Paritosha means contentment, infinite contentment... not just satisfaction but contentment. And there is a lot of difference between the two, not only difference; they are polar opposites to each other. It may not be so in the dictionary but in life it is so! In the dictionary contentment is satisfaction and satisfaction is contentment; they are synonymous. But in life it is not so: they are diametrically opposite.
Satisfaction is a false contentment; it is imposed. It is just a consolation.
For example, one is poor. It hurts to be poor and so one starts creating a satisfaction around it of 'Poverty is beautiful, poverty is spiritual,' of 'Look, Jesus says "Blessed are the poor in spirit."' He means something totally different; he does not mean poverty. 'Look, Buddha renounced the kingdom and became a beggar.' Certainly he renounced the kingdom because he attained to a higher kingdom, but he never became a beggar; in fact he became the real emperor.
But the man who is poor... And it feels very ego-shattering: 'I am a failure. I cannot succeed. I cannot make money, have power, prestige. I am falling very short. Life is disappearing and I am just a failure. To hide this wound he creates a beautiful philosophy of satisfaction. He says 'Satisfaction is the real thing. Riches don't bring happiness. It is satisfaction that brings happiness.' He philosophises, he rationalises, he pretends that he is very happy. But all that is pretension; deep down he knows that it hurts.
If he has really understood then it is contentment. If he had understood that each moment is so joyous, wherever you are and whatsoever you are -- poor or rich, successful or unsuccessful, famous or notorious, known or anonymous -- wherever you are each moment is such pure joy, such sheer bliss... One who has known it is contented. Then there is no philosophy of contentment around it: it is simply your state.
Contentment arises out of meditation, and satisfaction arises out of the sense of inferiority; one wants to hide it, to cover it up. Contentment arises out of an inner well-being. And satisfaction. You know the wound and you don't want to see it, so you cover it up with beautiful flowers. You paint it with beautiful colours; deep down the wound remains. In fact it goes deeper; the more you hide it, the deeper it goes. Slowly slowly it will poison your whole being, it will destroy your life.
I am against the philosophy of satisfaction but I am all for contentment, and the distinction has to be understood. The man who philosophises about satisfaction will start clinging to poverty. Even if a chance arises that he can become the emperor he will not become. It will go against his philosophy. He will become attached to his poverty. He has been proclaiming so many beauties about it, now how can he renounce it? That will be too inconsistent.
But the real man of contentment can be contented as poor, can be contented as rich. He has no attachment. He is not attached to riches, he is not attached to poverty either. He is not attached at all, so whatsoever god brings he is happy to receive it. If he makes him a king, he is a king; if he makes him a beggar, he is a beggar, but deep down he remains the same, unaffected. His joy is not contaminated by anything. That is contentment.
Topic: Satisfaction Vs. Contentment (Read 4531 times)