How to decide how much to be satisfied with?

Transcript

This is an AI-generated transcript and may contain some errors.
How do we decide what to be satisfied? When do we make the decision of being satisfied? In general, it is purpose that provides perspective. For example, if I have to go shopping for some new clothes. Now, yes, I need to get some new clothes which look good.
But, I can go to a clothes mart, I can spend 24 hours over there looking for a new one. Sometimes people can spend months looking for a good dress. Now, it depends on for what occasion is it.
So, if my purpose is clear, okay, this is, say, somebody is getting married. At that time, they would like to have very attractive clothes. So, spending some time at that time is okay.
But, if I am just, this is not just a new set of clothes I want to wear. For that, I am spending one month searching for it. So, that would be a waste of time.
So, purpose provides perspective. If my life doesn’t have a clear purpose, then I won’t have a perspective. What to spend how much time on? Similarly, when we say that we should be satisfied in our material life, that doesn’t necessarily mean that we have to stop our material life.
But, it is more in terms of, we see that my overall life has this, this, this purpose. And within this purpose, this is worth this much. So, for example, if I decide that in my profession, I want to grow.
It’s not that when we decide I am satisfied, that means I stop working in my profession. It may just mean that I have other things in my life also. So, this I will do for this many hours.
And this many hours, whatever I can do, any activity we can do, we can do till it occupies 24 hours of our day. But, our life is not just our work, our life is not just the money that we earn. That’s important, but that’s one aspect of our life.
So, if we have a clear sense of purpose, and that sense of purpose comes by regular study of scripture. Because, it’s not that one day I set a purpose and it will stay with us forever. Some devices, if you want a temperature in your house, you set it at this level and that’s the temperature it will stay.
So, these devices are set and forget. It will stay like that. But, our life’s purpose is not like that.
We set the purpose and then we forget the purpose. So, it works the opposite way. In the sense that we set the purpose based on understanding really what is important in life, how our priorities should be.
But, this comes in, that comes in, that comes in and then we forget our actual priorities and then whatever comes in, whatever grabs our attention, we go away with that. So, that’s why repeated either study of scripture or association with people who are discussing scripture, that helps us, that reminds us of our purpose. And based on that purpose, we can decide, we get a perspective of what to give how much time.
So, there is no one level which is enough for everyone. It’s like food. We all eat different quantities of food.
How much we should eat, that is up to us. Krishna says, Vishwamitra says that if we all have our kota, how do we know our kota? Basically, it’s like, how do we know our food? If we eat too little, if we eat too much. In 6.16, the Bhagavad Gita, Krishna says that one who eats too much or one who eats too little, such a person cannot become a yogi.
Similarly, one who sleeps too much or one who sleeps too little cannot become a yogi. So, Krishna is talking about a balance over there. Just as by experience, by observation, we understand, maybe I’m eating too much, maybe I’m eating too little.
So, it’s a balance that we learn through experience, through intelligence and through experience. Similarly, with respect to deciding what to be satisfied with, that is not necessarily like one line in terms of, okay, that’s enough. It’s more a line that we repeatedly learn where to set based on intelligence and experience.
But if we have a broad purpose, that will give us the perspective to decide this. So, when we recognize that satisfaction in today’s world, satisfaction is sometimes seen as negative. Because if you’re satisfied, you’ll no longer have the drive to achieve, you’ll no longer have ambition.
But that is not what we’re talking about. It’s not that we’re saying that, don’t look at what we don’t have. What I’m saying is, where does our steady vision stay? Where does our sense of identity come from? If my steady vision is always staying at what I don’t have, then my sense of identity will be that, oh, I’m always inadequate, I’m always unsatisfied.
So, in the mode of goodness, in dhatva guna, also one can work hard. In the mode of passion, also one can work hard. But, in the mode of passion, in dhatva guna, one will always be haunted by the scarcity mentality.
Lobha pravrttir aarambha karmanam ashamaspruha. Krishna says, in the mode of passion, the characteristic is lobha. I don’t have this, I don’t have this, I don’t have this.
Karmanam ashamaspruha. Insatiable desire. So, no matter how much we have, we will feel, I don’t have enough.
The scarcity mentality will be there. The constant dissatisfaction will always be there. Jasas tu phalam dukkham.
Krishna says, the mode of passion leads to dissatisfaction. Whereas, in the mode of goodness, also we can work very hard. We will look, okay, this is what I don’t have, this is what I have.
I want to get it. I want to work to get it. But that doesn’t mean that is what I’m constantly thinking of, and thinking about that is constantly keeping me dissatisfied.
I am grateful for what I have. There is abundance mentality. Yes, I have enough.
Awareness, self-identity is based. So, by studying scripture regularly to remind ourselves of our purpose, and then through intelligence and experience, we can decide how do we cultivate satisfaction and dissatisfaction in our life.