distributed amongst the beneficiaries, who are most in need of it. This he learns to his great sorry only when it escapes from him.

This to be happy, one has to keep perfect faith in God, that whatever He does is right. He has to remain contented in life, Whatever be his station, and perform his duties aright, for God never forsakes those who are on the right path.