Seeing a Tibetan monk on the Sahyadri campus was an amazing surprise, and I couldn’t help but wonder what brought him to our school. Later that day, he had a session during our library class. He spoke about happiness and asked us whether we prefer having physical or mental happiness. We thought for a moment and realized that the things that make us happy are usually only about physical happiness.
However, the monk explained that we should be mentally happy rather than just physically happy. He spoke about short-term happiness and long-term happiness. What we interpreted was that short-term happiness is when you are thirsty and need water; if you get it, your need is satisfied, but you will not feel much gratitude toward it. On the other hand, long-term happiness involves patience and deep appreciation , let’s take an example. Imagine you wish for a PS5 from your parents, but you don’t get it until the age of 15. After reaching that age, when you finally have it in your hands, you will be grateful for it for a very long time.
When we were listening to the monk, we could feel that he spoke with a kind of hope in his heart. His words really made me look at happiness in a completely new way, and I will always remember his lesson on being grateful.