CONTENTMENT

Contentment is steady and everlasting. It is to Ātman (inner self or spirit) as happiness is to mind. Contentment strives for "enough," while happiness strives for "more," ultimately leading to insatiation. It remains in a steady state of inward consciousness no matter the outward situation. The practitioner of contentment remains always in equilibrium irrespective of the situational opposites of distress and happiness, hot and cold, pleasure and pain, etc. The Srimad Bhagavad Gita (2.56) endorses this by stating that a sage of steady wisdom is someone whose mind remains calm in the face of adversity, who does not crave pleasure, and who is free of attachment, fear, and anger. Contentment is one of the highest achievements of human beings and what the scriptures have already scripted. It emphasises finding contentment in the present rather than striving for more.  Contentment basically means that "right here, right now, everything is perfect as it is, regardless of what you are experiencing outside”  (Daniel Cordaro | May 27, 2020
Greater Good Science Centre). The practitioner gains self-knowledge through continuous practice of detachment, forbearance, and equanimity. It is to know and realise one's own Ātman, or Self. It is to uncover the veil of ignorance about what and who one has. It is to remain in contentment that Self is "I," and "I" is Self. When self-knowledge dawns, self-realisation is complete. It is in a state of fullness and completeness. All the scriptures exhaust themselves in describing the true nature of the Ātman, or Self. 

This has been eloquently stated in the Ishavasya Upanishad that the Self is Whole. 

oṃ | pūrṇamadaḥ pūrṇamidaṃ pūrṇātpūrṇamudacyate |

pūrṇasya pūrṇamādāya pūrṇamevāvaśiṣyate ||

The Upanishad explains that the whole (Brahmān) is all that is invisible. The whole (Brahmān) is all that is visible. The whole (Hiranyagarbha) was born out of the whole (Brahmān). When the whole (the Universe) is absorbed into the whole (Brahmān), the whole alone (Brahmān) remains. The perfect has emerged from the perfect, and only the perfect remains after extracting the perfect from the perfect. Let there be peace, peace, peace. Om. That is full; this is full; from that full, this full. Even when we subtract this full from that full, the full still remains. Om. True knowledge of Ātman and its realisation remove our natural ignorance and produce in us the knowledge of the oneness of Ātman—the means of uprooting grief and delusion, etc., the concomitants of Samsāra (birth and death).

 1. Outline

Contentment is about "enough," where the practitioner directs his attention inward to find the happiness that’s already inside of him, a state of “unconditional wholeness" (By Daniel Cordaro | May 27, 2020

Greater Good Science Centre). A person experiences completeness and has no desires outside of themselves. Internal inputs are the source of contentment. Happiness requires "more," which practitioners seek from the outside world: money, power, stuff, validation, and success. The practitioner has the ability to cultivate a lasting sense of contentment that no one else can provide. He already possesses this sense of contentment, and it only requires a little practice to start experiencing it personally. Focus on the current moment without labelling one's experiences as positive or negative. All proclivities tend to move outwards and have a timespan. They experience specific triggers, reach their peak, and then gradually diminish before a new emotion takes their place.

Contentment, Sage Vasistha (Yoga-Vasistha, 2.15.1) in his discourses with Sri Rama (of Ramayana) asserts, is the chief good, the true enjoyment, and the contented man gets the best repose. Those who are happy with their prosperity of contentment and possess the calm repose of their souls are as holy saints and think a sovereignty no better than a bit of rotten straw. He asserts (Yoga-Vasistha, 2.15.3) that an individual who maintains a contented mind amidst the world's affairs remains unaffected by adverse circumstances and never experiences dejection in their spirit. It is the highest affluence and enjoyment; even the waves of liquid nectar fail to afford that pleasure, which the sweetest taste of contentment gives to its possessor. Abandonment of unfruitful desires, the healer of all evils, and calmness in those that are obtained, feeling no pain and having no sense of pleasure in anything, constitute what is called contentment. Until the mind can experience spontaneous contentment within its own soul, it will continue to harbor troubles. A man, though poor, enjoys the happiness of sovereignty, who is devoid of diseases and anxieties and whose mind is contented. He is called a contented man, who does not long for what he is not possessed of and enjoys what he has in its right manner and is always graceful in his manners. There is a beauty shining in the face of one whose mind has the satisfaction of contentment, the fullness of magnanimity, and the purity of thoughts like that of the milky ocean in it. Let a man entertain his self-possession within himself and abandon his craving of all things by reliance on his manly exertions. He whose mind is full with the ambrosia of contentment and a calm and cool understanding acquires a perpetual composure within himself, as it were by the cooling beams of the moon. Remaining content and composed within oneself quells all anxieties and cares, just as the rain settles the earth's dust. Sage Vasistha (Yoga-Vasistha 2.15.18) stresses that man shines by the contentment of his mind and the purity of his conduct, as the cooling and spotless moon when she is full.

2. Scriptures 

A person in contentment considers as one  Witnessing Consciousness. The ‘I' is that which is the One Witnessing Consciousness, standing apart from even the intellect, different from the ego-principle, and shining through every act of thinking, feeling, etc. This Witness-Consciousness, being the same in all, is universal and cannot be distinguished from Brahmān, which is the Absolute Existence. This is aphoristically recognised in Mahavakyas (Great Sayings) as: 

(i) “Prajñānam Brahma,” Aitareya Upanishad (3.3), Rig Veda, refers to "Consciousness is Brahmān;"

(ii) “Ayam Ātmā Brahma,” Mandukya Upanishad (1.2), Atharva Veda, refers to "This Self (Atman) is Brahman;"

(iii) “Tat Tvam Asi,” Chāndogya Upanishad (6.8.7), Sāma Veda, refers to "Thou art That," and

(iv) “Aham Brahmāsmi,” Brihadāranyaka Upanishad (1.4.10), Śukla Yajur Veda, refers to “I am Brahmān.”

The Mahāvākyas concisely assert that Reality is one, expressed as “Prajñānam Brahma,” "Ayam Atmā Brahma," “Tat Tvam Asi,” or “Aham Brahmāsmi.”

This, according to the Srimad Bhagavad Gita (2.55), is one who discards all selfish desires and cravings of the senses that torment the mind and becomes satisfied with the realization of the self; such a person is said to be transcendentally situated.  The Bhagavad Gita (6.5.) emphasises that one should elevate oneself through the power of one's mind and not degrade oneself, for the mind can be the friend and also the enemy of the self. The Gita says that yogis who have conquered the mind rise above the dualities of cold and heat, joy and sorrow, and honor and dishonor.  Such yogis remain contented, peaceful, and steadfast in their devotion to God.  The mind is attached to desires that are insatiable, but contentment is to that of the soul that is always in that state of ever-blissful. According to Yoga-Vasistha (2.15.9), an ungoverned mind, dominated by desires and devoid of contentment, does not receive the light of knowledge, just as a soiled mirror does not reflect a face. It contends that (Yoga-Vasistha, 2.15.16-2.15.20) no one receives so much delight from his accumulation of wealth as he derives from the sight of the beautiful, placid countenance and the best of men, who are decorated with the grace of equanimity, are more honoured both by gods and sages than any. When contentment strengthens his mind, all great fortunes await him, acting as if they were his servants and remaining in attendance upon a king.

3. Remarks

The mind cooled by calm contentment and purified by the light of philosophy is always in its full bloom as the lotus under sunbeams, declares Yoga-Vasistha (2.15.8-2.15.10). It views that the man whose mind is always of contentment does not shrivel in the adversity. It reiterates that the abandonment of unfruitful desires and calmness in those that are obtained, feeling no pain and having no sense of pleasure in anything, constitute what is called contentment.

-Asutosh Satpathy