Why Are We All So Unhappy?

The spiritual legend best known as Swamiji went to New Jersey—and so did our chief content officer Elise Loehnen. Swamiji created and runs the Vedanta Institute in Mumbai. Vedanta is the study of Vedic tests and translates to “the end of knowledge.” At the institute, and now throughout the world, his scholars explore why so many of us are so unhappy. In the world of Vedanta, they believe that there is a distinction between the mind and the intellect—and that the intellect should not be confused with intelligence. Because we do not exercise our intellects to control our minds, we are run by our likes and dislikes. We are controlled by our attachments and our emotions, the theory goes. How do we break free? Swamiji tells Elise—after taking her to the mat a couple of times. (For more, see The goop Podcast hub.)