The Secret of Happiness

 The Secret of Happiness

A young man, weary and restless, once approached a wise monk and asked, “What must I do to be happy?”

The monk smiled gently. “Tomorrow, join us for lunch. I will help you understand what happiness truly is.”

The young man nodded eagerly and promised to be there.

The next day, as the young man arrived at the monastery, the monk greeted him and said, “We serve three kinds of meals here. Let me explain each one. After you understand them, you may choose which one you’d like to explore.”

Excited, the young man leaned in.

“The first variety is sweet,” said the monk. “Only sweets—nothing more.”

The young man frowned. Only sweets? He shook his head. “No, thank you.”

“The second is spicy,” the monk continued. “Extremely spicy—and nothing else.”

The young man’s eyes watered at the thought. “Just hearing about it makes my eyes tear up!”

“And the third,” the monk said with a calm smile, “is a balanced meal. A little sweet, a little spice, wholesome and healthy.”

Without hesitation, the young man said, “I’ll take the third one.”

The monk led him to a simple wooden table, and together they enjoyed a satisfying, hearty meal.

When they had finished, the monk asked, “Dear young man, yesterday you asked me a question. Can you repeat it?”

“What should I do to be happy?” the young man replied.

The monk folded his hands and said softly, “Nothing.”

The young man blinked. “Nothing?”

“Nothing,” the monk repeated. “Happiness is not a doing function—it is a being function. When I offered you the three meals, you chose the third without a second thought. That is life. We cannot have sweets forever, nor spice forever. In the same way, life cannot be only happiness or only sorrow. It is always a blend of both. And that blend—bittersweet, challenging yet beautiful—is what makes a healthy life. Just like the meal you chose.”

The monk placed a gentle hand on the young man’s shoulder.

“Always develop your skill, your will, and your energy to face reality. Learn to welcome both joy and pain, success and failure. That acceptance will make you stronger. It will give you the grit to bounce back every time you fall. Remember: life is a tapestry of feelings. The absence of one feeling helps you truly value it. If happiness were always present, you would never learn to cherish it—or work for it.”

The young man sat in silence for a moment, then bowed his head in gratitude. For the first time in a long while, he felt something stir within him—not happiness itself, but the quiet understanding of how to find it.

M.L. Narendra Kumar