Yoga Sutra

Patanjali Yoga Sutra

 

II. 42 Santoshad Anuttamah Sukha Labhah

  Sage Patanjali

     The highest fulfillment of happiness and well being, is our ability to be content. Ram Das tells a wonderful story about contentment. One day while taking a bath, he thought to himself, "If only I had my book, I would be so happy". After getting himself a book to cozy up with he thought, "If only I had a back cushion". He got the cushion and thought, "If only I had a candle to read by". At this point, Ram Das realized that no matter what he orchestrated, there would always be another desire popping up. In Tibetan Buddhism there is an image of the hungry ghost. The hungry ghost has a belly distended with hunger, with such a tiny opening for a mouth that it can never take anything in and be nourished. Let's be honest, we all have a bit of the hungry ghost inside of us! The Yogi understands that even happiness is over rated, as there is always the downside of unhappiness. But to be content with what we have supersedes happiness, because it brings us to a state of fulfillment. This is not to say that we don't have dreams or aspirations, but to put into perspective that we are in process. One day, I looked up fulfillment in the dictionary: A feeling of satisfaction that comes from knowing that you are doing your work. If we wait for all the circumstances to be to our liking, we will never fully engage in our highest endeavors. Think of yoga practice: we always have other things to do on our agenda, there is always something or someone to distract us, and we are rarely in perfect physical, emotional or mental form. If we allow our discontent to govern us, we might not take the time to experience the nourishment of Yoga, and other worthy endeavors, and ultimately the fulfillment of doing our work. If we can endure the little grievances and discomforts and accept them as part of life, we can discover economy in our pace and ultimately the results of patient, consistent effort, and the fulfillment of our contentment.