Grace, Gratitude and Greed

“By contentment, supreme JOY is gained.” Book II-42,

The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali

As the Sun moves from Scorpio toward Sagittarius we welcome the uplifting energy of the planet Jupiter. Jupiter is the planet associated with JOY, abundance, gifts and talents - in its better light; excess, overindulgence, exaggeration and too much expansion - in its more challenging light. As the planetary energy at this time of year manifests as abundance (Grace) and/or overindulgence (Greed), we may want to work consciously with it to get us to JOY. This need to get serious about joy is further supported by the December 2, 2019 shift of Jupiter out of Sagittarius, where it has been for the past year, and into Capricorn where it will be for the next year. Capricorn is a much more grounded and serious sign. So let’s get busy and bring JOY down to Earth!

One of the ten traditional niyamas in yoga philosophy, Santosa, translates to contentment. The yamas and niyamas are ethical restraints and observances believed necessary for keeping one’s yoga practice virtuous. The yogis teach us that one’s yoga practice is indistinguishable from one’s every day life; the two are one and the same. Santosa, applied to daily living then, is the attitude that what we have and how we are is just right; it is enough. It is a state of acceptance without need for more. It is a state that is cultivated within but often is mistakenly believed to occur without.

As the Thanksgiving season approaches here in the US, we gather with family, friends, and loved ones to offer a prayer of gratitude about those things for which we are grateful. We laugh, joke, eat, share stories and exchange our upcoming Christmas lists of wants, wishes and dreams! Alongside the gratitude portion of Thanksgiving is the official beginning of the holiday shopping season, ushered in by “Black Friday”, the following day.

Black Friday serves to inform us that while on Thursday we were overstuffed with abundance and gratefulness, on Friday we are somehow dreadfully lacking. And so the rush to find the perfect gift, that unique purchase or the one of a kind special experience begins so we may show our loved ones, coworkers and friends just how very much they mean to us. The stress associated with this form of the Thanksgiving hunt is commonly referred to as the “Christmas rush” and the complaints surrounding it are legendary, one story after the other about the madness of it all. At least this is commonly how it is for many in America. But is it real?

Contentment is often associated with the attainment of things, usually things outside one’s self. If you watch television advertisements you will see this theme repeated over and over again, “You deserve this”, “Isn’t it time you treated yourself to what you deserve?” “If you buy X, then you will feel like Y, and live like Z”. You get the gist. Advertisements have been aimed, since the inception of television itself, as a way to make us feel there is a lack in our lives. And if we would only buy whatever it is that is being advertised, THEN (and only then), will that lack be filled. If we just purchase that big truck with the large bow on it, one for ourselves and another for that special someone, only THEN will we be worthy. After all, what good would advertising be if we were simply contented with what we have and not driven to purchase more, more and more?

And so it goes. What they neglect to inform us though is that the next advertisement will point out another lack, the following commercial another, and after that, yet another. When you watch commercials you get the sense that humanity is woefully lacking and there is no end to what needs to be purchased to fill the void, or bridge that gap. It can get down right depressing. And often, when we feel we don’t have enough of the right stuff, we feel hopeless and discouraged and become driven to stoke the want, want, want that drives commerce but keeps contentment at bay. Somewhere along the way, we have associated “being blessed” with having stuff.

However, constantly wanting more and more and more is by no means being blessed; on the contrary, it is the very definition of being greedy. In Buddhism, desire for things is one of the causes of suffering. In Christianity we are told that a rich man has less chance of getting into heaven than a camel has passing through the eye of a needle!  Yet, there is nothing inherently wrong with having “stuff”, as long as that “stuff” does not define your worth or become bigger than your Self!

Both Buddhism and Christianity suggest looking within to find true peace; both suggest that whatever we feel we are lacking will be found there, within. I suspect other spiritual practices have tenets along those same lines. When we look outside ourselves for contentment it can lead to a feeling of lack, driven by fear, that ends with feeling bad and occasionally in financial debt! How to pull ourselves from the edge of that cliff? One way is via GRATITUDE.

Gratitude simply means being thankful and having appreciation. It begins with taking the time to look inside one’s self (introspect) and find those things which have already been gifted to you (count your blessings). Say a prayer of thanks (say Grace) for ALL you have been blessed with, material and non-material; that new sweater is great but the strength to postpone gratification so you can buy it without guilt or going into debt and feeling bad about your self is a big blessing too! Remember, there is a difference between wants and needs, they are not one and the same; to differentiate between the two is a huge service to Self. And finally, allow your perception to shift, just BE in gratitude without the need for anything more (experience contentment). Align with the truth of the season, simply by virtue of your existence, you are whole and have all that you truly need. YOU are enough!

If you can’t pull yourself toward that belief on your own, feel free to borrow this paraphrase from the Rolling Stones, you can’t always get what you want but you always have what you need. So this holiday season instead of wanting more, acknowledge what you have, be grateful you have what you need (despite advertisers suggesting otherwise), open yourself to contentment, and align your Self with JOY! In gratitude and grace…

…“He who is contented with contentment is always contented.” ~Taoist saying 

 BLESS YOUR HEART!

AND…

Happy Thanksgiving with Gratitude for Grace.