Latest / Sutra Squad / Ep. 35 Sutra 2.42 on the Second Niyama - Samtosa or Contentment

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Ep. 35 Sutra 2.42 on the Second Niyama - Samtosa or Contentment · Sutra Squad

• Sutra Squad E35: Hi Sutra Squad family. Before we start today's episode, we wanted to extend a special invitation for you to join us at Sacred India 2027, our pilgrimage along the sacred Ganges River in India. We'll be starting in Dev Prayag, where the last tributaries connect and the Ganga begins. We'll go down to the holy city of Rishikesh. We'll go on to Praya Graj, where the Yamuna meets the Ganges and this mystical Sarasvati River is said to join, and ending the trip in the holiest of holy cities. Varanasi, and every day we'll offer yogic practice. I'm gonna be offering power. I'll be offering satsang on the Yoga Sutra. And I'll be offering restorative yin and nature practice. Plus, if you've ever wanted to see the magic of the Sutra Squad podcast, we'll be recording a few special live episodes along the way. So all the information is live at sutrasquad.com. Click on the link for pilgrimage. You can find everything you need to know, and we really hope you'll be able to join us. On with the show. Looking outward for fulfillment will always disappoint us and keep contentment one step out of reach. Our seeking and avoiding, tensing and gripping, become expensive use of our energy. Freedom and contentment begin to find their way to us when we can see things as they are. Neutral. to our preferences. Hello and welcome to the Sutra Squad podcast brought to you by One Deep Breath. My name is Seth Barron. I am here with the Sutra Squad superstars, Sally Moore. Hello, welcome. And Sarah Page Hall. Hello, hello. And Sarah Page, what's one word that describes how you feel right now? I'm in a moment of growth. So a a little bit of it's the Cancer New Moon. A lot of manifesting. And so I'm kind of like Okay, what do I want? What am I looking for? Which we'll go into what we're doing tonight, today, this morning. Yeah, for sure. Sally, what's one word that describes how you feel right now? I'm gonna go with content. I thought about it. I'm actually gonna say content as well. I was just talking about a situation in my life in which I feel like a lot of clarity and like clarity around like what is for me, what is not for me, like what is mine, what is not mine. And and there's a real contentedness about that. Like it's just it's like j it's clear. I don't have to prove it. I don't have to like tell anybody nothing. I'm just clear. But I feel like coming off like gr clarity and purity, it made it so much easier. Like I was like, how brilliant that these one after the other. They're just they just build on each other. It's it's and I see it every single week. It's crazy. Every time. A sutra is a stutra. So what Sally's talking about is that last week we talked about the first of the Ni Yamas, which is shoucha, cleanliness or purity. And and fascinatingly it's got two verses dedicated to it. and the the teaching is that when The the cultivation of this kind of Clarity or purity or or cleanliness. Often shou cha is literally translated as cleanliness. it it awakens almost like a distaste for one's own body and for the contact of bodies with others. And often that's interpreted in like a very literal sense, especially in more aesthetic, you could say, or more or more like in some in some lineages, that's that's interpreted as a way for. Very deep, deep, deep practitioners to practice, to engage with practices like celibacy. But then the second verse that's dedicated to this same idea of shoucha is that it it gives space for a like a sattvic clarity to arise. Sattva, the mode of material energy, of goodness, of light, of purity that arises. Cheerfulness, one-pointedness, mastery of the senses, and a fitness for self-realization. And so it's, and again, when we think of this a like when we really try to spend the time to dig into it, it's this sense that like the distaste for the body is almost like an awareness that the body is just like a it's sometimes I've like I heard this in from another spiritual teacher, and I love this analogy. It's a rental car. Just a rental car. And so it's like you just sort of develop a sense of like you want to care for it, but you know it's a temporary thing. And so like you lose like you lose the sort of like attraction to the to the object, which is like the physical form and the form of others, so that you it's like that's like it's like sort of cleaning the glass. And you become fit for a a real deep, Clarity. And I'll just sort of remind us too that the niyamas are the personal practices of the yogi. The first of the eight limbs of yoga. So we're in this phase of the study where we're really going deep and spending time on every single one of the yamas and the niyamas, which are the first two of the eight limbs of yoga. Yama, which are the restraints or moral observances of the yogi, ahimsa, nonviolence or to not cause harm, satya, truthfulness. Asteya, not to take that which is not ours, brahmacharya, to walk with divine presence, to intentionally direct our vital life force energy in alignment to divine purpose. And aparigraha, not to reach beyond our grasp, or sometimes non-covetousness. Those are the yamas. I think of those as sort of like those are like the way we are to behave out in the world. Ni is a prefix that means like. Inward or down and in, kind of like it shows up in names of asana, and now I'm just blanking on a name of an asana to reference, but I'm sure something will come back to me halfway through the podcast. But like that's this it's like the inward observances. So it starts with show cha. It's sort of like the way you start is by like cleaning house. You get yourself right. You get you get everything sort of like clean and ready. Like it's like when you're cooking. Actually, this is a great analogy. It's like when you're gonna, we talked about food a lot with cleanliness too, as a as a sort of an analogy. And it's like, I love to cook, but you can't cook in a dirty kitchen because then everything's dirty. If you want to make sattvik prasadnam, like food that is fit for divine blessing and for offering to to to the divine, then like you have to start with a with a clean slate. You have to make sure your counters are clean, you have to have clean dishes, you have to have clean pots and pans. And that's sort of a nice analogy to think of like shoucha, like as where it fits in the system. And so today we're looking at verse 242. So we're in the second chapter, the sadhanapada, the 42nd verse, which is about contentment or santhosha and the Sanskrit, samtosha danuttama sukha. Lobha. So I'm gonna chant it and to prepare yourself. Like think of this just like take a little moment and like clean up your space a little, right? Like yeah, and I'm just meaning like if you're listening to us, if you're watching us on YouTube, like just one way to do that, I know for me, one of the most powerful ways to sort of like get myself right, get myself in order, get it together, Seth. So that's what it sounds like. but is also like I just like just sit still. If you are in a place right now where you can possibly just be still, it doesn't have to be perfect. You don't have to have everything just right. It just needs to be as it is. And maybe you could just sit exactly as it is. Don't fuss, don't readjust. Just sit for a moment. And be with your space, be with yourself. Exactly as you are. And if you can do so, join me, take a deep breath in. Open your mouth and breathe it out. And if you'd like, join me for a vibration of om inhale. No. Chanting Yoga Sutra two forty two. Santo shatama sukala. Santo shutama sukala. Santo So Master Sachidananda translates this as by contentment, supreme joy is gained. And Master Jagannath Carrera, Reverend Jagannath Carrera, in Inside Patanjali's words, gives this translation By contentment, the swift, easy flow of supreme joy is attained. I love that one so much. The swift easy flow of supreme joy is attained. And one is I just like the f the the feeling that came to me. I had this like when I reread this, because we've we've I've read it's like it's not new. We've done this before, we've read this before, but it's new every time. And I think one of the things that's new for me was that I remembered how it felt when I touched the Ganga for the first time. I got I actually just got chills like I remember what it felt like to touch the waters of the Holy Ganga of the Ganges River. I remember How how I I I I felt this just unbelievable flow of power of like like unbridled spiritual energy. like it like like touching my body. it was it was very powerful. And that sense of this swift, easy flow just reminded me of that in a very visceral way. And And and Reverend Correra gives this really, really beautiful description of what he means by but well of this idea. He writes this Anuttama Santosha is happiness that arises from an inner state of contentment, not from satisfying the senses or any material or worldly desire. It is uncreated joy, a joy that is not the result of effort, but of realization of its eternal presence within. I'm gonna read the last sentence again because I just think it's really, really just this idea is so beautiful. It is uncreated joy, a joy that is not the result of effort, but of realization of its eternal presence within. Reminds me of another verse that we've studied, which I believe is one thirty six. Let me see if I've got the citation exactly correct. The text is Vishoka Vajotishmati. And it and it and did I get it right? Is it wait, hold on, hold on, wait, I'm looking back in the book. that's thirty three. Is it thirty six? Is that what you call Vishka Vah twenty sixty? yes, Vishoka Vajotishhmati, which means yes. that's I've chuffed with myself when I do that. because I'm a nerd. no, Vishokava Jyotismati means or contemplating the supreme radiant light that is the in the heart that is beyond sorrow. Jyotir is again, there's another word. It's like sometimes it's translated as the supreme radiant light. it's sometimes described as effulgent. Which means that it is like self-sustained and created. Like it it like it shines forth from within you without any other cause than its divine presence. And and this is a very similar idea. So samthosha, it's contentment and that like when we when we allow, it's like it's almost like this one's like like so many of these in the in the yamas, the the the verses tell us like Ahimsa Pratistayam, satya pratistayam. Which means like to be firmly established in the practice of. And here it's just samtosha anuttama sukkalaba. And sukkha is a word we've heard before. We will hear again soon. But it it means like joy, happiness, goodness, ease, like. Loka Samasta Sukino Bahavantu. May all beings everywhere be happy and free. I mean the thoughts, words, actions of my life contribute to that. Delight. I love that. Delight. Ooh. Yeah. And then la bhaha is like attained, like to be like a like acquired, attained, like that there's this big joy within you. And that when when we allow everything to be as it is, we can then experience. That uncreated joy of eternal that that arises from its eternal presence within each and every one of us. And there's not a ton of commentary in either of these translations about the verse, which is also really interesting. It's just sort of presented as like, that's it. So, my loves, is there a verse or a translation that really called to your heart on these like simple words that pack such a big punch? I'll bite. I looked at Aingar. I really liked his and usually Ayengar has a a much more austere definition. And he didn't this time, I didn't think. He says, from contentment and benevolence, and I decided to look up the word benevolence because it's one of those things that we you hear a lot and we don't really know what it means necessarily. So I looked it up and it's benevolence is the inclination to do good, show kindness, and promote well being. the well being of others. And then it goes into like the cores of benevolence, which is altruism, putting your needs and happiness above, you know, over people over your own, compassion, charity, kindness. So from contentment and all of those things that benevolence is kindness, love, of consciousness comes supreme happiness. And I just thought, wow, all of that is just so rich. From contentment and back one more time. From contentment and benevolence of consciousness comes supreme happiness. And it's just gosh, just you know, very deep, I think. And then he goes on to say, through cleanliness of the body, which we just did, contentment is achieved. Together they ignite the flame of tapas, which is next week, propelling the sadika or the student towards the fire. Of knowledge. This transformation, which indicates that the Sataka is on the right side of concentration, enables him to look inwards through svedya self-study, and then in towards godliness. So all of these things lead us towards godliness. And you know, of course, cleanliness is next to godliness. I mean, so it's all the same thing, right? But I mean, it's just so interesting how he drew the correlation. Through cleanliness of the body, contentment is achieved. And which is true, because can anybody really sleep if you're dirty? You know, like if you go to bed, you don't take a shower at night or whatever. But like I I don't sleep as well. I I always shower before I go to bed. And that that might be TMI for the five people listening, but I just it's the truth. I I can't do that. And like today, honestly, I was thinking about contentment and I was thinking about it just now. I am never more contented and comfortable and at ease than when my home is clean and when when my environment is clean. You know, even in the yoga studio, I make sure that it is clean and that it is, you know, in order. Or else I I'm just not gonna be able to t to teach. You know, I'm not there's something that's uneasy. There's that, there's that friction that top us. So I just thought that that was really interesting. Benevolence. Of consciousness comes supreme happiness. Love that. Thank you, Mr. Ingrid. Sally, how about you? Is there a translation that really just like So I feel like all the translations like are somewhat similar? I'll share with from Ruben Vasquez, but the the translations are similar, but what I really liked was some of the commentary. Ruben Vasquez says, by cultivating contentment and inner peace, Santosha, supreme joy unfolds. And I like really digging into this supreme contentment or supreme joy because I feel like there's been a time in life maybe I've been told or maybe I've said it to my kids or something, you know, can't you just be content with what you have? And that feels different than the supreme the supreme contentment seems it's not about I want more Legos or I don't know, whatever. I want whatever. I just got to Sally's grandson just left. Sorry. I mean, I actually don't want more Legos. So that's the laughing you want. Versus, you know, whatever. I I want not to have weeds in my front yard or my backyard. Different than like the big picture is beautiful and there's weeds and I can pull them if I feel like or I can let them grow if I feel like it. But this supreme contentment I really It stuck at me like it hasn't before. And so in Ruben Vasquez's commentary, he says, your intention to embody peace and contentment is a sign of a commitment to living in wisdom. As a result, you get feedback that helps you to test your commitment. Rather than interpreting this as a sign of failure, recognize that you are being set up to let go completely of the reasons you create. For not being content. Creating contentment from within is a smart and very practical choice. And then to carry on just a little like there was one line in Jagannath Carrera's Inside the Yoga Sutras, joy is the outcome of cultivating a vision of life that sees the unity of the big as self behind the diversity of names and forms. And then one more joy is the outcome of cultivating a vision of life that sees the unity of the capital S self behind the diversity of names and forms. And I just really like this is all really pointing inward. And then if I could share one more on the commentary from Nikola Joy Devi, some of us open up naturally to joy. Why others need to cultivate it more carefully. For most of us, the subtler aspects of Santosha elude us from time to time. Everlasting joy cleaves and I look that one up sticks to us through our cultivating the understanding that we hold the power to our happiness. Even if temporarily lost, our joy will soon return to As it is the lifelong reward for attaining wisdom. Can I hop in there for just a second? Cause I love that, because I love something that I was reading. I often look upwards just to kind of get, you know, so I looked up contentment and it brought up it said contentment versus happiness. And so it's like it's, you know, and it says while While happiness is an often a fleeting emotional spike triggered by a specific event. Yes, you know, like getting a good promotion or eating a great meal, contentment is a sustained state of being. And then here's something interesting. Sachatananda says he goes, and again it's that parallel the duality, says, contentment means just to be as we are without going out to outside things for happiness. If something comes, we let it come. If not, it doesn't matter. Contentment means to neither like or dislike. And I think that that's so true. We are a a nation, a world that like just chases feeling good. And feeling good. And we resist we resist the hard times or what we can, you know, I I put that in quotation marks. I don't love the word hard, challenging times, because it doesn't feel good, but it's where the growth is, you know? It is where the growth is. And so we chase happiness because it is, but it is fleeting. It's, you know, it's kind of like, you know, if you drink, you get that buzz. When I would drink, for me, it was 20 minutes of that buzz that felt really, really good. And the rest of it was shit. It didn't feel good at all. The next day didn't feel good at all. But I had 20 minutes of that that buzz that felt really good. And I think that that's what people love to chase is that. As opposed to, and I love what Sachin Kananza says, contentment means neither to like or dislike. It's just even. Yeah, I think this is so important to just really take a moment and really get into because you know we are living in a world of where where we are just barraged with with messages of more, get more, do more, be more, be better. Strive, achieve, success. And where we're constantly being told we're not enough until. Or well we're not like that, like or that and we and it feeds this myth, this one of the most pernicious myths we tell ourselves, I'll be happy when. Right. And and I think it's also really important to just make sure we're clear about this too. Contentment is not complacent. I want to really just like also just make sure we're very clear about this. Like I think I because I th I will fully admit of the Yamas and Niyamas, Samsha is one of the ones that took me the longest to like get into. I have this like really like like as somebody who's been a striver, an achiever. A doer, a go-getter, all that, right? The idea of being content, I had this like really strong reaction to. Like, and it just felt like I like it just felt like, well, then I'm just giving up and I'm just like, well, letting it all just look like it's all just wet noodle, content. Like, and that's not it. I want to be really, really, really clear. It is not neutral, right? Contentment is not neutral. And it does not yogic contentment, samtosha. Does not mean that we forego our discernment. Right. If you remember back to the verse about the Niyama and then this practice of pratipaksha bhavanam, the verse that teaches us that when thoughts contrary to the principle of Yama and Niyama arise, we are to turn back to the Yama and Niyama, right? We are to cultivate the clarity of discernment. This is not this. And that this coexists with a deep ability to be with what is. Because that same discernment is so critical to a deep and authentic, honest practice of Samtosha. Because what it really means is that we we meet the world as it is. And we stop projecting what we want it to be, what it should be, what it was or what we think it might be in the future. And we just greet it, we really we greet it, we welcome it, to be just present with it. And that doesn't mean that we don't see where it could be better. And that we're not called to address injustice. And that we have a responsibility to to strive for a world with with less suffering or ultimately the cessation of suffering for all sentient beings. And that may we all be free of the roots of our of our klishas, the obstacles to this yoga of ultimately that arrive back to Avidya. You could almost say that samthosha is almost like the opposite of avidya. Avidya, which is the root of our suffering and it's the first of the klishas. It's the, it's the, The second of the noble truths of Buddhism, right? The first is that we all suffer. And the second is that the source of our suffering is ultimately our misunderstanding or lack of spiritual vision, insight, or awareness. And so, like the opposite of that is like the full contentment of seeing it exactly as it is. One way to think of it. Right. So like we do, but then we, but what we, but we again we live in a world where it's like take this pill and fix your problem. Buy this handbag and you'll be cool. Like look like this and you'll look w you know, whatever. And where that where like where, you know, I mean, it read these stories about how the DECA billionaires are jealous of the centa billionaires because if you only have tens of billions of dollars, you're not as wealthy as the people who have hundreds of billions of dollars. And somehow they're like a second tier of multi-billionaires. And if you only have single digit billions, you're like What kind of a world is this? Like that is crazy. That is so much money. That is so much money. And I'm not getting political. I'm just saying, like, even there, even the people who have tens of billions feel not enough compared to the people who have hundreds of billions. But I think that's exactly what it goes to, right? Like this we the human condition, I feel like, pushes on us to feel not good enough. And if I could just read one quick thing from Deborah Dell from the Yamas the Niams and then this story just came to my mind and I'm gonna blurt it out. But it she says, looking outward for fulfillment will always disappoint us and keep contentment one step out of reach. Our seeking and avoiding, tensing and gripping, become expensive using of our use of our energy. Freedom and contentment begin to find their way to us when we can see things as they are, neutral to our preferences. And then I love this he said when a hundred and sixteen year old man was asked the secret to his longevity, he replied When it rains, I let it. I loved it. And I started to think about I don't this just came to my mind. I hadn't thought about it till this moment. I was lucky enough to be with both of my parents in the last day of their life. And when my dad was dying, it was a ten year injury head injury and in and out of all kinds of places. And we were at the hospital and he was not he couldn't speak. He really couldn't open his eyes, but he wasn't dead. And I would always assume he could hear. And the physician, it felt like to me, was so uncomfortable imagining that my dad might be dying. And he was like, it's I see you delirium. There was all these excuses, but he wouldn't it was actually like a sitcom. He wouldn't talk to me. I had all the rights for them to talk to me. So he's talking to my dad, who's non responsive, and then I'm saying, my dad wants me to tell you blah blah blah. And it was this weird, frustrating, annoying. And I was like, What if this is what it looks like as people are about to die? But it was like, no, no, no. And then they wanted to p drive him back and forth to the rehab center to the hospital. And there's this kind of long freeway in between. And finally I was like, stop it. Like, so he was at the rehab center and they wanted to send him back to the ho and I said, Stop. Like, just stop. And it was weird because I remember talking to he actually came to, which is I think something that maybe happens. Like he was sort of chatty and holding hands and whatnot. And And when I left, he was but there was some peace and finally when I finally said, Stop it. And then there was holding hands and there were a few sentences. And when I left that room, I'll never forget one of his favorite aides happened to sit down on his bed and she was holding his hand. And I never saw him alive again. But it was just this moment of actually contentment, but it was so stirred up from the outside. Fast forward to when my mom passed away. And Similar ish, but she was at home and my neighbor who is like the most amazing angel physician in the whole world. We happened to bump into each other outside. We didn't even know each other that well. And I was like saying, This is all happening and it's scary and no one knows really what to do, and they're giving her drugs and they're not and she said, Can I come over? And she came over like an angel and said, Stop with this drug, continue with this one. This is what death looks like. This is what her breathing looks like. And the whole Whole family was at ease keeping my mom calm. And there was contentment in that room. And so I guess I don't know this, I don't know why this came out of my mind, but I just thought in all situations, if we could get neutral to what's happening and present, I'm so grateful that we didn't miss with either of them. I'm so grateful I didn't miss those last little moments of the connection on this world. So anyway, I just am really getting this contentment from within, not about wanting to lose ten more pounds or my kids teasing me that I look like an old lady or whatever grandkids. it's this within steadiness that I have found this week that I can't access. I love that because I I am on the opposite end of the spectrum. I don't know. I've had a lot of unease this week and I finally and I've been thinking about this a whole lot recently and it's interesting I always do a devotional in the morning and Seth you were talking about all the money and all that and this morning I was in the book of Psalms and usually what I do is just say okay where do you want me to what's the lesson and it was talking about you know the whole foolish people keep all their money Because you're gonna die. And when you die, you cannot gonna it's basically you can't take it with you, right? That's what that's what you know he was saying. And I was like, Well, what does that mean? And then you brought it up about the, you know, the sept and the the the billionaires. And I had been thinking about the billionaires because I live in a mind loop of scarcity. And you know, I was thinking about it and it's been just really somebody said something a lovely thing to me. And I said, Well, I'm happy. And I felt almost guilty about saying that I was happy. Cause I have not, you know, somehow it's like you have no right to be happy or content, you know. I said, I'm I'm in a good place. you know, or something to that effect. And then I thought, well, no, I'm so used to I was talking to my friend Angela actually about this. We were thinking about how we always feel guilty or feel badly that we are actually in a good place and things are going well. If I look at everything in my life, everything in my life, my daughter is healthy, happy, and safe. I live in a beautiful home in in a great town that I love. I work at a job I adore. And I I've been thinking about this and it's interesting because all I'm thinking about, well, I wish I had some more money. But why do I really? Do I? I mean I'm actually, you know, I'm not flush, but it's like, how much more do I really need? And it's this, you know, it's this imprisonment of lack of not having enough when you actually do. And then I, you know, in my devotional, I'm not gonna take it with me. You know, anything I have is gonna go to where Elizabeth lives and and what what do I what do I need? I have everything that I need. And I thought too, when you were talking about contentment is not complacency, I thought, you know, it's so interesting. We don't say I am content because it sounds lesser than. It sounds Yeah, we have this cultural map to it. Yeah. As like I'm content. Like Western culture. Yeah. Right. Don't you you're content. How are you content? Capitalism. Yeah. Right. How could you be content with what you have? I d don't you want more? Don't you wanna live like this? And don't you want a better car? And don't you and I'm sort of like my car moves and it's paid for. And you know, I'm not worried about that. And you know, it's it's really it's really something I'm gonna do a lot of work around. A lot has fit, yeah, yeah, a lot of inner work around because it's like Why do I have that? And I'm sure it's a Simskara from I wrote, I journaled on it this morning. I journaled on it this morning, which was I have such a complicated relationship with saying that I'm happy or that I'm content. Well, because like it's somehow be you know, I think again, like in the rugged individualism of America, we praise the achiever. We We and and in this moment of culture, and again, we're not doing politics on this podcast. Okay. so listeners, I'm not taking the beat. But what we are talking about, but I think we we can talk about culture. And we should talk about culture. And like you know, like again, the story of America is in many ways like a like a story of striving, of of, you know, and that And that we want better and we want a more perfect union. And culturally, certainly in in the modern the modern era, you could say like post-World War II, is it's about more is more. And we've go and we go through phases of how sort of forward we say that or don't say that. But like, you know, if you think about like the 80s, like it was like an a moment when, like, you know, in the classic example of the Of of the film, like greed is good. If you think about the people who we who right now occupy a lot of space in pop culture, like even and I'm gonna again I'm gonna talk about this about culture, not politics. So like there's this like really weird phenomena of people who become famous for being famous, like, but they're Or or actually I'll give my small rant about the Housewives franchises, and I'm not making anybody wrong if you like the Housewives and that's great for you. But like, what are the values of these people that we are elevating to like as if they're somehow worthy of so much attention? They're wealthy and they use their wealth for conspicuous consumption to outwealth each other and do kind of like be awful to each other. And like make drama and like exclude other people from social events for perceived slights. And we're not elevating them in our culture because they are amazing public servants or because they use their massive amounts of resources to make other people's lives better. Like none of those values are present in that space. And and like yet, I mean, again, like Never have I ever watched an episode of the Kardashians or a Housewives franchise. So like maybe I'm speaking out of turn. And if you feel differently and want to teach me something about it, I'm open. But what I'll say is that like this is the cultural, like like counterweight. This is like the opposite of this idea of some Tosha because none of these people seem happy to me. They actually seem miserable. Like they seem like some of the most miserably unhappy people. And and yet, like, we just watch them in their misery, which I find kind of dark and tamastic and weird, and which is why I just don't choose to watch it. And there's and look, if you escape and you like get and it's it's fun for you, that's fine. I'm not I but I do think like it's a it's an interesting reflection. Right. It's like it's like a the reflection in a mirror back to us about us. And what it says about us is that like we have this cultural inclination toward more, better, bigger, mine. And we're in a cultural moment too where like we're praising the individual who gets the most, who wins the battle, who get makes the most money as a proxy for success. Fingers for those of you listening to us. And yet, none of them seem in like they have no sense of like happiness. Like, and I'm not talking about happiness of buying a beautiful handback. That is a moment of happiness. The happiness of Samtosha is a different kind of happiness because it's again, it's it's uncreated. Yeah. It's unclear. It's within. And and I think this is where like there's this really icky colonial myth of the noble savage too, of like, you know, people who go to parts of the world where their resources and culture are very, very different. And they go to small villages and they see people joyously s sharing a small amount of food. And they're like so taken aback by the generosity of people who extend themselves. And like there's all kinds of like weird colonial, like icky stuff that people say like, you know, again, like, you know, they're so happy. How are they like, but it's also true that like if you've ever traveled to parts of the world where especially like through parts of Southeast Asia or parts of South Asia, where it is true that like it's i there the value of contentment, it's like the it's the opposite of an of like a very American sensibility. Because they like there are Like like the the you know, I d what was the what was the quote like about the rain, the hundred and sixteen year old man? Like when it rains, I let it. When it rains, I let it. They like there are like they're like are in other cultural contexts, they're not making it they're not making the sky wrong for raining. When it rains, I let it. When there's food, we eat and we eat all together. When when there's joy in community and connection in Sangha. We we experience that. And and I think that's what's behind what we perceive as like like how how people live with so much less but seemingly so much happier. It's that there's this like whether you like, you know, in a lot of the world they would actually call it samtosha. Like in many Buddhist countries and and certainly in across India, like they would just say that's a cultural value where like, I don't need more, I have enough. And like that doesn't make me happy or not happy. Because the happiness, like that's uncreated. It doesn't require a point of stimulus. I was listening to a podcast and in a way, but I was like, can we practice contentment? Like I was just thinking. And I have to say, have you guys no do you ever go to Trader Joe's? Because when I go to Joe not a TJ's boy, but that's because it's like f three blocks too far. In Manhattan. That's such a New York y thing. But it is. It's like three blocks too far to walk with a full bag from Trader Disney. I walk there with my you need to get a granny cart. I have a granny cart. It's the best thing I ever had. It's an Italian it's a big I cannot see Seth Bern a granny cart. I I can't see it either. I love it. Wait, you have a hip granny cart? Yes. Teach me your ways, Goodoo G Sally. It was just so funny because I I get Trader Joe's is 20 minute walk and the co-op is 20 minute walk. So those are kind of my go-to and then I have a farmer's market. Amazing. They all the granny cart works and I walk to these places and it's amazing. But I was thinking when I was at Trader Joe's, like you I always leave there and the people they seem content at their job. And it's interesting because they always like, what are your plans today? What do you've got going on after this? Or hey, what do you make with those limits? You buy notice you buy a lot of lemons. What do you do with your lemons? And I just thought, well, like I there's a sense of connection I leave churches with. I'm listening to a podcast the other day. They're being trained. They are trained not to say, How are you? They're trained to say, What are your plans for today? Because it opens a connection and a conversation. And then they're trained to ask you if you're gonna make something, something about some of the food you bought. And I was like my God, it's my experience every time I trade Joe's. And I thought, is this a way to practice contentment when you talk to people? Go there, walk the extra few blocks and go and see what happens. Because when I talk about I'll take that assignment for the week. I'll have some free time next week. And so I'm just thinking, is this it's probably a really good practice of creating contentment, whether they're plan they're creating connection, right? But I just I leave there feeling good. But I want to tell you that there's one other thing I want to share, and it's from who's it from Nikola Joy Devi. And she said, in South India, there's a heartful way of expressing one's appreciation. Instead of saying thank you, they say Santosha, I am content. And I really thought about this. If I left an experience with someone and they said to me Santosha, like something about our interaction left someone content. That's beautiful. I like I like that. I I have to I also Deborah Adele, we were doing the same research, Sally. but Oscar Wilde once said that there are two type kinds of happiness. This is going back to what you were saying, Seth. Two kinds of happiness. One is not getting what you want, and the other is getting what you want. And both of those, you know, you have you have you know unhappiness. And but there's the yin and the young of it, right? Not getting what you want. Getting what you want, but then there's the middle, that neutrality, which is contentment, which is samtosha. There's that verse in the Bhagavad Gita of like Suddhi is Suddhi, like in like in success and failure. I did not really know this until very recently. I have always said Santosha, it is samtosha, correct? yeah, it's an That's correct. Cause I've heard everybody and their brother except us say samtosha. And it's samtosha. So just neat just I could check the Devanagari if if if we really want to if we want to go to the judge's panel. Everybody's saying Santosha. But there's you know, there's that other is it a Buddha story? The story about the farmer and the horse. And everyone's like, you're so lucky you got a horse, and then Doesn't their kid get kicked off the horse? Yeah, like and that's I'm gonna I'm gonna butcher this. It's a Buddhist, it's like a very it's a Buddhist parable and it's like a a thing from China and it's like, or maybe it's it's it's Taoist, I I don't know its exact deriv derivation, but it's like I do know it's from China. It's like the man gets a horse and somebody says, you're so lucky to have a horse. He says, Maybe so. And then the horse runs away and they said, you're so unlucky for the horse to run away and he said, Maybe so. And then the horse comes back with a mare. And now the meaning like they can breed and have more horses. And they said, Now you're so lucky. And he says, Maybe so. And so it comes to be that the the farmer has a son. And they say, You're so lucky to have a son. And they say, Maybe so. And then the son breaks his leg and they say, You're so unlucky for the son for your son to break his leg. And he says, Maybe so. And then the army comes to recruit and they take all the the the boys away, but his son can't go. And he says, like, and then they say, You're so lucky, and he says, Maybe so. And it goes on. And it's the whole point is like, maybe. Like maybe not, but that you're you're content with it as it is. Like you don't like the practice is to remember over and over and over again that like we have what we need. This world as it is is exactly as it's supposed to be. It isn't supposed to be any other way because it isn't. And how much suffering I'm gonna I'm raising my hand, how much suffering have we All self-inflicted from either this isn't how it's supposed to be, andor I'll be happy when. As if so if I lose five pounds, I'll be happy. If I have this much in my bank account, I'll be happy. Or this isn't how it's supposed to go. I deserve something, or I didn't get what I'm owed. Or there's an this one's really hard for my Libra tendencies. It's unfair. And Seth, you know what? All of those things may actually be true. They may be true. The trick is being content in that. Yes. Yes. It may not be fair. And it's not the way in which I would have preferred for some of these events to have transpired. And like, okay. Like this is what's happening. And it's probably gonna lead you to something. We've we forked into it. Of of course it will. You know. Of course it will. It ha like like there's like there's no way it won't because it isn't. Like whether or not it's fair or it's right, I don't know. I this was a big one for me too. Of like I I I I got to a point where I think I felt so frustrated about like injustice or like I get I'd spent so much time suffering of thinking that like somebody wasn't getting what they should got or they like or like there was this like again a perceived unfairness that I somehow felt a responsibility for rectifying. And it's like, I mean, right? Or like, I'll I'll get real I'll get real about this one that my ex-husband has never made amends to me and claims that he's sober and working on a 12-step program. And there was a long time where I felt really I had some I still had some charge above. And there wasn't like a day where it was like magically done. But what I did realize was like whether or not he makes those amends doesn't matter. I don't have to do anything. I don't have to forgive him if he asks for my forgiveness. And he's never asked for my forgiveness anyway. So it doesn't matter. Whether or not what he did was fair or unfair. It doesn't matter. I know what I did, and I'm gonna go to sleep tonight just fine. And I'm not saying it was perfect. I messed up a lot. And like that's what happened. And that like I think, and I think, and I bring it up because there's this sense that like the that I deserve an apology. He is supposed to make amends to me as if I know his program better than he does. And granted, I have had experience with people in my life. Who are addicts and have worked 12-step programs. And so I know that's a thing, but I don't know how he's working that program. And it's not my program to work. And whether or not it's fair or unfair, I don't know. What I and and the and the last thing I'll say about it is that like, and we'll get to this one, but I had to have this sense. I think I had to finally remember that, like, you know, people throw around the word karma so much and so. Like I know it's a lot. I think bhakti yogis, serious yogis roll their eyes a lot when people start saying, Well, karma's a bitch. And it's like, no, karma is no karma. It's not retribution. Karma isn't a bitch. And it's not retribu it's it's not retribu retributive. Yeah, I think karma doesn't karma doesn't do that. each of us gets what's coming to us. Every single positive or negative And that like karma is so infinitely complex. Its interconnectedness of cause and effect is beyond, I really believe it's actually beyond human comprehension. I think that is the realm of the divine. And it wasn't until I actually really cultivated some of these practices and really said to myself, like, well, you know what? Because I thought I I deserved an apology. I'm like making a pouty face. Like I thought I deserved that. And what I and what I had to like slowly like unclench grip of was that like I I don't nobody owes me anything. Not my ex-husband, not not the DECA or Santa Billionaires, not somebody in a rural village in India. Nobody owes me anything, nobody makes me feel anything. Like that's mine. That's for me, right? The self and the not self. And that like On that's on God. Like God keeps the score. I don't have to. Like that karma is the that tapestry woven of karma in its infinite complexity is the handiwork of the divine. I don't think my human flesh-sack mind is capable of perceiving its full intricacies. So I can just like actually, I can just be content because what is is that I have an amazing life. I have amazing friends. I am so blessed. Because I am w in this age of the Kali Yuga, in this age of darkness, we are the precious few who have been so lucky as to have encountered these teachings. And that we found a sense of our collective Dharma, the three of us, that like we felt a call to be of service and try and like just like take them one next step forward. Well, and I just feel like this practice for me, like this has been the path to contentment, you know. I feel like once a week for almost what seven or eight years for a long time, we've been getting together to discuss these things. And we have gotten together on the day after parents have died or all kinds of things have happened. Good, bad, new jobs, new baby. Like every and I just feel like in an Hour of a discussion and then at the including the study of these powerful texts, the path has always left led me to contentment. Sometimes I resist it more and sometimes I get there quicker. But it's always a path back in. And it's and it's and that it that the contentment is that it turns inward. It's not like it's not like being blessed or conferred by the guru. It's actually by the by the guru, the inner guru. Like it's your inner wisdom, it's your inner knowing. It's touching back to your own essential goodness, to that spark of the divine Vishokava Jyotishmati. Turn your attention to the effulgent, divine, radiant light within you. Right? The anut anuttama samtosha is the happiness that arises from an inner state of contentment. If anybody really, really, really ever wants to see true contentment and I'm getting emotional. They should spend just one hour with my daughter. My Elizabeth does not ever, and she has Down syndrome, she does not ever, and when she was born, everybody thought that it was a tragedy. And all I could see was my beautiful little baby who was gorgeous. I was highly content in that moment. She was healthy, she was gorgeous, and everybody else was trying to make me feel sad. And I thought maybe I'm supposed to be sad about this. I was not sad. An extra chromosome is not the end of the world. And my daughter is happy and content, I would say 98% of the time. When I talk to her every single Sunday, we FaceTime, every single Sunday. This month, this past Sunday, she was, she had tears, and I said, baby, what in the world? She goes, I couldn't see you. I couldn't get the FaceTime to work. That gave her discontent. But once I was able to fix it, she just lit up. Just that. What are you gonna do? I'm gonna go for my walk. You know? Simple. Sh simple. It's a it's a privilege to know Elizabeth. No, she's yeah. My daughter loves her uncle Seth. The feeling is very mutual. And it is like there's something she loves with no reservation, no hesitation. No prejudice. It's a really it's No, it's really beautiful. thank you. She's I think it's a, you know, it's like to me, you know, this this verse, this pr this this principle of Niyama is is a really important counterbalance to how we and it because I do believe it's possible to like live in, you know, look, I live in New York City and I it is hard to cultivate contentment because there's no greater concentration of strivers, maybe anywhere in the world. And I find that like one is like it's it it does make some social circumstances awkward because like I hate this question and yet it's so New York y people say like, what do you do? Like in a casual setting. And often now in the last couple of years, what I say is thank you for asking. I breathe. I've seen him do it, folks. I've seen him do it. Yeah, I breathe and I I I eat mostly plant-based food and I practice a lot of yoga. And then I see the frustration and I'm like, Are you asking me what I do for a living and how I make money? And then they get a little uncomfortable because I because they're like, well, well, I mean, no, but like, I'm like, if you want to ask me that, then just ask me that. It's d by far one of the least important or meaningful things about how I live my life. Like if you'd like to ask me what music I like, or if I've been to see any amazing art lately, or any number of other, like what's my favorite hidden gem spot in New York, in my neighborhood? What where do I live in my neighborhood? How long have I lived there? Like it makes people very uncomfortable. And it's only because what I'm poking at is that like you're asking me how much money I make is what you're really trying to do. And when I sort of like, Call the bluff. It's a it's a moment of like I I watch people get a little squirrely about it. And I I try not I try that's like never a question I ask someone casually. It's just like, no, I couldn't care less. And and I and so like, but it's because I'm like working. I'm not saying I I am fully realized by any means. I'm saying I'm aware and I'm working on it. I'm aware and I'm working on it. Cause there's other times where it's easy to just say like I'm a technology executive and I work and I have and I'm a yogi. Cause I just don't wanna I I want I'm just like fine, give you just give the people what they want. But like, but but there's but I think it's like it's the to me anyway, cultivating a sense of contentment, cultivating a rem a reminder of that inner effulgent joy, uncreated joy is part of like how I've managed to figure out how to live in this crazy place and have a cultivate a rich deeper spiritual life that feels like allows me to navigate it in a way that feels authentic and in in my integrity. Okay. We have got to offer some inquiry. So Sally, you always have an amazing set of inquiry prompts. And we offer this to you, our dear listeners, just to like help you give you like a tool, right? A mantra is a tool. This inquiry is a tool for you to just like stay in some intentional work. so Sally, please. I came up with are you content? Do you search for contentment outside of yourself? Do you have a gratitude practice? And when do you find when you do find yourself discontent, how could you find your way back to your calm center? Sarah Paige, what's some inquiry this conversation has sparked that you might want to offer our wonderful beloved listeners? I think I'm gonna go a little rebel, a little a little rogue here. Are you really discontent? Are you really? Maybe you're not. Maybe you've told yourself that you are or that you're unhappy and really you're not. So start to I like the gratitude, you know, but then really kind of step back and go, Am I really discontented? Is everything complete in this moment as it is right now? And if it isn't Are you still really discontented? Maybe you're not. Maybe it's it's a story that you've sold yourself, and maybe it's something that people tell you, like with my daughter, that you should be feeling this way, and you don't. Are you letting outside forces tell you and dictate how you feel? When the fact of the matter is, probably you feel just fine, just contented. Yeah, stop let stop the outside forces and just yeah, maybe you're that's great. Maybe everything's okay. Yeah, maybe it's all fine. yeah, I think the inquiry I would give is like challenge yourself to listen for when you're putting your own happiness off to some future state. And really try to like just and first of all, be really gentle here. Be really kind with yourself. You are barraged with a whole onslaught of messages of your not enoughness. And it's very easy to believe, says someone who has still navigates my own feelings of body dysmorphia and feeling, you know, like. Talk to me about being a single gay man in your late 40s and living in a world of you know body image perfection and GLP ones being pushed at you every day, peptides and the new thing, right? Like just be really loving. Like, what if you took that on from a really deeply like and and this might be a fake it till you make it moment too? Sometimes I just what did I say? What's happening? I that's wild. I don't know what I did, but my my my My video just got really weird. it like sp I got all sparkly for a second there. maybe that's maybe that's the podcast platform recognizing the truth. I don't know. I probably made a gesture that it recognized in some way. but you know, I remember this. I wrote this, I t sometimes I if I hear something in a podcast, I text myself the reference and I texted this to myself. It's from it's from I think one of my like he he's a guru to me, even though his his physical presence has moved. has moved but Ramdas on the Ramdas Here and Now podcast, which if you've never listened to and you just want some sattva, or you just like if you need something to put in your earbuse that's not like the Housewives or Sarah Page's serial killer murder podcasts or sorry, I just play I love to make fun of you about it. It's just a silly little thing. like it listen to Ramdas. because his foundation The Be Here Now Foundation or the Be Here Now Network publishes like there's hundreds of his lectures that they've published as a podcast. This one is from episode 223, Freedom from Fear. And at 34 minutes, he says, start out being happy instead of getting there. How about you start out being happy instead of getting there? And I think I was walking my dog and I was just like Right? Like what if what if there's nowhere to go but here and there's nowhere to be but now? What if you start out happy instead of getting there? Like what would open up for you if it wasn't about being happy when? What if it's start out happy? You're not, it's now. Right now. Okay, we also offer a teaching tip for our fellow instructors of Asana. All three of us offer classes, and we like to just hopefully inspire you to bring yogic wisdom beyond just the incredible wisdom each of you possesses about the body and sequencing and all that stuff, which is awesome. And like Bring in a little bhakti, bring in some Yoga Sutra. And so bring in some Niyama. And Sally, what's a teaching tip you might offer to like inspire students into an experience of samtasha? So I'm just gonna put the invitation to look for contentment in each moment, each posture. But then I wanna say there was Nikola Joy Devi in her words. She says, if at any time the contentment seems to be hiding. Coax it out with a sweet upturning of your lips and cheeks and a little sparkle in your eye. Sometimes if I feel heaviness in the class, I'll like give a cue of like, you know, I might say like like lift your like you know, lift your lift the front of your pelvis to your navel, lift the corners of your mouth toward your ears. Like i and take it and go e ease up in your ease up in the face and lift the corners of your mouth. See what happens. so that's my yogi dad joke. That's that's a good one. let me think, what's a teaching tip? I think notice where you get in your head too much and that causes discontentment. Maybe, maybe you're giving a very challenging class. Perhaps. You're giving, you know, we work in hot yoga, and maybe you're giving a challenging class and you're feeling the risk, you know, sort of the the resistance. And do you internalize it and think, okay, I'm gonna go easy on them? Or do you in internalize and then that's then you're out of your own integrity, which would lead, I would think, to discontentment. So just notice where you're allowing the the sort of a transference, a reflection like a reverse transference you're allowing the energy of the students to affect you as teacher leader in front of them to maybe dumb down the class a little bit or to make you feel a like when you're afraid that they don't get it or they're not gonna yeah I actually said the other day in class and it might come off a little harsh but I I was like I could take it easy on you. I have never dumbed down a class and I'm not gonna start now. So let's keep going. It's a power class, y'all. So you know, lean into lean into what you know. Don't yeah, trust yourself. Lean into it. sometimes as an invocation. I'll offer this so a teaching tip is like sometimes as an invocation. I'll invite students to you know, after maybe after we own and we like with hands still in Ajali Mudra. I'll invite you, I'll invite everyone to like bring your thumb knuckles right right between your eyebrows and touch your third eye center and just activate this deep inner knowing and remind yourself that you know everything you need to know because it's brought you exactly to where you are supposed to be, which is where you are right now. And I sometimes I offer that as an invocation, like. What if you know everything you need to know? And it's brought you to exactly where you're supposed to be, which is exactly where you are. And the whole universe has conspired in your favor to bring you to this moment. Doesn't mean you have to understand why. In fact, who cares? The samtosha is that like you fully receive it. so that's one teaching tip is just like make that a literal like invocation. Like, and the other is You know, and I I would I would ask I would encourage you to find your own language for this, but like invite students to Just remember that their practice is enough. It's a practice, not a perfect. This isn't about getting anything right. This isn't about doing it well. No one's filming this class for Instagram. I don't care what it looks like. And nobody else in this room who matters does either. So just listen to your heart. I'm going to offer you the best instruction I know how and take what's available to you and let that be the place from which you ground yourself for this class today. Here. Don't do it for me. Don't do it for anybody else. And don't even do it because of how you want it to look. Look with your feeling eyes, look with your heart, and you'll find everything you need. I feel a really deep sense of contentment with you, Sarah Page, and with you, Sally. and and so deeply grateful to every single one of you, you know, whether however many or few there are listening and watching us. if you have found any value from these words and from our efforts, please consider sharing this. like, subscribe, send it to a friend who you think might find value. we are so grateful for your time and attention. It's one of your most precious commodities. And so we hope it's well spent with us. I know every week it's well spent with you, Sally, and with you, Sarah Page. and I couldn't be more contentedly grateful to be in this sangha with you, in this study with you, and to do this work with you. Sandosha. Thank you, everybody. And we'll see you again in another episode of the Sutra Squad podcast. We love you.