The Power of a Contented heart

 

If a person is dissatisfied in any situation or for any reason, they create vibrations of sadness and upset in the environment, which can lead to guilt and disturbance. Their habit of being upset or getting angry again and again becomes a problem for others. Instead of speaking about virtues or sharing spiritual knowledge that could give happiness, they only talk about their own discontentment, destroy the happiness of others, and in a way, take all the burden of sin upon themselves.

Suppose a man is facing a serious illness.

 

Because of his poor health, wherever he goes and whomever he speaks to, instead of talking about Parampita Parmatma, he says, “Bhai, I am very tense. Every day I have pain in my knees and arms. Now this body does not support me. I am so unfortunate,” and so on. In this way, he pulls everyone into body-consciousness. He turns their awareness away from God.

But a person who has the nature of being content in all situations, even if he is facing the same illness, will say, “Bhai Sahab, I am alright. Some karmic account of this body was left; it is getting settled now. There is always some problem going on in this tamoguni body. Anyway, leave this topic—how are you? What has Shiv Baba told us about the benefit of souls in these days? Bhai, tell me that. Truly, I am very lucky. Even if the body is diseased, the mind still enjoys the pleasure of Godly love!”

In the same way, imagine two friends attending a party together as guests.

 

Both are served food. One of them says, “Did we receive an invitation for this kind of food? Brother, this is wrong! He wasted our precious time for such cheap food! Today I tolerated it for everyone’s sake, but tomorrow, when I meet him at the office, I will definitely tell him what I feel.”

The other friend replies, “No dear, this is not right. We did not come here hungry for food, nor did he hold this party just to show off his wealth. Whatever he could do according to his capacity, he did. This food is a sign of his love. Why do you look only at the physical food? Why do you talk about wasted time? The food was just a medium to exchange a few words of greetings and good wishes with each other, and to strengthen our connection and bond of friendship.”

You can clearly see the vast difference between a dissatisfied and a satisfied person. A dissatisfied person unnecessarily troubles themselves by pointing out faults and, by showing displeasure and throwing tantrums, disturbs the whole atmosphere. A satisfied person, on the other hand, remains happy by recognizing the love and goodness of the host and thanks him sincerely for his welcome.

Contentment is the foundation of loving relationships.

 

People enjoy spending time with a content person. They naturally distance themselves from a discontented or angry person. In this way, contentment is a virtue that brings hearts closer, while discontentment is a vice that creates conflicts even among good friends. Because of this nature of discontentment, people start staying away and say, “Brother, leave him. His behaviour is always like this.”

So it is clear: contentment creates love, while discontentment cuts loving ties.

In this way, let us assume a potter has created some toys and utensils from clay. Suddenly, it starts raining. The potter becomes discontented and says, “Oh no, I have lost everything! How unfortunate I am. My utensils will not dry in this rain. If they don’t dry, I won’t be able to sell them. If I can’t sell them, how will I earn? And if I don’t earn, what will I eat?”

 

Disturbed by the situation, he speaks rudely to his parents and neighbours, complains about nature, curses his destiny, and by saying such things, he upsets the minds of others. Instead of using his intellect to find a solution, he sits helpless, without effort, without courage, and confused.

But his sister says, “Look, this rain was actually necessary these days. If there were no rain, how would the crops grow? And if there were no crops, there would be no grain in the market. Then what would we eat—money notes? Dear, stay happy with whatever has happened. If you cannot change the outcome, then getting upset is only a sign of weakness. We should have made the utensils earlier. Anyway, what had to happen has happened. Now accept it and move forward. Focus on what we have to do next. There is no shortage of work in this world. I will go and scrub utensils somewhere; you also think of some work for some time. But stay happy. Do not lose your treasure of happiness. Get up and smile, otherwise the atmosphere of our home changes because of your sadness, and the little children become upset and lonely!”

See the difference between the contented and the discontented.