Buddha was bored

Sakyamuni, the founder of Buddhism, and the original Buddha, was born into a royal family in one of the city-states on the Indian subcontinent, around 2600 years ago. A lot is recorded about him, as he became one of the most famous of Indians in history. Oral tradition says that he was the son of a king who wanted his children to never know unhappiness, and so the king used his resources to ensure the children never saw suffering or death, poverty or distress. But there were unintended consequences. Sakayamuni apparently got bored with a constant cycle of royal food and entertainment. There is no need here to discuss the next phases of his life, but it led to the foundation of what many believe is the greatest religion ever devised - Buddhism.

The bottom line is that it's OK to get bored, as long as you are driven by it to do good works. It's fine to be unsatisfied with what would satisfy most people. It's great to be discontented with what countless others hope for and seek. Let's be more specific.

Discontent because you are insecure is probably not the best feeling to have. If you see someone else with more than you, and you want to get more to have more, just because you feel bad inside if you have less, that's bad. It's called envy. If you want to get more because you want to use it for good purposes, that's good. It's called altruism. Almost all religions teach this distinction. Discontent is not the same as boredom.

Boredom is like discontent in that it drives you to do something different, but it is motivated by the unknown. You get bored with what you have, or what you know, or where you are, or who you're with, or any other aspect, because you feel there is something else that you don't know about. Discontent is when you know really well that someone else has something and you don't. Boredom generates an exploration. Discontent may generate an exploration for the purpose of finding our how to get what you think you're lacking. Boredom drives you to explore things you don't know for the purpose of knowing more. Buddha was bored, not discontented. The world is a tremendously better place because of Buddha's boredom.