Rosicrucian Beacon Magazine - 2012-09 - AMORC

y Ralph M Lewis, FRCan WE EVER be content? Defining whatcontentment really is comes down to howsatisfied we are with our present status. Butdoes the sustaining of a particular satisfactionequal prolonged contentment? Continuousstimuli, invariable sensations, no matter how enjoyable atfirst, eventually result in boredom. However, we shouldobserve that consciousness is an active state, its activity beingmaintained only by varying stimuli.Psychological tests have proven for example thatwhen we are exposed to a continual sound of unvaryingpitch and volume, we eventually become ‘deaf ’ to it. Ourconsciousness appears to no longer respond to the auditoryimpression. In fact for us to hear a habitual sound requiresus to concentrate upon that sound; we need to consciouslyisolate it from other sounds of which we’re aware.Contentment therefore does not arise from a particularthing or condition; it can only come from a general state offreedom from any kind of aggravation.Let’s suppose for instance, that someone enjoys listeningto music. When listening to it, anxiousness or aggravateddisturbance of the emotions are dispelled or are, at least, moreeasily suppressed. But if the music that contributes to theirsense of well-being was played repeatedly, hour after hour,day after day, its agreeable and pleasing sensations woulddiminish. The listener would finally come to experience thesame piece of music as being unsatisfactory and inducingdissatisfaction. It is a common experience that a play or afilm that once brought pleasure is less and less satisfactoryin doing so every time it’s seen thereafter.The Rosicrucian Beacon -- September 201215