Niyamas: Santosha (Contentment)

Santosha is about feeling at peace - feeling truly happy in this moment.  This is our second Niyama.

I have been in a passionate immersion lately where I am devouring every single spiritual/religious book I can get my hands on - Buddhist, Christian, Muslim, Yogic, you name it.  This is something I do all the time by the nature of my profession as an academic who teaches religion. 

However, this has been different - because it's propelled fully by my heart, not just academic knowledge.  I'm fascinated by the similarities of Jesus' teachings and Buddha's, of Biblical texts and Zen teachings.  I feel ravenous, thirsty for understanding and knowledge.  But, in my heart, I am feeling unusually content - that despite this overwhelming desire to know, know, know through spiritual study, I feel, somehow, surprisingly, that I am exactly where I am supposed to be in this journey.  I certainly don't always feel this way.  But, I do right now, so I am reveling in that space, that quiet stillness, that joy and gratitude of contentment.

I attended a Sunday morning Tibetan Buddhist teaching yesterday.  The focus was on (as always in Buddhism :), impermanence.  "This too shall pass."  Most of our sorrow, worry, anxiety are caused by our illusions (maya) in thinking that we can hold onto things - further, our illusion that they are permanent.  The truth of reality is:  Everything changes.  Contentment is not just the realization of this constant flux, but embracing it.  The wonderful Tibetan monk, who I just love, described the "demons" we struggle against - demons of ego, illusion, greed, clinging, etc.  While these often get turned into manifested beings/evil forces in many religions, I am more drawn to think of them as colorful descriptions of affliction. I also immensely enjoy the way the monk pronounces it: "Daa-mon" like Matt Damon, so much so, that every time he said it, I began silently thinking, "the Matt Damon of ignorance, the Matt Damon of clinging, etc."

Patanjali (author of the Yoga Sutras, the first established canon of Yoga writings) said that if we accept where we are RIGHT NOW, in this moment, and second, understand things WILL CHANGE, then we will find true joy.

One of my favorite authors is Anne Lamott.  She says prayers often take three forms:  Help, Thanks, and Wow.     The thanks is the focus here with santosha.  Gratitude.  Look around.  Be here.  Take it in.  Breathe in.  Breathe out.  Say, "Thank you."