content/discontent
Not a lot of time to write today, but seriously, this post from Springs and Wells is the most important thing I've stumbled across in the blogosphere since I don't know when. Though I like the nice stuff that Seeker after Truth puts up from K-murti and others, I think S&W did just as well:
my understanding of contentment is a state in which one could accept things as they truly are - and work with that.
hi ashes,
ReplyDeletethanks for the link.
This idea of contentment has been a huge thing for me this month. It's such a shocking concept... very un-American, I think. It seems that in America we are raised with a constant sense of longing, desiring progress - advancement - betterment - promotions & raises ... and so on. Those are all good and important ideas, but without an equal emphasis on contentment, they lead to a state of total restlessness. I think it's easy to spend all our energy imagining that there is something better that we SHOULD be attaining, rathering than enjoying or acknowledging the current state of affairs. And moreover, especially evident to me in the context of my yoga practice, one can't really EVER make progress until one actually deals with the present. That has been one of the biggest realizations for me in the last few weeks. It is really changing the way I approach my postures, and difficult situations in general. Don't push so hard... you know? It's also interesting to think about how this manifests in my art - the tendency to push or wish that things were different than they actually are.