Silencing the Monkey of
Mind 2
Santosha or contentment
Once you have cleansed
your thought process by Saucha or purity, the second big Niyama or Discipline
is Santosha or Contentment. This is hardest to achieve and sometimes
impossible. How does one define contentment? It is a state when mind is happy.
The state of happiness is different for every individual. For a child a lolly
or a toy can lead to contentment, for people in love, a glance of their lover
could lead to contentment, for someone trying to immigrate overseas the arrival
of their visa to foreign land could lead to
this state, for a shopkeeper, increase in
sale of his products would lead to contentment. Therefore, it is evident
that contentment is not same for everyone. It is also important to note that
one cannot be content in face of death of loved family member, in poverty, in a
diseased state or in loss of job.
Man is on constant search
of contentment or happiness and unfortunately that happiness eludes him. He
tries to find happiness by getting a good job, a big house, travelling overseas
for holidays, having buying power to buy branded stuff etc. Unfortunately,
these materialistic toys do not give everlasting contentment. In spite of
having a house, a car, branded goods, hefty bank balance and what not one still
feels there is something lacking and there is need for more. Thus, the search
is endless which can lead to a diseased state of body as our mind is constantly
preoccupied to buy happiness in form of tangible objects.
Patanjali in his yoga
sutra says we attach ourselves to pleasures which makes us search for happiness in
pleasure and are forever deceived. He says “happiness
is a basic need of human being yet it is not available easily”. Our search
for happiness is like the Musk deer. This animal in the Himalayan region emits a
glandular substance which has beautiful fragrance. However, the musk deer runs
everywhere looking for the source of fragrance not knowing that it comes from
his own body. Our craving for happiness is similar to a musk deer. We try to
find happiness in objects of desire but in vain they do not give us any
contentment, we keep buying things, worrying about what we do not have only to
be deluded.
So the solution is to turn
this search inwards. This can happen only with meditation. For doing meditation one does not have to
give up worldly life. We can perfectly keep doing what we are doing but try to
find some time at the beginning of the day or
the end of the day to sit down in quietude, in loneliness and turn our
vision inwards. It is a simple practice, it is also achievable but it requires
perseverance. Once you taste the nectar of connecting to your inner self it is
so intoxicating that you will like to spend more and more time in solitude.
However, to bring oneself to do this practice is a real challenge. Nevertheless,
if your goal in life is to be content or be happy than you will definitely give this a
serious thinking. A few simple steps would help:
Early morning is the best
time but these days we are late risers so night time is also not bad.
- A 2 hours gap after dinner is always recommended before meditation.
- Sit down on a mat in a quiet place, turn off the TV, phone, music etc
- Light a lamp (tea light or oil lamp).
- Burn some incense
- If you believe in God have a picture of your divinity in front of you
- Close your eyes and surrender yourself to God or to your higher self before promising to start a fitness regime for your mind
- Breathe in to the count of four and breathe out to the count of eight (for believers Inhale saying Om and Exhale saying Shri Swami Samarth in the mind) for 10 times.
- Focus your attention on your heart chakra and feel the rise and fall of your tummy with your breathing process or keep chanting Om Shri Swami Samarth with same rhythm of your breathing.
- Sit for 15 minutes and come out refreshed.
Mind you miracles will not
happen in one day. Keep doing the practise regularly without fail. Give more
time on the weekends. If on the weekends there are social commitments, take
some time out before these commitments and go refreshed for the party. Remember
in life we have to strive hard for everything. To train your mind to look
inward in also one such task that requires consistent practice.
Over the period of time the
some noticeable changes would be:
- control over anger
- abandonment of consumerism and preference for simple life
- happiness in whatever we possess or whatever situation life puts us in, we will always find courage
- ability to think clearly and make better decisions.
It does not cost any money to invest in
meditation, in fact you will see that happiness you tried to find spending
hundreds of dollars just comes free of
cost if you turn that pursuit inwards.
May Shree Swami Samarth
give you success in your endeavour to find everlasting happiness.
References:
- Byrant, Edwin. 2009, The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, North Point Press, New York
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