By : Prof. Surjit Misree

India’s glorious spiritual heritage was nurtured and nourished by sages and saints who have left for us their rich experience in the form of scriptures and religious literature. These ‘men of God’ led a pure life and did have a vision of Truth. They proclaimed that people attaining the highest good and nobility would never be wanting in anything. Such human beings are perfect oasis of Bliss. And "blissfulness" gets engendered by Contentment alone .

Swami Ram Tirtha has very beautifully summed up the term " Contentment". "Man minus worldly contents," says the great saint-philosopher, "is contentment." Thus, it simply follows that material gains can never ensure lasting happiness, peace and calm. It is rather selfless and disinterested service that is the hallmark of the pious and contended souls. Along with all this, we must associate ourselves with people having saintly traits. These realised souls have already reached the conclusion that this life, this body and these material benefits are transient. They teach us never to entertain any worldly desires. These saints explain to us that God’s grace will be showered on us only when we contract all our desires to the zero level. And this Divine favour can only be houses in a contented body that invariably carries out God’s will.

We are always on the lookout for harmony and happiness in life. But the trouble is that we try to squeeze the same out of wealth, power, fame and children. On inquisition, however, we shall find that this lack of harmony is due to our utter disregard for its primal source i.e. God. We live and exist simply because of the spark of divinity in us. And if we realise this, we can in no time achieve balance, equanimity and contentment. Behind this veil of maddening chaos shrouding our life, an unseen and invisible pall of serenity, saintliness and contentment does exit. Regrettably enough, we are hardly conscious and aware of the same. His Divine Grace Baba Hardev Ji Maharaj very often resounds the same path of sanity in his discourses and sermons.

Each one of us wants to be happy but, sadly enough, we seek happiness in sense-gratification, in the fulfillment of our desires. That type of happiness is no happiness at all. We tend to forget the Law o Cause and Effect, which is bound to overtake us ruthlessly if we just allow our senses to run riot. It is because desire itself indicates want. For every desire that is fulfilled, there remain ten that are denied. Desire, thus, is infinite, fulfillment is limited. It so follows that as long as we are subject to desires, we can never enjoy lasting happiness. True happiness consists in contemned only. It is a state of mind that emanates from within. Lord Krishna says:

"One who seeks happiness within,

His joy within, this light within,

That saint shall salvation attain,

And shall ever live in God's domain."

(Gita V: 24)

It proves that happiness issuing forth within is, in fact, perfect happiness. In the religious parlance, it can be called "ecstatic bliss." And this nectar-like spontaneous flow is generated only by contentment. Guru Nanak Dev experienced it Mira tasted it, Kabir had it, and Baba Avtar Sing delved deep into it. In the Avtar Bani (Hymn 114), this godly attribute of contentment has been called "sabar saboori." All duality, says the hymn, gets dissolved when contentment reigns supreme in hearts.

Shelley, the great romantic poet, blessed with a prophetic vision, very poignantly but emphatically declares:

"Alas ! I have no hope, nor health,

Nor peace within, nor calm around,

Nor that content, supposing wealth,

The sage in meditation found."

(Stanzas written-near Naples)

Evidently, contentment is no ordinary virtue. It rather surpasses all other virtues. It is divinity itself that embellishes the hearts of only those who are perfect saints. The Bible also supports the same view saying: "There is great gain in godliness with contentment." (1 Timothy 6:6). Thus, contentment is divinity personified.

Saint Kabir, the great mystic, through one of his "Sakhis" calls contentment "Santosh", which is singularly unique. All other wealth pale into insignificance when confronted with this most outstanding heavenly virtue. Mahatma Buddha also echoes the same philosophical truth when he enjoins on us:

"Let us live very happy, we who own nothing. Let us become enjoys of contentment, like the luminous gods."

-Dhammapada XV :4

Poverty, no doubt, wants much, avarice everything, but contentment wants nothing, It is a state of perfection when the enjoyer of the bliss is in direct communion with God. True contentment and satisfaction are thus attained only by a saint . Wisdom never dawns upon the mind, which is under the control, and at the mercy of desires and wants. He, who remains calm, cool and contented, is truly wise and learned.

It is contentment that enables us to enter the Kingdom of Heaven. Jealousy, the green-eyed monster, causes untold havoc. Let us never compare ourselves with others and thereby grumble our lot. That is most precarious. We must always remember that worldly ambitions are out to destroy our mental equipoise. The Adi Granth ("Sukhmani Sahib", Astpadi XII.5) clearly lays down that no man can be satiated without contentment.

A true devotee merge his personal will into God's Will. In a way, the essential characteristic of contentment is the consecration of all activities by self-surrender to God. While doing this, man attains perfection and divinity and becomes thoroughly contented. He gets completely immersed in that heavenly ecstatic frenzy of bliss. His Holiness Baba Gurbachan Singh Ji, calls the contended ones "truly rich."

Plato has somewhere remarked that misery and strife keep haunting an individual even after his death. It happens as long as desire is dominant in man. There can be no victory over the evils of life until desire has been utterly subordinated to spiritual knowledge and intelligence. And contentment settles to reside only in the heart that is "sure", serene, simple and saintly.