Happiness is a Big Cosmic Joke (Contentment is where it's at).

"By contentment Supreme joy is gained." - Yoga Sutra 2:42

Happiness is fleeting and can easily be 'taken away' by a small shift in our external circumstances. Contentment is based on a soul level understanding that there is beauty in every single moment we are alive and allows us to accept the experience we are having, however mundane, and find the joy within it.

Happiness is based on needing satisfaction by essentially getting our way all the time. Contentment is based on the fact that we woke up today and can breathe...meaning it needs no justification or reason to be, it's just there with us at the foundation of our understanding of life.

If we chase happiness, we run from misery and our unresolved issues and suffering follow us everywhere we go. The more we chase, the more we run away from something else. Even when all of our goals are achieved, all of our ambitions quenched, with a seemingly face value perfect life, we will not be able to feel happy because lasting happiness must come from the inside.

Through cultivating contentment we discover unlimited joy no matter the state of our external circumstances. Likewise, whenever we are challenged at the deepest level, we no longer run away from our own shadow because it doesn’t spark joy. Rather we find the heart to sit with our emotions and let our joy (rooted in contentment) give our anger, sadness, depression, addictions, and afflictions a great big hug, until they no longer need to grasp us so tightly.

Finding contentment is a lifetime(s) long process. It’s a path well worth taking though because it brings the kind of happiness that permeates our life the way sunlight covers the Earth on a cloudless day. The sun is shining, contentment is there. The rain is falling, contentment is also there.

The outro music at the end of the podcast “Call On,” is original music produced by DJ Karishtan. It is available for download on iTunes and Spotify.