** It is very important to lead a life of contentment. One who is not contented is never happy and peaceful. **

The snail walks very slowly compared to others. The tortoise mocks the snail out of pride. Similarly, a rabbit sees a tortoise and laughs at it. The rabbit crosses the tortoise and shows off its greatness. The deer is faster than the tortoise whereas the horse is faster than the deer. Each of these animals compares themselves with others and feels superior to them. This is quite common in this world.

This was observed by a small ant. It felt pity for the snail. The ant asked why the snail was bearing all the insults hurled upon it. It suggested the snail to give up its lethargy and walk fast with which a lot can be achieved in life. The snail told the ant that it (the ant) is walking very fast but it posed a question that what it had achieved by running so fast. The ant is struggling to construct house only for the snakes to occupy. At the same time, the rabbit which mocks the tortoise in reality is jealous of the deer. The rabbit leaps and goes ahead but finally ends up in the hunter’s net. The horse also is egoistic but finally it also ends up in the mouth of the tiger. Hence, the snail said that it is not lethargic and instead is full of satisfaction.

One who is contented will not run any more. He is happy with the time God has provided. Our life is also like this. We always want to overtake others and long to achieve something. We are happy to see people who are inferior to us and at the same time we are jealous seeing those who are superior to us. We, in fact do not know what we want. Despite reaching a higher position, we still yearn for positions/promotions. We are worried till we attain that level and once again we fear even after acquiring it because we never know when we lose it. This is very difficult.

Same is the case with money. We wish to accumulate wealth. But, once we acquire it, we have to take the tension of safeguarding it. Money is like that. If we have one lakh, we wish for 10 lakhs. If we really get 10 lakhs, we wish to become billionaire. We are still not satisfied. We want to earn even for our children. But, we always have the tension of protecting the treasure. If that is the case, where is real happiness? What is the use of the striving so hard?

Remember that laziness is not being advocated. We are not asked to get rid of desire for wealth and pleasures. But, they should not become the sole goal of life. In addition to them, one must dedicate time for contemplation upon God. We must allot time for God.

Then, you will understand what and how much you want. You will understand how to lead a happy and contented life with whatever you have. You will learn to share your knowledge and wisdom with people around.

**In fact, satisfaction does not lie in accumulating wealth. It lies in sharing our resources with others. You will then understand the truth of this life. For being born as a human being, you will understand its inner meaning. Those who run their entire lives seeing others like a horse or deer will finally end up as tiger’s prey (death) without achieving anything in this lifetime. **

Jai Guru Datta! Sri Guru Datta!