Kamal Ghorui
Happiness is something that hasn’t left anyone untouched. And yet it is also very fragile. Now you are happy, but just one nasty phone call, and your happiness goes out of the window. What is it that can make our happiness stronger? I call that ‘Wisdom.’
We find contentment by focusing on what we have rather than on what we lack. And what does the contentment do? It enhances happiness. We have all known happiness some time or another but we brush it aside because we are discontent. ‘I will be content once I have this …’ A person who doesn’t have a job says ‘Once I get a job, I will be content.’ A person who isn’t married thinks ‘Once I get married, I will be content. I must find the right partner. When I will find the ideal boy or girl, I will be content.’ One who is married, is he content? They think, ‘I should have a child, then I will be content.’ One who has a child, is he content? People have 10 children, are they still content? Where is the contentment?
Contentment is very essential in life. And it is within us. We have had a glimpse of contentment here and there for a few moments. There is this element of contentment in us, otherwise we cannot live. In between two frustrations, just see there are moments of contentment. Focus on those moments.
There are two kinds of joy: one of receiving and the other of giving. In our childhood we experienced the joy of receiving. If you give anything to children they are always ready to take it. But as we grow older, we experience the joy in giving. For example, in a home there is a mother or a grandmother; when the grandmother is alone in the house, she does not prepare five different kinds of vegetables and four different sweets for herself. But when children come to the house or guests come, she cooks many different kinds of dishes and serves them. So in giving there is joy and this is a mature joy and pleasure. But many times we lose sight of this and we keep looking to receive all our lives, and we remain dissatisfied and a kind of misery pervades. For wealth to come, the mind should be content. The more satisfied we are, the more we progress.
Some of us have gotten into the habit of being miserable and unhappy. If someone is discontent, nobody can make them content. If someone is in a complaining mood, they will go on and on about it, whether this or that or something else. People who are used to being unhappy, even in the best of situations will still grumble and be unhappy. Nothing can make them happy in the world.
‘Santosha’, contentment isn’t natural for adults. One has to practice it. As a child, it was our nature. We had our food, we had good sleep, we had some toys to play with, we were content. Contentment was natural to us, but we moved so far away from that. Now, feeling a lack has become a part of us. So, to counter the sense of lack, we need to practice contentment.
Being unconditionally happy is a practice. ‘Come what may today I am going to smile. Everything is going to vanish and disappear, so what? Let me be at least happy today.’ Let’s smile at this very moment and enjoy our breath if not anything else. Even if someone was nasty to you, or something offended you, you can still breathe happily. Nobody is going to hold your nose. You are free there.
Everything is going to end one day. The curtain is going to come down, we all will be gone. How long are we going to complain? Wake up now, here, this moment. Whatever is, is. Embracing that which is present at this moment, we have nothing but contentment.
Remember that nothing in the material world can bring lasting contentment. Seeking contentment outside leads to discontentment, and negativity inside. It clouds our awareness. If wealth and fame could give contentment, all the rich and famous people would be the happiest. But you see that is not the case.
If you observe, we are either hankering for the pleasures we experienced in the past or mulling over the problems of the past. Unconsciously, subconsciously, we keep ourselves in that realm of discontent. And this discontent causes deep pain in us. It wounds us. And we don’t enjoy anything whatsoever. Then happiness appears to be a far-fetched reality.
When you stop doing that- stop craving pleasures of the past or stop regretting and mulling over the past, contentment and happiness is right there.
When we do not want anything for ourselves, a unique power awakens within us. We become capable of giving blessings. Only those who are themselves content are capable of giving blessings. If they say, ‘Let your will be done’, it will definitely happen. The blessings of an individual who is content.
END OF ARTICLE
