141. Reading Skills Comprehension: Happiness

Happiness

 HAPPINESS

Read the passages given below and answer the questions that follow:

On a cloudy day, the clouds hide the sun, but the sun is always there. Happiness is like the sun, it is often hidden by the clouds of thoughts, worries and desires. We have to scatter and dissolve them experience happiness.

You don’t have to create happiness. All you have to do is calm down your mind because when there are a quiet mind and inner peace, there is happiness. Happiness is not something far away and unattainable. Happiness does not depend on circumstances, objects or events. It is an inseparable part of our consciousness, of our essence, but hidden and covered from sight, by our thoughts, desires and worries.

 The mind is always in a constant race from one thought to another, from one worry to another. It constantly moves from one object or task to another, never standing still. This restlessness hides the happiness that is within you.

It is like a choppy sea that hides the bottom. When the sea gets calm you can see the bottom. In the same way, when the mind gets quiet you sense the happiness that is within you.

You cannot see a treasure at the bottom of a stormy and muddy lake, though it is there. However, when the wind stops, the water becomes still, and the mud sinks, you can see the treasure. The treasure is there, whether you see it or not. So is happiness. It is always there, only hidden by thoughts, desires and worries.

 You can experience more and more happiness in your life. Only your thoughts stand in your way of experiencing it. Next time you feel happy, stop for a moment and watch the state of your mind. You will be surprised to discover that it is calm, and there is almost no thought in your mind. Since the mind is not accustomed to staying in this peaceful state for long, it soon becomes active again and the sense of happiness disappears.

The experience of mystics down the ages has shown that happiness is inherent in our souls; it is not something to be gained anew. All that is necessary to do is to uncover it.                                                                                                   

1.On the basis of your understanding of the above passage answer the questions given below:

 (a) Why has happiness been compared to the sun?

(b) What are the requisites for experiencing happiness?

(c) What does not allow us to sense happiness that is within us?

 (d) When can one see a treasure at the bottom of a stormy and muddy lake?

2.Answer the following questions by selecting the correct options:  

(a) What is meant by the word, ‘scatter’? (Para 1)

(i) separate     (ii) detach      (iii) remove        (iv) disperse

(b) What is meant by the word, ‘ hidden’? (Para 4)

(i) revealed      (ii) avoided    (iii) defined       (iv) concealed

(c) What is the antonym of the word, ‘ unattainable’? (Para 2)

 (i) probable     (ii) achievable   (iii) inaccessible     (iv) reasonable

(d) What is the antonym of the word, ‘sinks’? (Para 4)

 (i) raise       (ii) lift          (iii) drowns        (iv) floats

 Answers:

1.(a) This is because, as sometimes sun is hidden by clouds similarly happiness is also often hidden by the clouds of thoughts, worries and desires.

(b) We have to calm down our mind, control our thoughts, desires and worries to experience happiness.

 (c) Mental restlessness does not allow us to sense happiness that is within us.

(d) When the ‘wind stops’, the water becomes still and the mud sinks, only then one can see a treasure at the bottom of a stormy and muddy lake.

2.(a) (iv) disperse; (b) (iv) concealed; (c) (ii) achievable; (d) (iv) floats

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