Dr. Suresh Devnani, Metaphysical Counselor known as 'The Happy Doctor', says there is a big difference between unconditional happiness and wealth

Is happiness really connected to money? Though modern culture emphasizes wealth, it doesn't bring fulfillment. Yet passion can bring you unconditional happiness.Dr Suresh Devnani explored both sides of this matter. He was a millionaire but he was depressed. Then he found his true calling as a metaphysical counselor and became famous as 'The Happy Doctor' due to his numerous books on happiness.His most famous book is 'Miserable Millionaire' and it's based on his personal journey.'It took me about 33 years to come to this realization that money can't buy you the happiness that you've always wanted'Also, Suresh emphasizes that a dysfunctional family can be a blessing in disguise. 'Perfection lies within you. It's not with them.'Suresh says that it's important to understand our intuition and to listen to our inner calling. Though this takes time to build, it will allow us to reach true fulfillment.Do you want to feel unconditional happiness? Explore more ways to do so and remember to share it with your friends and spread the passion.Live PassionatelyMoustafa HamwiPassionpreneur & Chief Energy OfficerAward Winning Author & Speaker

TRANSCRIPT:

Moustafa: Hello everyone and welcome back to Passion Sundays, the best way to end a week and start another. Our guest today has been in the happiness business for over ten years. He's the author of multiple books on happiness and his recent book 'The Miserable Millionaire' – Dr Suresh Devnani. Dr Suresh, thank you very much for being with us today!Suresh: An honor!Moustafa: I'm really excited about your book first, 'The Miserable Millionaire'. That's an exciting title. But before we get to the 'miserable' part, let's talk about passion. What does passion mean to you?Suresh: Passion means to me simply – You live your life by your own design and you should not be listening to anybody else, except your inner self.Moustafa: Ok. And listening to your inner self sounds a lot easier said than done. How do you even listen to yourself in a world where you've never been taught to listen to yourself from childhood? We were brought up to listen to everybody else. Listening to yourself is a matter of habit also and we've never developed these habits. How do you solve that?Suresh: Yeah, actually what happened to me, how I started to listen to myself – I had an 'Aha' moment where I fell to the lowest possible period. I felt lost, I was living in extreme fear and eventually through meditation and gradual understanding and seeking the answer I came to the conclusion that the only way we should live is through our own intuitive self. But intuition definitely takes time to build. It is not something we are born with. We are born with it but we are not trained to understand it. So as we evolve and develop, we start understanding that this is what we should listen to – our inner calling.Moustafa: Listening to yourself… I really like that. So now I would like to listen to you talking about all these amazing books you've got about happiness. Tell me about the happiness ones first.Suresh: Ok. The happy book started more with my personal journey because I felt the only way people relate to you is when you are willing to be vulnerable, you are willing to share your story out. And I explained to people straightaway that even if your family seems to be imperfect, perfection lies within you. It's not with them. Sometimes we just don't understand that they are there to support us, we feel that they are there against us. And we have been born in certain families for a very good reasons. Just sometimes we don't realize the benefit we have behind it.Moustafa: Ok. I love that. And as you progress with all the science of happiness, it's much easier when you're talking B to C or talking to an individual. How do you apply that science when you go into a company where there's a culture prevailing that might not be so happy? How do you bring the happiness back into the workplace?Suresh: I believe that like-minded people will work better. So what happens is that it generally starts better with startups or entrepreneurs where we start building a foundation of a happy culture. But of course, the older companies can also benefit when the leadership is seriously wanting to make a change. And what happens is – of course, we have to choose and pick. So what happens is, as we evolve we decide to see who are really adjusting to the new culture. There are hard people in life and what happens is, as we evolve after a couple of years we realize that some people already played along with us and some who are not participating and then they let go and they hire people who understand and respect the culture as well.Moustafa: I like that. So it's a matter of time and progress.Suresh: That's right.Moustafa: There is no quick fix.Suresh: No. Definitely not. Or if you want, you shut the company and start fresh.Moustafa: Ok. (laughs) That's a good quick phase.Suresh: Yeah. (laughs)Moustafa: Miserable Millionaire – what a title! So how did you come up with that?Suresh: Honestly, see, a lot of people think that money will make them happy. And it took me about 33 years to come to this realization that money can't buy you the happiness that you've always wanted. And somehow, you know, we are in a culture where things such as success are all based on money. And some other times this seems to be more connected to today's audience which is all seeking this, what we call tranquility or money or whatever, or true success. And they will get everything they want. By the time they reach that goal they realize that money isn't going to bring them anything. There's no Nirvana with money. Nirvana has to be earned and sought. You can't buy it.Moustafa: Uhm…I like that. Nirvana you can't buy. But here's the thing. You can buy a lot of stuff that can make you happy. So how do you balance that out?Suresh: See, what we are talking about more is unconditional happiness here, which doesn't come with money. You can't buy unconditional happiness. You can buy happiness with a conditional meaning. It will last you for the moments you have it while the money are burning. But the minute the money burns out, again it falls back down to nothing. So you have to keep burning this money just to keep you going. But at the end of the day you still feel empty the minute that fire stops. So we are looking at that blissful happiness where even in the most miserable conditions, you feel something more of a hope. You are living in faith, something beyond. It's just a different connection.Moustafa: Ok, I like that. And how do you balance that out again when you are living in a community that is all materialistic? Let's say I'm born in a country highly materialistic. My parents have been trying to teach me to stay grounded, to be present. But that is going to create internal friction. Because on the outside all I see is people materialistic and on the inside I'm trying to keep my peace. And no matter who you are, it's like a fire. If you keep feeding it, it will grow. But if there's so much push down and it's trying to choke down on the inside you are feeling that you are chocking on the inside. And you might not have the option to change your location, your business, your industry, your company. There are many factors that are out of your control. So how do you handle that?Suresh: See, for those people who are kind of stuck in that environment, it is best to meditate. Honestly, it takes some time because honestly we need to recharge ourselves every day and the whole thing is – not everybody is so enlightened as you. Because what happens is – every soul has its own journey.Moustafa: I don't claim to be enlightened. So when you say 'you', you mean everybody else.Suresh: I presume that everybody will get that opportunity to be enlightened. See, the whole idea is simple. We all live through a course. So we all start in the kindergarten and then we graduate, we go to college and all that. So even in the spirituality, we have different levels and we can't expect everybody to be in college or everybody to be in kindergarten. But we should accept every individual as he is because that's the best they know at the moment. Even we went through that journey. So why should we judge anyone because when bringing judgment we are spoiling our own experience. And I feel, even if they might not be supporting you, maybe one day they will, someday that will inspire you to have a better life.Moustafa: I see… I like it. Inspire the world to have a better life!Suresh: That's correct!Moustafa: Doctor, thank you very much for being here with us today. This has been an amazing interview!Suresh: My pleasure!Moustafa and Suresh: Passion!Moustafa: What do you think? I really hope you found this episode as useful and as exciting as I did. If so, please leave your comments on the blog below and share it with your friends or those who might benefit from it. And if you'd like more tools, tips, techniques and exclusive interviews that I only share on my website, go to Moustafa.com. Until next episode – live passionately!