![\"\"](\"http:\/\/thegatheringcincinnati.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/03\/buddhist-contentment.jpg\" "\\"buddhist")
<\/a><\/p>\nClick here to listen to Doug’s message or see below to read it:<\/p>\n\n
<\/p>\n
Perhaps many of you remember the Academy Award winning movie \u201cSlumdog Millionaire\u201d of 2008.\u00a0 While the film is an uplifting rags to riches story of a young man who grew up in the slums of Mumbai, India, it also depicted one particularly horrifying side story.\u00a0 A young orphan boy is blinded by a gang of criminals so that he can earn money for them by begging.\u00a0 Sadly, the incidence of forced maiming of children in India and other nations around the world is more commonplace than we want to believe.<\/p>\n
Recently, a man traveling through India personally witnessed a young mother give her three year old daughter a strong mix of milk and alcohol.\u00a0 Once the child fell into a drunken sleep, the mother grabbed a meat cleaver, laid her daughter\u2019s arm on a chopping block and, with one swing, cut the girl\u2019s hand off.\u00a0 The screams of the girl were piercing.\u00a0 The mother tearfully and helplessly explained she had to do this.\u00a0 It was the only way she could find to make money to feed her daughter.\u00a0 The girl could now earn enough money through begging to avoid starvation.<\/p>\n
This haunted and shaken man immediately went out to the nearest bakery and purchased all the loaves of bread that he could – nearly four hundred at approximately 25 cents apiece.\u00a0 He drove a truck load of the loaves to a street corner and began handing them out to street kids.\u00a0 Many loaves fell to the ground and were pounded into the dirt.\u00a0 Even so, hungry and desperate children created a near riot in the clamor for free bread.<\/p>\n
What desperation, he thought, could drive a mother to maim her own child?\u00a0 What kind of hunger causes children to fight and scramble for pieces of dirty bread?\u00a0 What do these stories say about the abundance of wealth and luxury in other parts of the world?<\/p>\n
Gandhi\u2019s words that the earth provides enough resources for every person\u2019s needs but not for every person’s greed resonated with this man.\u00a0 He has since learned to put his material desires into perspective – and to live according to a simpler ethic.\u00a0 Today he works for a small community newspaper, supporting his family of four on about two thousand dollars a month.\u00a0 He reports that his family has enough to eat, sufficient shelter and, fortunately, adequate health care.\u00a0 He has the time to read and play with his children, cook with his wife and take their version of vacations by planning picnics at a nearby state park.\u00a0 In comparison to the horrors he witnessed in India, he says he is rich in things and in happiness.<\/p>\n
It is both difficult and inspiring to hear this man\u2019s story.\u00a0 What gives us happiness?\u00a0 What brings us contentment?\u00a0 Why do so many of us believe that the key to such feelings is through more money, more things and perfect relationships?\u00a0 With each succeeding level of income, we tell ourselves we need more in order to really be happy.\u00a0 With each new gadget, trinket or article of clothing we buy, we stimulate a brief trigger of happiness only to lose interest in the item and want something else.\u00a0 We often complain about our boring lives or find fault in those we love or those who are friends – choosing to see the few flaws instead of the beautiful and good.\u00a0 We often desire in all areas of life bigger, better, perfect, more.\u00a0 For most of us, in the midst of great plenty – friends, money, food, family, love, sex and success, we are still starving much like that poor and desperate young mother in Bangladesh.\u00a0 We tell ourselves we are happy and content and yet, are we really?\u00a0 Why do our lives seem to be an endless cycle of desire and discontent with things, events, money and people?\u00a0 We are addicts in a constant search for a happiness fix – while the source of real and lasting contentment is so near and yet so very far.<\/p>\n
According to Buddhist beliefs, our cravings and desires make us unhappy.\u00a0 They are the source – the ultimate root – of our suffering and only through letting go and not craving in the first place will we find inner peace and contentment.\u00a0 This singular aspect of Buddhist spirituality is one I find particularly appealing – and one that resonates in many western and developed cultures – places where materialism has become almost a religion.\u00a0 The endless desire for external sources of happiness can leave us unfulfilled, empty and jealous of what we don\u2019t have but believe we need.\u00a0 In our culture we have bought into what the late Duchess of Windsor infamously said, \u201cYou can never be too rich or too thin.\u201d<\/p>\n
Discontent can take many forms.\u00a0 It usually means not being satisfied with the present things, experiences or people in our lives.\u00a0 One\u2019s partner may not do things the way we would like.\u00a0 There are tiny flaws in him or her we wish to change.\u00a0 Our homes may not be big enough or beautiful enough.\u00a0 Our jobs may have become a bit of a chore – boring, difficult or lacking excitement.\u00a0 Our bodies have aged and we are no longer a fit and trim 20 year old.\u00a0 The ways we find pleasure – reading, listening to music, going to movies, visiting with friends, engaging in sex, travelling – may also seem no longer exciting.\u00a0 And so we are discontented.\u00a0 We yearn for more or better or different.\u00a0 We implicitly tell ourselves that our lives could be better because things are not good enough or sufficient enough.<\/p>\n
But how do we find and then practice genuine spiritual contentment?\u00a0 How do we inhabit that sense of being truly content – at rest and at peace with the present circumstances of our life, health, family, friends, homes, living standards and entertainment?\u00a0 Indeed, Buddhists say that it is not enough just to deny ourselves the things we want in an attempt to live simply.\u00a0 We must empty our minds of most desires so that we neither crave nor feel we are being denied.\u00a0 Living a contented life is not by force of mental will – a practice where one sacrifices for one\u2019s own good.\u00a0 Contentment is a spiritual way of life, a way of being<\/span><\/em><\/strong> that is fully integrated into one\u2019s thoughts and actions.\u00a0 To be genuinely content is to acquire a spiritual mystery that is elusive and difficult to achieve.\u00a0 As many Buddhists say, one lives out the ethic that the basics of life are \u201cgood enough\u201d, \u201cwell enough\u201d and \u201cjust this much.\u201d<\/p>\n In that regard, Buddhists have unfairly been criticized for allegedly teaching the poor, marginalized and sick that they must accept their present station in life.\u00a0 This is not the case.\u00a0 Contentment comes from having one\u2019s basic needs met and it is a strong part of Buddhist practice to have compassion for those who lack the basics.\u00a0 It is the negative mindset of craving that Buddhists say perpetuates suffering and this is true for all people – rich and poor.\u00a0 Those who find peace, find wealth.\u00a0 They are not depressed, weary or jealous.\u00a0\u00a0 And that state of being, say Buddhists, leads to the state of being that is genuinely content.\u00a0 Those who are at peace, help others.\u00a0 Helping others encourages others to return the help.\u00a0 Those who are not depressed practice attitudes like hard work and compassion which further insures that one\u2019s basic needs will be met.<\/p>\n Buddhists therefore do not tell anyone to simply be content in difficult situations.\u00a0 Rather, the teaching is to look for the source of unhappiness.\u00a0 Ultimately, the source of discontent is regretting an action or event in the past that caused a present difficulty or alleged shortage.\u00a0 One then desires a future where the supposed difficulty is wiped away.\u00a0 Instead, Buddhists believe that if one is at peace in the present moment, a solution to any problem is usually found.\u00a0 This belief echoes something obvious that all of us know but fail to remember.\u00a0 We cannot change the past.\u00a0 We cannot determine the future.\u00a0 The ONLY period in life we can directly affect is the present.\u00a0 And in the present, in the right now, we can be content if we so choose.<\/p>\n You might at this very moment begrudge the fact that you are here and listening to me.\u00a0 There might be a thousand other things you could be doing that you believe would be more enjoyable.\u00a0 But the fact is, you are here and you cannot change whatever happened that brought you here.\u00a0 So, by choosing to make the best of the moment – to be thankful for the person next to you, for the good coffee you have had, for the small nugget of wisdom you might obtain, for the simple pleasure of sitting, resting and contemplating, you can be content and at peace.\u00a0 And that will lead, if added to other moments of contentment, to a mind and soul that is always at peace.\u00a0 As the Buddha once said, \u201cThe mind is everything<\/span><\/em>.\u00a0 What you think, you become.\u201d <\/strong><\/p>\n If we are to find contentment, implicit in that, according to Buddhists, is being mindful of how one thinks each and every moment of life.\u00a0 We must be aware of our cravings and then let go of them.\u00a0 To be aware that we are craving something, we must ask why we want a particular thing.\u00a0 Do we really need what we want or is it simply a part of our negative nature to always want something newer and supposedly better?\u00a0 If we truly examine our thoughts, we realize that the root cause of wanting something new or different is not being content with what we already have.\u00a0 As the Dalai Lama once said, \u201cNot getting what we want is often a wonderful stroke of luck.\u201d\u00a0 <\/strong><\/p>\n Can we – in any moment of desire or craving – say to ourselves that what we have in that moment is good enough?\u00a0 If so, we will be content.\u00a0 We will be happy with the journey of our lives – each contented second turning into hours which turn into days which turn into years which build a contented life.\u00a0 One will have found contentment in their very essence and being.<\/p>\n Buddhists do not aspire to specific goals of achievement or acquisition.\u00a0 Goals are a form of craving.\u00a0 Rather, Buddhists appreciate moment by moment living.\u00a0 The journey is what brings happiness.\u00a0 Not the end.\u00a0 Ironically, if we let go of desiring a specific goal or thing, we usually end up attaining it anyway.<\/p>\n Such a truth, however, does not mean we are passive in life – sitting in some meditative lotus position and waiting for blessings to fall into our laps.\u00a0 We live, work, love and meet daily challenges as a means to acquire only<\/span><\/em><\/strong> what we need to live in simplicity – food to nourish our bodies, shelter to protect us from the elements, clothing to warm us and provide social decency, health care to address illness.\u00a0 When good fortune gives us more than we need, we should give generously to those who live in true poverty – persons who lack the basics.<\/p>\n When we seek beyond what we really need, we make ourselves unhappy.\u00a0 We yearn for what we cannot afford, cannot have or do not need.\u00a0 If we do satisfy a craving, we end up worrying about maintaining and protecting it.\u00a0 As we all know, bigger and better things create bigger worries.\u00a0 How can I keep a big house clean?\u00a0 How will I protect that new I-Phone I just bought?\u00a0 How will I not get sick and be safe on my vacation?\u00a0 How will I adjust to a partner who changes, or to a different friend?\u00a0 With simple things, events and desires in our lives, we often eliminate our worries.<\/p>\n Achieving real contentment is, as I have said, a spiritual process over a lifetime.\u00a0 It is not a one-time decision.\u00a0 We live it out moment by moment.\u00a0 We live it out by mindfully examining why we desire a new gadget, new experience or changed partner and then choosing to be truly happy with what we already have.\u00a0 We mindfully choose to be grateful.\u00a0\u00a0 We love and accept people in our lives as they are – not as we wish them to be.\u00a0 We appreciate their goodness and the beauty they give.\u00a0\u00a0 We practice regular appreciation for all whom we encounter – offering a smile, a hug, a word of thanks – to the waitress, the clerk, the stranger.\u00a0 We replace the complex with simplicity:\u00a0 a trip to the park, a nourishing meal at home prepared with a partner, time with a friend, a good book, meditation.\u00a0 We practice giving and sharing instead of desiring and receiving.\u00a0 Compassion to all.\u00a0 Service to others.\u00a0 Empathy.\u00a0 Nurture.\u00a0 Caring.\u00a0 By remembering the needs of others we forget our own cravings.\u00a0 The more we focus on the needs of others, the more we find our own sense of contentment.<\/p>\n In this series on finding spiritual truths from world religions, I believe contentment is near the top of any such list.\u00a0\u00a0 As a way of life, it is not easy to practice.\u00a0 Being at peace – truly living in contentment – requires continuous heart and mind surgery.\u00a0 To say that being content is difficult does not mean it is not worth our effort.\u00a0 Our sufferings can often be so painful and yet we know how they might end and we each have the ability to cure them.\u00a0 I have hurt at the pain of loneliness, the pain of broken relationships, the pain of losing friends, the pain of watching my parents age, the pain of life change and work challenges.\u00a0 But those hurts are all products of my thinking.\u00a0 I am on a personal quest to be at more peace in my life and thus find real happiness.\u00a0 I still have a long, long way to go.\u00a0 That journey begins inside of me and how I think and act towards myself and others.\u00a0 Ultimately, I want to be content – in the quiet and good place of who and where I am in each moment of my life.<\/p>\n We are all loving souls who are richly blessed.\u00a0 We have so very much.\u00a0 May we be grateful.\u00a0 May we live with sufficiency.\u00a0 May we offer love.\u00a0 May we practice compassion.\u00a0 May we serve others.\u00a0 May we be at peace………………..I wish that for all of us in our search for lasting joy.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Message 88, \u201cFinding Spiritual Truths from World Religions: Buddhist Contentment\u201d, 3-11-12 \u00a9 Doug Slagle, Pastor at the Gathering, All Rights Reserved Click here to listen to Doug’s message or see below to read it: Perhaps many of you remember the Academy Award winning movie \u201cSlumdog Millionaire\u201d of 2008.\u00a0 While the film is an uplifting 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