My
dear Pujya Sir and brothers & sisters,
My humble pranams to all of
you. On the auspicious day of Pujya Babuji Maharaj
Birthday Celebrations, I would like to share
the views expressed by Master about ‘Contentment’.
Let us understand the views
expressed about Contentment by our Master.
1. Pujya Sir says, "Contentment
is the greatest form of wealth." Contentment
and acceptance of the situation should never
be confused with complacence and indifference.
Cultivating contentment means learning to appreciate
what is given rather than focusing on what may
be missing. "I am satisfied" is not
the same as "I do not mind even if I do
not have." The commandments 5 and 7 of
the Master requires us to develop the attitude
of 'radical acceptance' which implies unconditional
Maitri (friendliness) where openness and love
are such as that we are prepared always to receive
with gratitude all that happens to us. Such
a life of contentment has no barriers to the
being and any and every one finds a place in
our heart even if we do not like what they may
think or do. Contentment really means that we
have the serenity to accept the things we cannot
change, having the courage to change the things
that can be changed and the wisdom to know the
difference between these two.
- Determination and Contentment
(- Bodhayanti Parasparam Volume III)
Here, we should understand
that the attitude of ‘radical acceptance’
is developed only when we truly follow Master’s
commandments of 5 and 7.
Commandment 5 says ‘BE TRUTHFUL. TAKE
MISERIES AS DIVINE BLESSINGS FOR YOUR OWN GOOD
AND BE THANKFUL’.
Here, we should understand the dependence on
God that is ‘BANDHA’ (a person bonded
to the Divine) and accept everything as Divine
blessings for our own good and be thankful to
God. Master says, miseries are the rebukes of
the Lord which are to be understood as an opportunity
for the individual to remember Him all the time.
Miseries help us in getting into an attitude
of acceptance and remembrance of God so that
one can get back to Him.
When we are totally dependent on upon Him, it
does not matter much what happens to us. There
is neither misery nor happiness. So all the
happiness and misery has to be accepted as something
of a Divine gift, because we are dependent upon
Him. Master says, take miseries as Divine blessings
for our own good and be thankful. But, how?
Only when we have the consciousness that Divinity
knows what is best for us percolates through
every pore of our being, we can accept every
misery as something of a Divine gift and we
will also be thankful because God is making
us remember Him more and more.
When one develops such an understanding, then
one can appreciate and acknowledge the love
of the Divine who is ever willing to help us
in this endeavour. This results in developing
gratitude.
Our Pujya Dr.KCV gave us beautiful example.
He says the lessons in life are taught by the
Lord very systematically. He loves us so much
that every opportunity is provided for us to
grow. When we ask for strength, He provides
us difficulties to make us strong; when we ask
for prosperity, He gives us the brain and strength
to work; when we ask for courage, He causes
danger to overcome; when we ask for love, He
sends us troubled people to help; when we ask
for wisdom, He gives problems to solve. The
way instruction of the Lord is difficult to
understand but when we understand, the joy of
awareness of His love has no boundaries. The
lesson of truth that we learn is very great
and what a loving teacher we have!
Commandment 7 says ‘BE NOT REVENGEFUL
FOR THE WRONGS DONE BY OTHERS. TAKE THEM WITH
GRATITUDE AS HEAVENLY gifTS’.
Here, we should understand that every thing
that happens to us has come to us because of
our Karma. No other person is responsible for
what is coming to us except ourselves.
Truly speaking we ourselves are the makers of
fate. When we do some thing by applying our
head and heart we form impressions thereof at
the base, which remain there in seed-form till
they are washed off by the effect of Bhogam
(the processes of undergoing the effects). The
Bhogam is thus essential and indispensable.
The agents who appear to have caused misery
to us then are in fact friends and the attitude
of revenge becomes alien to this situation.
This is a matter of knowledge gained through
imperience.
So, dear brothers and sisters, the attitude
of ‘‘radical acceptance’ which
is very much essential for Contentment is developed
only when we truly follow Master’s commandments
of 5 and 7. Then only, we can lead a life of
contentment which has no barriers to the being
and any and every one finds a place in our heart
even if we do not like what they may think or
do. Contentment is the core of happiness. If
we develop this attitude we would see how Master
is so kind to all of us.
2. Further Pujya Sir says,
“Contentment or Trpti is one of the important
attributes of a spiritual person. Contentment
is defined as "happiness with one's situation
in life". A person is contented if they
are "satisfied or showing satisfaction
with things as they are what so ever they are.
So contentment seems to involve having an accepting
attitude toward whatever is occurring. A prerequisite
for contentment appears to be a willingness
to let things be: rather than trying to make
them be different. It is a state of nonattachment
to outcomes, having no expectations for how
things "should be. This is essentially
what yielding to the Divine Will would mean.”
Divinity is a play and the Divine the way (Bodhayanti
Parasparam Volume IV)
3. God has willed that all should be happy and
contented; it is only we with our attachments
created problems for ourselves.
Soul - Clarifications – Bodhayanti Parasparam
Volume II
4. One thing that we should learn in life is
to be grateful and then count the blessings
we get from our Lord. This attitude helps us
to be happy and also develop contentment.
Salient points in Sadhana-Clarifications - Bodhayanti
Parasparam Volume II
5. 'Enough is enough' is the philosophy of our
land and could easily be the philosophy of the
human race. The constant striving for more and
more exposes that satanical sacred discontent
which is now getting globalized.
When out of reality we become Satan - Bodhayanti
Parasparam Volume III
6. Our challenges are very many. Our lives are
complex in that everything seems to involve
an ever-changing balance between opposites:
good and evil; pain and joy; health and sickness;
and so on. We feel like a ball being batted
by too many players. How do stop being the victim
of this "back and forth" pressure?
Contentment is the answer.
When we are not contented?
One is that we are unhappy due to an ego-based
expectation of how things should be…yet
no one is truly being abused. In this case no
action is required.
The second possibility is that we are discontented
because we perceive harm is being done to ourselves
or others and we feel we must set boundaries
and fight against such a wrong.
The Commandments of the Master have given sufficient
clues to deal with these problems and it is
the illusory Ego/Self that is the cause of discontentment.
We should discern the source of our discontent.
The experience of our Masters teaches that we
should learn to listen deeply to inner wisdom
which gives us the Divine Will in the matter
and subordinate our will in its favour.
With all this if there were
to be a case for conflict and action against
some one or some purpose. How to be contented
then? To my mind I (Pujya Sir) find the answer
in the great wisdom teaching, the Bhagavad-Gita
that addresses exactly this situation. We can
choose to be grateful to Life for bringing us
this perfect opportunity to discern wisely and
act from love. We can dedicate our action to
the highest and best outcome for all concerned.
What we cannot do is to walk away. Master says
that it is not wrong to fight for just cause.
However the point is, is it for personal good
or universal good that we are taking up the
swords?
Thus we take action when it is needed. We take
it decisively. And then we let it go. We release
the outcomes to the Universe.
And through this attitude of mind and heart
we can remain content in the midst of all things.
Content while doing. Content while not doing.
Content in good times and in bad. We can strip
away our attachments to what is unimportant.
And we can act appropriately on what is important.
We can feel the energies within us rise and
fall. We can discern when to move and when to
wait. We can act from Love and Inner Wisdom.
And then we can let it be. And all the while
we can smile.
How can we learn to hear this inner wisdom?
We can develop this ability by dutifully aligning
our will with that of the Divine Will. That
is a stand point where the individual is totally
null and it is only the Divine that has its
way. That enables us to learn to live with "the
serenity to accept the things we cannot change;
the courage to change the things we can; and
the wisdom to know the difference".
Divinity is a play and the Divine the way -
Bodhayanti Parasparam Volume IV
7. Pujya Babuji Maharaj says, a true devotee
is one who loves Him not for any favour or worldly
interest but merely for love's sake. He always
remains in a state of complete resignation to
His will. He is perfectly contended with all
that is bestowed upon him whether good or bad,
joyful or unpleasant. Joy or sorrow is meaningless
to him. Everything is a boon to him from his
Beloved. Such complete resignation and unquestioning
attitude in all matters is the highest form
of devotion. Resignation does not, however,
mean that he should remain idle, doing nothing
himself and depending all the time upon God,
thinking that God will send him all that he
requires if he so wills. God helps those who
help themselves is a common saying which is
literally true. We are failing in our sacred
duty if we do not exert ourselves for the discharge
of our responsibilities pertaining either to
this or to the next world. The only thing which
should be borne in mind is that we work in accordance
with the will of God and feel contented with
the result whatever it might be. When we come
up to this level we may rightly think ourselves
to be true devotees of the Supreme Master, and
hence on the right path leading to reality.
Reality is not a thing to be perceived through
physical organs of sense but it can only be
realized in the innermost core of the heart.
We have, therefore, to go deep into it to solve
our problem of life.
Goal of Life - Reality at Dawn
Finally, we should understand
that Contentment means "happiness with
one's situation in life" and “a willingness
to let things be: rather than trying to make
them be different”. Contentment should
never be confused with complacency.
I would like to express my
sincere thanks for providing this opportunity
to share Master’s views regarding Contentment.
J.M.Sarma
Mumbai.
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