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Guided Meditation: Contentment

Hello everyone, and welcome to our Monday beginning-of-the-week meditation. I am very happy to be back here and sitting in my very familiar meditation posture, which I have done often enough that it is a kind of homecoming to sit here in this posture. Immediately when I take this posture, usually I feel very content, a deep sense of contentment.

I would like to suggest that a theme you keep for this meditation is contentment. There are many ways of feeling contentment, many reasons for feeling contentment. And maybe there doesn't have to be many reasons. It is okay to just be content with the moment, content with being alive right now. Even though there might be all kinds of things elsewhere, outside of this posture, outside of your meditation, for which there is good cause to be discontent, maybe they don't have to be imported. Maybe they don't have to be evoked. Maybe we can just let go of it for a few minutes and experience contentment for no reason, just to be here.

One of the great pieces of spiritual wisdom, or maybe pop spirituality wisdom that I'm fond of, is the idea of being content with what you have, rather than focusing on what you don't have. Sometimes the contentment can come with what you do have.

In meditation, you might want to think about what you have that allows you to have a very deep contentment, not to be troubled, not to be overwhelmed by life and what's happening. There is no need to be critical of the situation. And that is to be content that you have a practice. Content that you have a meditation practice, a mindfulness practice, a kindness practice. Content. This is good. And even if this practice we do is so valuable, it is even valuable when we do it imperfectly, when we do it a little bit. So to be content that you have this practice. And maybe this contentment can save you from the discontent that takes your mind away, spins off in thoughts and desires and aversions. That can be for later, but for now, here, be content just to be here practicing.

So to begin with, sitting upright in an alert, relaxed posture. And lower your gaze, and gently close your eyes.

Regardless of how you are feeling in your body sitting, meditating, whether it is comfortable or uncomfortable, take a few long, slow, deep breaths that somehow feel like they move through the comfort or discomfort to something larger, a sense of presence, a larger sense of body here. As you breathe in and fill your lungs with air, and as you exhale, have a fuller experience of just letting go of everything, including concern with comfort and discomfort.

Breathing in deeply, and letting yourself become larger than anything that's troubling you.

Exhaling and letting go, maybe deeper inside than anything that troubles you.

And then letting your breathing return to normal.

And letting yourself be content with whatever way your body is breathing. There is no right way to breathe in doing mindfulness. Let it be what it is. Content that you get to breathe however imperfectly.

And as you exhale, relax and let go of the places in your body that hold discontent. Maybe some of the tensions of your face could be interpreted as a discontent with how things are. And as you exhale, relax the face.

On the exhale, relaxing the shoulders. Maybe there is a resistance or holding back in the shoulders that you can relax into a deeper contentment. Less resistance.

Softening in the chest. Softening discontent in the heart area. Letting it soften, melt, fade away on the exhale.

And then softening in the belly. Perhaps the belly can be content in some deep place within, in the depths of the belly.

And then sitting here not with the idea that something has to be done or accomplished, that you need to succeed at anything, but sitting here close to whatever feeling of contentment. Just content with being alive. Just being alive is enough.

And out of that contentment, let there be present moment awareness. Awareness of breathing. And out of present moment awareness, let there arise contentment. These two come hand in hand: mindfulness and contentment. Content to be mindful, mindful to be content.

One breath at a time. Content you have a practice, no matter how imperfect it might seem. One inhale at a time, one exhale at a time.

Whatever is happening for you, maybe you can be content to breathe with it, breathe through it. Content that you can keep the breathing at the center of your attention, instead of your concerns at the center of your attention.

And then, as we come to the end of the sitting, consider how contentment, being content, might make you available for the world. Discontent is a barrier to being connected to others, to the world, to listening deeply. And contentment is not a walling off or a barrier. Contentment can be a state of being available. Being available for what the needs are of others. Being available for the sufferings of the world, the joys of the world. To cry with others, to laugh with them.

May it be that this practice that we do makes us available for others. Available to care for others. To be attuned to others. To be friends to others.

May this practice that we do, our availability to the world, be for the welfare and happiness of everyone. May this practice spread happiness into the world. May it spread safety where there is no safety. May it spread peace where there is no peace. And may it spread freedom where there is no freedom. May all beings be happy.

Thank you.

Dharmette: Finding our Way (1 of 5) With Contentment and Discontent

So, Monday morning, and we start a new series. In this general topic of emotions that we've been covering the last few weeks, this week it's going to be emotional states that are perhaps the opposites of each other, but that live in relationship to each other. Sometimes a pendulum swings from one side to the other. Sometimes we react to one, and the other arises, and vice versa. Or both sides of this range have a place in our lives. So to appreciate that there are these two sides that live in dynamic relationship to each other, and to understand them deeper.

For today, I want to talk about contentment and discontent. There is healthy contentment and healthy discontent, and there is unhealthy contentment and unhealthy discontent. So to really look and see more deeply: what is this world of contentment and discontent that we live in?

To live in a world of discontent is often a world of suffering. To continue living in a world of stress, of greed, of hatred, is stressful. And it can arise out of our discontent with how things are; to pile more discontent on top of it. Out of the discontent and the difficulties of our life, we can get caught up in greed, hatred, and fear.

But there is a healthy discontent with suffering. Buddhist practice does involve a discontentment, an intolerance even, in a certain particular way to our suffering. Not an intolerance associated with hostility, bias, and prejudice, but rather an intolerance that says, "You know, I'm not going to be content with a life of suffering. I'm not going to be content with a life where I'm miserable and live in constant fear or constant discouragement or stress." So that inspires practice. A certain discontent inspires practice.

To be content with things as they are sometimes means being content with things which you know are to our detriment. But to be content is a very important, valuable state for people who are doing Buddhist practice and doing mindfulness. To learn to be content through having few wishes. When we want all the time, and focus on what we want, there can be a strong discontent. But to have fewness of wishes, and just be happy and content with what we have, can provide a very satisfying state of being. It also can provide a very positive state to be available for the wonderful things in our life. If we're discontented and always wanting more and different things, we might not be available to really appreciate what we do have and what is good here.

There's this wonderful story that's told in many different ways. Recently, I read the version by Paulo Coelho^[1]. It goes something like this:

There was a fisherman who would go out to sea every morning. He would get up early, go out to fish, and catch enough fish for the day to bring back for his family to eat, and sell a few of them for some of the things they needed. He would come back in the mid-morning and play with his children on the beach, having a delightful time playing. Then he would go home and spend a good part of the afternoon with his wife, maybe take a siesta and hang out with her. Into the evening, he would spend a good number of hours in the village square with his friends, talking, chatting, and having a nice time. He did this for a long time.

One day, a very successful businessman came by and noticed how he was living his life. He said, "You know, it'd be pretty easy for you to take out a loan and get a boat. There are a lot more fish out there for you to fish. You could spend a few more hours of the day fishing, and you'd be able to pay back the loan quickly and then buy a bigger boat."

"And why should I do that?" asked the fisherman.

"Well, then you would have more money. You could actually then buy a fleet of boats and hire people to work. Pretty soon you'd have enough money to start a whole company. You could have the international headquarters near your village and run this huge conglomerate of fishing and selling fish. After many years of doing this, you'll be able to retire. And then, when you're retired, you can enjoy yourself. You can just get up in the morning and go out to sea, fish for a few fish, come back with enough for the day, play with your children at the beach, hang out with your wife in the afternoon, and be with your friends in the evening."

And the fisherman said, "Well, that's what I'm doing now already. Why should I wait until I retire?"

So, to be content with what we have is partly the theme of that story. And when do we do that in such a way that it allows for something profound to happen for us? When does contentment open the doors to the practice, to see ourselves deeply, and to move through deeper and deeper layers of contentment, joy, peace, and happiness? We move through layers of letting go of this discontent, layers of suffering, of greed, and of desires.

One of the advantages of meditation, one of the really important aspects of it, is that as we settle and get quieter and more concentrated, we start seeing aspects of our inner life that are not available in everyday life, running around discontented, taking care of things, doing things. We start seeing the deeper levels of healthy and unhealthy discontent, the deeper layers of places of holding, of clinging, of fear that we're living by. And then we let go. As we do so, we start feeling deeper and deeper layers of freedom, of happiness, of contentment, of peace.

This whole world of contentment and discontent has a lot to do with the world of desires. The classic language in Buddhism is that people who practice should be content by having few desires. Some desires—desire for practice, desire to be free, desire just to help the world—are okay. But maybe not desires for expensive cars and expensive homes and all kinds of things. It's possible to have so many desires. In this modern world, for some of us, there are so many things to do and to acquire. It's astounding, and it can be stressful to live in a world of so much temptation. So, fewness of wishes and desires.

But then there's a whole other layer. As this world of contentment and discontent gets more and more settled and peaceful and quiet, it all comes down like a funnel, through the spout of the funnel to a whole other world of being available. Being available to what the world is about. Being available to feel the cool breeze against our cheek. Being available to notice the colors of green in the trees around the property, around the town. Being available to sip tea and enjoy oneself. Being available for meditation. Being available for honesty about what's really happening here for us as we become more mindful. Being available to truth-telling: "Oh, this is what's happening."

To have enough contentment to be quiet enough, to be subtle enough to start being more and more honest about what is here. Being available for the truth. Being available to see what is not true. As we navigate and find our way in this world of contentment and discontent, as we begin seeing where there are possibilities of healthy contentment, and where we might get caught in unhealthy contentment, we start seeing where healthy discontent is and where unhealthy discontent is. We start maneuvering and finding our way, and finding some freedom from the incessant desires that can keep us discontented in unuseful ways.

Then there can be a settling and a quieting, a contentment with just how things are. Imagine standing in a long line at a government agency to get something like your driver's license. There's nowhere to go because you have to stand in the line. Imagine being content, because being discontented there is just a waste of time. It serves no purpose. It doesn't make things go faster. It doesn't help you feel more healthy and happy. To be available for contentment with what is, when that's the best alternative. To know how to let go of desires, wanting things to be different when that's not really possible. To learn how to be content with what is, when what is is actually quite wonderful. Maybe what is is more wonderful than what you're striving for, if you're striving for wealth and fame and all kinds of things.

So I'd encourage you to spend the day looking at your relationship to contentment and discontent. Perhaps you can begin to appreciate the greater range of ways that contentment can be healthy, and also the healthy ways of being discontent. And in the process of doing that, find yourself more settled and available for this world, available for your practice, available for yourself.

Thank you.

And so this will be kind of the theme for this week. I'll do this pairing of two different kinds of states and explore them a little bit with you. Tomorrow will be gladness and sadness. So thank you.