Desire vs. Contentment

When desire is fulfilled what remains?  Contentment.

If we consider, however, what existed before desire arose, we will arrive at the same answer – contentment.  It is desire that disturbs the state of contentment, agitating it as it were, and the attempt(s) to fulfill it are only a desire to return to the state of contentment.  Thus we are caught in a vicious cycle.

“Desire and anger can never be appeased by fulfillment, not even by control over all matter. Every material desire leads man farther away from bliss, delaying his task of finding the way back to his native state of absolute peace.”

– Excerpts from God Talks with Arjuna: The Bhagavad Gitaby Paramahansa Yogananda

If we analyze it carefully, we will see that desire is, by its very nature, a stage of agitation or stress.  In ignorance, however (in the absence of dispassion and discrimination), desire is seen as desirable.  Many measure a man’s worth by how hungry he is for worldly success (money, fame, etc.) and judge him accordingly.  Yet who is wealthier – the man who has very little and has no desires, or the man who has everything and still desires more?  That is not to say that some measure of desire is not necessary to carry on in the world, but it is the insatiable desire for more that leads a man to ruin. 

How, then, that we can destroy desire, and remain in an undisturbed state of contentment?  

Dispassion

The cultivation of dispassion, in which one contemplates the defects of the world and sense objects, is one method advocated by the sages and saints regardless of tradition.  And what are those defects? 

All sense objects are subject to decay and destruction.  What appears to belong to one today will inevitably belong to someone else some other day, or be destroyed by time.  This also applies to the body – which can meet its demise without warning and is ever subject to illness and death.  What good, then, are the things of this world?  Also, wisdom is the understanding that, as Yoganandaji said, desire can never truly be fulfilled by indulgence as it is that very indulgence that strengthens the desire and craving for repeat experience and keeps us returning to the world over and over to suffer its misery.

Discrimination                         

Discrimination means distinguishing between the real and the unreal.  That alone is real which undergoes no change, decay, or dissolution – all else is illusory.  Put another way, the Self alone is real – the world (and all things/experiences in it) is unreal.  Constant contemplation of this truth weakens the mind’s attraction toward all things worldly.

“When you give up thinking of outward objects and prevent your mind from going outwards by turning it inwards and fixing it in the Self, the Self alone remains.”

– Sri Ramana Maharshi

                                         

Satsang

Satsang refers to holy company.  Holy company has a purifying effect, weakening the negative qualities – those that pull us away from God and towards the world, while strengthening the sattvic qualities – those that propel us Godward.

What qualifies as satsang?

The company of self-realized sage, or advanced yogi, the company of fellow spiritual sadhaks/seekers, and in the absence of the aforementioned, the study of spiritual books written by the realized sages – all qualify as satsang.  The contact with God in deep meditation when the mind is quieted is also satsang.

Contentment

Practicing contentment is the practice of being happy or content with what we have without being desirous of what we do not have.  The more we are able to learn to quiet the mind and drink the joy of the Self within, the more easily will be the practice on contentment, as desires will begin to fall away of themselves. Contentment is also very helpful for one’s wallet or purse! 

It is impossible to live in the world without experiencing pleasure and pain as both are part and parcel of relative existence.  Some measure of desire is also a legitimate part of maintaining the body.  If one is hungry, for example, the appetite is the body’s way of alerting us that it is out of balance – that more energy is needed for the purpose of bodily sustenance, so one takes food and then balance is restored.  Yet here as with all things, balance is vital – the extremes of overeating or not taking enough food can have a negative effect on the body, impeding our ability to practice sadhana (and defeating its purpose).

The proper attitude is to allow the past results of pleasure or pain to bear fruit – according to karma, while ever keeping in mind that they do not affect the Self in any way, shape, or form.  One should identify only with the Self and not with the passing experiences. 

Continue to practice sadhana – meditation, pranayama, Self-remembrance without the notion “I do” – knowing the Self alone to be the doer of everything. 

“Always discriminate—your body, your house, the people around, and the world are all unreal like a dream. Always think that this body is only an inert instrument. And the Atman within is your real nature.”

– Swami Vivekananda

The body experienced during the dream state is unreal.  The body experienced during the waking state is equally unreal.  It is enough to constantly contemplate that only the Self, the eternal witness Consciousness, unborn and undying, is alone real.  Knowing this, be free from expectation and desire and have no fear.

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Service of Self-Realization

Sri Ramana Maharshi Maharaj once remarked that one’s own self-realization is the highest service one can offer the world. Other great ones have also echoed this sentiment.

At the mention of the word “service,” for many, images of feeding the poor, making donations to worthy causes, and other such charitable activities come to mind. Yet even these noble acts are inferior to the providing of spiritual upliftment from one who is himself free. Why?

Ramana Maharshi:

“A realized one sends out waves of spiritual influence in his aura, which draws many people towards him. Yet he may sit in a cave and maintain complete silence.”

The very vibrations of the Self-realized radiate into the world in the form of unseen blessings and benefit others far and wide. In addition, many perform actions out of a sense of doership and desire for reward/recogniztion, and actions performed in this spirit are somewhat tainted or impure.

All have heard the Chinese proverb, “Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day; teach him to fish and you feed him for life.” Feeding the hungry is a most charitable act, indeed. But there is nothing more charitable than one who is God-realized helping another to become so. Feeding the hungry or providing some other kind of physical assistance helps the body, but the underlying cause that gave birth to that body, avidya (absence of Self-knowledge), will undoubtedly give rise to another, and hence continued suffering. It is like treating the symptom of a disease yet neglecting to find its underlying cause, which alone can solve the problem.

The great Ones often teach out of silence. They are able to do so because it is their very vibration that uplifts – merely being in their presence. One cannot think impure thoughts in the presence of a saint. Such is the power of their vibration.

Even the vibrations of a sadhak, or pure-souled spiritual seeker, greatly benefits others. And the more one progresses spiritually, the greater service one offers – simply by being. Think of the degree of ego (or false identification with individual self or body) as being akin to static on a radio. The greater the false ego identification, the greater is the static that blocks the inner radiation of the Self, just like clouds obscure our view of the sun. But the more the false ego is burned away, the greater the radiations/vibration of the inner Self, and the greater the service to one’s community, environment, and even the world beyond.

We are here to serve all beings, and this should include providing material help to those in need without a sense of doership or desire for reward, as well as engaging in sadhana or spiritual practices performed in the same spirit.

I bow to the inner Self in all beings.

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Radiations from the Realized

Ramana Maharshi:

A realized one sends out waves of spiritual influence in his aura, which draw many people towards him.  Yet he may sit in a cave and maintain complete silence.

Meditation depends upon the strength of mind. It must be unceasing even when one is engaged in work.  Particular time for it is meant for novices.

Realization is our true nature.  It is nothing new to be gained.  What is new cannot be eternal.  Therefore there is no need to be doubting whether we would gain or lose the self.

Bliss is not something to be got. 

On the other hand, you are always Bliss.

This desire (for Bliss) is born of the sense of incompleteness.

To whom is this sense of incompleteness?

Enquire.  In deep sleep you were blissful.

Now you are not so.

What has interposed between that Bliss and this non-bliss?

It is the ego.

Seek its source and find you are Bliss.

Your own Self-Realization is the greatest service you can render the world

Question :  How can the terrible fear of death be overcome?

Ramana Maharshi :  When does that fear seize you?  Does it come when you do not see your body, say, in dreamless sleep?  It haunts you only when you are fully `awake’ and perceive the world, including your body.  If you do not see these and remain your pure Self, as in dreamless sleep, no fear can touch you.  If you trace this fear to the object, the loss of which gives rise to it, you will find that that object is not the body, but the mind which functions in it.  Many a man would be only too glad to be rid of his diseased body and all the problems and inconvenience it creates for him if continued awareness were vouchsafed to him.  It is the awareness, the consciousness, and not the body, he fears to lose.  Men love existence because it is eternal awareness, which is their own Self.  Why not then hold on to the pure awareness right now, while in the body, and be free from all fear?

Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj:

Time is in the mind, space is in the mind.  The law of cause and effect is also a way of thinking. In reality all is here and now and all is one.  Multiplicity and diversity are in the mind only.

A quiet mind is all you need.  All else will happen rightly, once your mind is quiet.  As the sun on rising makes the world active, so does self-awareness affect changes in the mind.  In the light of calm and steady self-awareness inner energies wake up and work miracles without effort on your part.

Do understand that you are destined for enlightenment.  Co-operate with your destiny, dont go against it, dont thwart it.  Allow it to fulfil itself.  All you have to do is to give attention to the obstacles created by the foolish mind.

When you are no longer attached to anything, you have done your share.  The rest will be done for you. 

Treating everything as a dream liberates.

Give up all ideas about yourself and simply be.

You are like the man in the cinema house, laughing and crying with the picture, though knowing fully well that he is all the time in his seat and the picture is but the play of light.  It is enough to shift attention from the screen to oneself to break the spell…without waiting for the death of the body – it is enough to shift attention to the Self and keep it there.  All happens as if there is a mysterious power that creates and moves everything.  Realise that you are not the mover, only the observer, and you will be at peace.

This attitude of silent observation is the very foundation of yoga.  You see the picture, but you are not the picture.

                 

Yogi Vasistha:

When pots, etc. are broken the space within

them becomes unlimited.  So also when bodies cease to

exist the Self remains eternal and unattached.

Nothing whatever is born or dies anywhere at any

time.  It is Brahman alone appearing illusorily in the form of

the world.

The Self is more extensive than space; it is pure,

subtle, undecaying and auspicious.  As such how could it

be born and how can it die?

All this is the tranquil, One without beginning,

middle or end, which cannot be said to be existent or

non-existent.  Know this and be happy