In the present times of heavy social media influence, it is quite challenging to be content in life. Every day, there is a new trend in fashion, home interiors, food, relationships, cars, gadgets and so on. What was ‘wow’ becomes outdated very soon. It is very easy to forget the purpose of life and be carried away in the pursuit of these never-ending charms. So, what do scriptures say about contentment? During my study of scriptures, I came across a beautiful formula on contentment. When I applied this formula to the context of my life, I found it to be a valuable teaching and felt others should also know this. In this blog, I will be sharing this formula.

3 aspects with which we should be content in life: Spouse, Food, Money.

When I read this, I was amazed because in life, it is very common to be disasatisfied with these 3 aspects. Mind finds faults in spouse. Mind gets easily bored with normal food and craves exotic and special foods.Mind wants to earn more and more money irrespective of the financial status.

3 aspects with which we should never be content: Study of the Scriptures, Spiritual Practices, Charity

Again I was amazed reading this because it is very common to be satisfied with or altogether ignore these 3 areas and many of us dont take these 3 areas seriously.

So, this is what the scriptures say about contentment and discontentment.

When I analyzed this teaching, I found it helpful to keep this teaching infront of me as a reminder on how I should live my life. If I can lead my life based on this formula, I can reap various benefits like happier marriage, better utitilization of my time and resources, good karma and more peace in life. Of course, it is not easy to practice this teaching all the time. There will be days when mind cribs about the spouse or craves better food or desires more money and some days, mind resists to practice meditation. But by remembering this formula everyday, we can do lot better in life.

No teaching is complete till we apply it in our daily life. So,here are some small ways in which I intend to apply this formula:

1. Appreciate and thank my husband genuinely atleast once in a day.
2. Be grateful for the lunch I get to eat no matter how it tastes and stop complaining even if there is no salt or not cooked well(Atleast, I can start with lunch and later extend to breakfast and dinner).
3. Be grateful for the money I earn.
4. Spend atleast 30 minutes everyday to study scriptures and my Guru’s teachings.
5. Increase my awareness while practicing spiritual practices.
6. Improve the quality and quantity of the charity I am doing,

These are my take aways which are applicable in the context of my life. All of us can derive our own key take aways from the formula and practice accordingly.

May we all be satisfied and dissatisfied in the right way. Sarve jana sukhino bhavanthu!

(There will be some exceptions where this formula may not be applicable. Every formula has exceptions.)

-Contributed by Geetanjali Balachander