Mar 23, 2013

Contentment

"Man falls from the pursuit of the ideal of plain living and high thinking the moment he wants to multiply his daily wants.  Man's happiness really lies in contentment." Mahatma Gandhi

Contentment seems elusive and beyond the reach of many humans for too much of the time.  We have Gandhi's quote above and similar advice from the Buddhist tradition:  avoid both attachment and desire.  In our consumer society, this is not the norm.  It seems that the more we buy and possess, we are told by advertising, the happier we will be.  But, we can look around at those of significant fortune and see that money and possessions do not equate happiness.  Can we be content without consuming beyond what we need?

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