Contentment
(Santosh)
Contentment is the practice of self-containment.
It is the practice of going against the negative waves of the mind and keeping
the mind still. This stillness of contentment is not the same depth of stillness
practiced in deep meditation, but is a prelude to it. In fact, it is impossible
to regularly attain the states of deep meditation without having first become
proficient in the practice of contentment.
Contentment is a practice, and all practices require effort.
After prolonged practice, it becomes an effortless effort.
Our
Atman (the inner core of our being) is naturally content. The embodied soul (Jivatman)
becomes discontent when it becomes disconnected from the Self. In other words,
we become discontent when the mind becomes shallow. The shallow mind is one that
lacks the depth of Consciousness. The shallow mind is the mind that is self-contaminated
instead of self-contained. The mind becomes self-contaminated when it is not restrained.
The practice of contentment is the practice of self-containment.
Contentment is NOT complacency. One who is complacent allows
the mind to comply with the demands of the ego. In other words, one who is complacent
complies with his (or her) ego and follows the whims of the mind. A person who
is complacent is stuck in their comfort zone and is a slave of mind and ego. On
the other hand, a person who practices contentment goes against the waves of the
mind and moves with the energies of Consciousness. A person who practices contentment
remains stable-minded in the midst of pleasure and pain and does not succumb to
either excitement or boredom.
It is impossible
to be content while going against our Real Nature. Those who go against their
Dharma and pretend to be happy and content are lying to themselves. People who
eat animals, drink alcohol, smoke tobacco, and are promiscuous CANNOT be content.
These wrong practices (malpractices) ALWAYS make one malcontent. So, before a
person can fully practice contentment they MUST give up their bad habits. In other
words, it is GOOD to be DISCONTENT with your life if you are living a shallow
and selfish lifestyle. You SHOULD be agitated, because this agitation will move
you to CHANGE.
Unfortunately, nowadays many
people try to justify their malpractices and wallow in their discontentment and
even think it is an impetus to their creativity. They create their own little
hell-hole and fall into it and drag others down with them. This is the end result
of emotional hole-filling: but this hole is NEVER filled because it is a bottomless
pit. Hence, people continue their emotional hole-filling forever—until they make
up their mind to CHANGE.
‘Emotional hole-filling’
simply means we are trying to satisfy or pamper our mind that is disconnected
from the divine. In other words, it means we have made our mind a catering service
for our ego. Instead, we should make our mind reflect the light of the soul. When
our mind reflects the light of the soul it is extremely happy and peaceful. This
peace and contentment is the opposite of the false contentment experienced by
people who appease their mind by gratifying their selfish desires and emotions.
To make the mind reflect the light of the
soul we must make the mind still. The practice of true contentment (SANTOSH) makes
the mind peaceful and gives us a glimpse of our Real Nature. In other words, when
we make our mind happy through the deliberate practice of going against the mind’s
tendency to be excited, agitated, bored, frustrated, or depressed, our mind begins
to resemble our True Self.
Proficiency in
the practice of contentment lays the necessary foundation for the practice of
intense self-restraint in the form of TAPAS (spiritual austerity), deep introspection
in the form of Swadhyaya (Self-study, or deep observation), and self-surrender,
or the total relinquishment of false ego, in the form of Ishwarpranidhan.
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