Contentment

What is contentment, is it desirable? Was I always content: No I am not content. Whilst there remain questions harassing the mind I am not content. I harbour grievances of having faced injustices and persecution. When the solution to those injustices are found I will stopped having grievances. Knowing the truth alone is not sufficient. Justice must be done. Truth was known but the evidence needed to be raised through probing and prodding the perpetrators. Reality had to be accommodated no matter how unpalatable it was. But that does not mean that I am content. So what is contentment? Contentment is when justice is served. I could not tolerate lies, deceit and injustice. Truth had to be brought to the surface but it was only when justice was attained that it brought contentment. So what is justice? Is it getting one’s just dues in society? Or is it the satisfaction derived when one has exacted revenge for the crimes that one has been subjected to? That is knowing that one had no further action to take in order to know the truth and obtain the satisfaction of exposing the perpetrators of injustices. The path to discovering the truth is difficult and could only be done through accommodating oneself in the emerging reality. The true path to the discovery of reality comes from within: from God if one has surrendered to Him.

Does contentment come from having a totally detached way of life: detached from the fruits/results of ones actions as the Bhagavad Gita recommends, detached from suffering and enjoyment that life brings, detached from ideas such as God, and that which takes one towards moksha or liberation? Is contentment just a natural consequence of detachment? Should we be content with who we are and do nothing with our lives? No is the answer. We must seek to improve our lot. We must not be content until that is achieved. In satya-advaita, we seek the truth, raise the truth and accommodate oneself in the emerging truth. That is a philosophy that can become a religion consistent with the Indian nation's slogan Satymeva Jayate. Using truth as a guide we chart our life forwards and that very process identifies how we strive to make our lives better from having things that make us comfortable, learning what is true and what is false, and doing what is right so that the right path of living emerges. Then we are fully detached after all the work is done. We need nothing and so crave for nothing. This is because we are waiting for the next moment to see what that will bring to our lives.

If one has knowledge one has contentment. In satya-advaita one goes with the flow, always doing whatever is necessary to raise truth to the surface. I am a very strong theist who has benefitted from knowledge and wisdom imparted by God that has charted my path in life. It is slightly different from the feeling of attachment and detachment with no reference point. I am attached to my goals, namely to counter evil and to seek perfect knowledge, the two being linked if one wishes to be non-violent. This attitude is something that God has supported in my honest view. Doing so therefore gives me total contentment because I know that I am doing the right thing with my life rather than simply watch the world go by and engage in pointless activities. But the moment the work is done I am detached from it all.

I have a simple philosophy: if something comes within your path of life, deal with it in the most naturally-satisfying manner that you can bearing the central principles of ahimsa and progress of humankind and concern for the environment. This applies to all ones engagements on a daily basis: it is the basis of my satya-advaita.

Satyaadvaita means you go where truth takes you. It works when you have surrendered to God. He will take you where you ought to be.

Through the satya-advaitic path of living we do not ascribe things like universal human rights but follow a routine in which truth is sought and accommodated in ones daily life. I believe that human beings and animals have equal rights so to speak and if we can eat animal products when we need to humans can also be eaten as Aghori babas do. But some Hindus practice the non-violence of ahimsa towards all beings whether they are plants, animals or humans. Nature is treated as one whole. Human beings are nothing special in this regard, so that we do not say that humans have any greater right to life for instance than animals or plants do. In satya-advaita we see each moment what is required for our survival with dignity. If this means detecting and squashing the evil that we find in humanity, we devote our life to that as a good way to live. This is when satya-advaita has become a religion it means that one has encountered God to whom one has surrendered. Through such surrender we get to know of God's wishes for what would be a good way to live. That is what gives us contentment.

Contentment is needed for peace of mind, to then live peacefully and free of worries. The Buddhists want to tell us how to relieve stress (dukha). Maybe their way works. May be it does not, I do not know. But the idea of the importance of contentment cannot be diminished. The mind needs to be still. That can only come from contentment. Can meditation help? Let us think about this. We live in a complex world with wordly interactions. If we were monks and hermits we would cut ourselves off from the world and so minimise dukha to the mind. That is not possible if we are married and bring up children for which we need a source of income. This forces us to get educated and skilled. All these works requires an active mind coping with problems and disappointments as we struggle to survive. So in that situation how can we get contentment? We need to know the truth and face reality as we live. Meditation cannot erase all the complex interactions that one needs to engage in when living in a complex world. This brings me to what is the single most important thing one could do to derive contentment in our complex lives. It brings me to God. God resides in our mind and bodies and everywhere else. If only we surrender to Him does this magic reveal itself. The magic that He is the doer and is in control of everything. When we surrender to God, all our delusions get sorted out and the path ahead for us is charted out for us. It is the path of truth: satyaadvaita or truth accommodation that I practice. Through it we find contentment: content with ourselves and our lot. Content with the world we live in. Thus, the answer to deriving contentment is to chart a path that accepts that God is all important and knows what is best for us which each and everyone of us can access if we surrendered to Him.

I follow a path known as satya-advaita or truth accommodation. When done intensely as a yoga, it reveals truths that are mind boggling to comprehend. That truth is that God passes thoughts to the mind of the yogi to help him survive with dignity. I know this because I tested Him out thoroughly to receive these messages of guidance. Through the truth path (raising truth to the surface and then accommodating oneself in the revealed reality) a certain path of life emerges constantly which has to be followed through in the yoga. It is a religious practice that anyone can do, but one must be prepared to surrender to God wholeheartedly. For this surrender, one can use a digital clock to look for times that add up to a certain number (I used 7) as being a message from God to act in a particular way in whatever involvement one was engaged in. A person would need to do this for years and years before the magical power of God is revealed to the individual as a devotee. Then comes a time when one does not have to rely on the clock anymore as it all becomes automatic and a totally reliable religious practice. This is intense surrender of free will and ego that pays dividends as one reaches heights unimaginable in terms of personal attainments.