yama - Blog Posts - Yoga Vidya International - Yoga, Meditation and Spirituality2024-03-28T07:19:41Zhttps://my.yoga-vidya.org/profiles/blogs/feed/tag/yamaSantosha - Contentmenthttps://my.yoga-vidya.org/profiles/blogs/santosha-contentment2010-08-31T08:15:16.000Z2010-08-31T08:15:16.000ZSwami Saradanandahttps://my.yoga-vidya.org/members/SwamiSaradananda<div><div class="post-header">OM</div><p style="font-family:arial;"><b><span style="font-size:100%;"><br /></span></b></p><font size="3"><span style="font-family:arial;">I find that people often misunderstand the yoga principle of santosha (contentment), believing that it means giving up their will to change. I get students who say, “I don’t want to be content, because if I am content then I won’t get anywhere in my job. I need to want something. I've got to be on the cutting edge in my profession”. They don’t understand that santosha is not inertness. Rather, santosha means being content right now, even as you are changing your life.</span></font><p><font size="3"><br />If you are a yoga teacher, you may find that many people actually fear contentment. They worry that it will make them lethargic and lazy – that life might prove boring. Without it they see themselves as exerting and energetic. However, I’ve noticed that contentment never makes anyone idle. It is a sattvic virtue that propels you towards <br />peace. It gives you strength of mind and checks unnecessary and selfish exertions. It calms your mind and opens your inner eye of intuition. If you are a contented person, you seem to be more able to work energetically and peacefully, with a one-pointed mind. All the dissipated rays of your mind are collected and available for use.</font></p><p><font size="3"><br /></font></p><p style="font-family:arial;"><font size="3">I'm planning to be in London for the entire month of September.</font></p><p style="font-family:arial;"><font size="3"><br /></font></p><p style="font-family:arial;"><font size="3">with best wishes<br />Swami Saradananda</font></p><p style="font-family:arial;"><br /></p><p style="font-family:arial;font-weight:bold;"></p><div><span style="color:rgb(51,51,51);font-size:100%;"><font size="4">Santosha is this month's subject on the Yama-Niyama e-course.</font></span></div><div><span style="color:rgb(51,51,51);font-size:100%;"><font size="4">See: <a href="http://www.flyingmountainyoga.org/text/e-course.shtml">www.flyingmountainyoga.org/text/e-course.shtml</a></font><br /><br /></span></div><p></p><p style="text-align:center;font-family:arial;"><span style="font-size:130%;"><i>"From contentment comes supreme happiness".</i></span></p><p style="text-align:center;font-family:arial;"><span style="font-size:130%;">- Patanjali’s <b><i>Yoga Sutra</i></b> 2.42</span></p></div>