In the philosophy of yoga, the principle of Santosha, which is one of the principles of self-discipline called Niyamas, is about contentment and satisfaction. The human mind is constantly in search of satisfying itself, engaging in comparison and labeling others to reach a false sense of happiness. The more patterns the mind learns and associates with, the more it becomes attached to them. Thus, it becomes addicted to the external happiness that it achieves by ignoring the beauty of life and trying to control and manage life according to its desires. This kind of relationship with life creates more expectations, disappointments, and unhappiness, and the pain and suffering are created by the individual themselves.
The system we live in exists through duality, as everything defines itself through its opposites such as beautiful-ugly, day-night, masculine-feminine, black-white, and hundreds of other labels that our minds use to compare and define the world and ourselves. For example, beauty is one of the labels that our minds create, and we make an effort to fit into this definition of beauty to be labeled as beautiful. By trying to fit into the externally determined definition of beauty, we move further away from the nature of contentment and satisfaction. As intellectual beings living within duality, it is not easy for us to achieve contentment and satisfaction without removing comparison and labeling from our lives.
To achieve this, we need to be aware of our dependence on the opinions and views of others and try to define our own beauty. It is a more challenging path than seeking validation from the outside, but the effort we make in this process leads us to a more lasting sense of contentment and satisfaction. The Patanjali Yoga Sutras state that by practicing and developing contentment, we can achieve the highest form of happiness. When a Yogi feels complete within themselves and does not feel the lack of anything, they experience contentment and satisfaction. This allows them to connect with the unity consciousness beyond the duality and become integrated with it, enabling lasting happiness beyond the desires that wait to be satisfied.
When contentment permeates our lives, we become less judgmental about the outside world. As a result, contentment brings a sense of harmony and balance to our inner and outer worlds, and we can live a life of peace and joy.
Namaste
Selim Genişol
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