CHENNAI: Where lies true happiness? In personal gain, family peace, career growth or company profit?

Happiness and wellbeing are outside the illusory orbit of balance sheets and bank accounts, and man only needs to look inward to find them, spiritual head of Isha Foundation, Jaggi Vasudev told a gathering of CEOs from industry on Saturday.

Pointing out that happiness and wellbeing were common pursuits of humanity, Jaggi Vasudev said the chief cause of misery in the modern world resulted from chasing these goals "through external sources."

Instead of choosing external factors over which man exercised little or no control, individuals should learn to wield influence over the life energy within, he told a group of industrialists during an interaction organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry.

"When everyone goes after external resources in pursuit of happiness, paths are likely to cross leading to conflicts in this world. Happiness should be an inner experience," he said.

The sensorial traits have always been oriented to the external leaving the inner dimensions of experience unexplored. This is why mankind's accumulation of affluence and its attendant comforts resulted in misery, he said. "It is time to shift from pursuit of happiness to a spontaneous expression of emotion."

Invoking the language of CEOs, Jaggi Vasudev said productivity and wholesome participation of an individual in the work environment peaked only when that person enjoyed a state of happiness and wellbeing. "But, wellbeing is also about doing the right things during the process of looking inward," he said.

Replying to a question from the audience, he said: "Money is not such a negative thing. In fact, it empowers. Aren't we all in pursuit of it? It is the foolish use of money that leads to problems."

Jaggi Vasudev also did not see room for any bias against a political-religious-business alliance. Had not the course of world history been determined by personalities in these spheres, he countered.

He will be taking his messages on inner engineering to the World Economic Forum scheduled at Davos, Switzerland, from January 25 to 29. "India will be very much in focus during the summit," he said.

He is part of the CII team to the event. The spiritual leader attaches high importance to the summit, which will be attended by 1,200 persons who control over 80 per cent of global wealth.

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