A Management Process of Contentment (Santuṭṭhi) for Sustainable Consumption in Vietnam Contemporary Society

Abstract

This article examines consumerism in contemporary Vietnamese society and proposes a Buddhist management process of contentment (santuṭṭhi) for sustainable consumption. The study had three objectives: (1) to analyze the major issues of consumerism in contemporary Vietnam, (2) to interpret consumption from Buddhist perspectives on contentment, and (3) to formulate a management process of contentment for sustainable consumption. A qualitative design combined documentary analysis of Buddhist scriptures and academic literature with semi-structured interviews with eight Buddhist scholars and monastic teachers in Vietnam and Thailand. Data were analyzed through thematic comparison of doctrinal sources, scholarly interpretations, and interview evidence. The findings indicate that consumerism in Vietnam has become a multidimensional phenomenon shaped by market expansion, globalization, digital media, and status competition. Its major expressions include excessive consumption, consumer debt, impulsive online purchasing, psychological dissatisfaction, weakening communal values, and environmental degradation. From a Buddhist perspective, consumption is not rejected but ethically reoriented through contentment, moderation, mindfulness, and Right Livelihood. Contentment is understood as sufficiency with the four requisites and as a discipline that restrains craving and redirects desire toward well-being and responsibility. On this basis, the study proposes an integrated management process consisting of four dimensions: individual ethical discipline, economic ethics, community responsibility, and supportive state governance. The article argues that sustainable consumption in Vietnam requires more than regulatory or technological intervention; it also requires a transformation of values, desire, and everyday habits. In this way, Buddhist moral philosophy offers a culturally grounded and practically relevant framework for sustainable consumption in contemporary society.