Strive for Contentment

The Bhagavad-Gita taught, if you want to enter the kingdom of liberation and gain moksha, you should acquire the 26 noble virtues. But even if you have just one, you will be qualified to get in. Of all of them, one of the most important qualities is contentment. Only the one who has contentment can be considered great. Swami asks often; “Who is the greatest human being in this world?” The answer is, “The one who is always satisfied, is the greatest of men.” Therefore, you have to develop this satisfaction and contentment in yourself.

Digest 2, p. 72

The trees provide cool shade and sweet fruits equally to all whether they have fostered them or harmed them. They teach man this lesson of equal mindedness. The mountains, by bearing heat and cold, wind, and rain alike, teach man not to care too much for the body. The birds take no thought for tomorrow and are content to live on what they can get. They teach man the lesson of contentment and indifference to the future. The departed convey the message of the impermanence of life and its pleasures. Nature thus teaches man in many ways to give up ideas of “I” and “mine” and look upon God as the supreme preceptor.

Digest 2, p. 246

Today there are people who are never content with what they have and are ceaselessly seeking more wealth, position, or power. They are perpetually harmed by discontent. They claim rights of every kind, but have no awareness of their responsibilities. They are consumed by perpetual discontent and insatiate desires. The contented man is a more praiseworthy person. One who has achieved contentment can enjoy the bliss of the divine grace.

Sanathana Sarathi, June 1987, p. 155

Have no thorn of hate in your mind, develop love towards all. Desire is a storm, greed is a whirlpool, pride is a precipice, an attachment is an avalanche, and egoism is a volcano. Keep these things away so that when you recite the name of God or do meditation, they do not disturb the equanimity. Let love be enthroned in your heart, then there will be sunshine, cool breezes, and gurgling waters of contentment feeding the roots of faith.

My Baba and I, p. 27

There is no greater happiness than being contented. Man seeks happiness in various forms. But there is no happiness equal to peace… there is no greater happiness than that derived from contentment. What greater heaven is there than contentment?

Sanathana Sarathi, September 1995, p. 225