297. Yeah, yeah! Contentment. I Want More! - Santosha
from My Daily Thread Hosted by Jeff Lichty
Episode 297: Yeah, yeah! Contentment. I Want More! ... Contentment? or Complacency? If I'm content with my life, why the hell would I try to make it better? That's the tension at the heart of santoṣa, the yogic practice of contentment. In Yoga Sutra 2.42, Patanjali writes: सन्तोषादनुत्तमसुखलाभः santoṣād anuttama-sukha-lābhaḥ From contentment comes the attainment of unsurpassed happiness. But contentment doesn't mean complacency. It doesn't mean giving up our goals, settling for situations that aren't right for us, or pretending we don't want more. In this episode of My Daily Thread, I explore a different question: Can I want my circumstances to change without requiring them to change before I allow myself to be okay? Can I want more money without believing money will make me enough? Can I want a better relationship without expecting another person to complete me? Can I work wholeheartedly toward something better without postponing my peace until I get there? Maybe santoṣa isn't about eliminating desire. Maybe it's about refusing to make our peace dependent upon the outcome. Something to sit with today: What are you telling yourself has to change before you can be okay? And can you still pursue it wholeheartedly—without needing it in order to be okay today? Om, Peace, Out!
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