Shuddhaanandaa BrahmachariI have always seen that a happy person is always grateful for every little thing in life.
However, a mechanical "thank you" does not touch hearts. "Thank you" has to come from a state of "thankfulness". Thankfulness can only come from the practice of "gratefulness". Humanity has only fanned the "education of the brain" which has created greed and selfishness. Now each one of us has to initiate the culture and "education of the heart". Like many skills, we need to learn the skill of being grateful for what we have and lead a mindful life of empathy and compassion.
At some point we have to take responsibility for our own life. We have to wake up to accept the multitude of gifts we have been given. They are all around us, working at every instant of our life, waiting for us to recognize and gratefully acknowledge their presence. How can we learn the skill of being grateful? These few practices, when done from the heart and not the head, can send us on our way to grateful living and make the world a better place.
Our Body, the most Unique Instrument!
The human body is the most sophisticated engineering of Mother Nature for the ultimate flowering into Buddhahood. The first thing in the morning that each one of us can do is to find a little time to sit with our body and dive like a diver to feel the delicate sensations and allow the awareness about the physical body to grow in us. This very act is an expression of gratitude to the Universe for the gift of this mini-universe. Just to ponder and meditate on the fact that our body is the community of 100 trillion or more cells living together in perfect harmony is so elevating and healing. Just to think and meditate on the fact that this is the only system of all forms of life that can be self-aware and fathom into the very heart of the mystery of the universe and attain to an experiential realization of the Self. Just to be grateful to God for the gift of this body, which alone can help an individual break all barriers and reach to ultimate unity with the Divine.
The first practice of our life is to be deeply grateful that we are graced to be alive with a healthy body. Bring the thought of good health as one of the first thoughts each morning. The Mother has worked Her healing during the night. Give our Mother recognition for the good work that She has done. Recognize that She has been a silent worker, taking care of us all night, so that we could wake up this morning in good health and thank Her.
Our Heart Center!
When we are grateful to those who brought light into our life and also those who tested our patience and ego, our heart center opens; the purest energy of love permeates our inner and outer world. We become the light for others and a benediction to the world. Meditate upon the heart center; let our brain and heart work in harmony to give the world a true celebration of "grateful living". Let us fill our heart with thoughts of gratefulness for our parents, for our ancestors and all of those who have helped us in our life and let us forgive and bless all who gave us pain.
Be mindful. Gratitude is a state of being anchored in our soul-consciousness. To be mindful is to be grateful moment to moment for the bounties of Grace that are being showered on us that make life possible!! Mindfulness creates a deep sense of gratitude, an attitude, which is true prayer and worship. Gratitude fills us with an inner calm and golden aura of peace. Let each day take us closer and closer to our heart center, so that we can manifest the divine language of love that is gratitude for everything we are blessed with. Ask a man who has lost his vision what he is missing, and he will say he will do anything if he can get back his vision. But just imagine, those of us who have eyes and vision take it for granted, not like the man who lost it. As a result we can’t fill ourselves with wonderment like a child. Mindfulness and an attitude of gratitude awaken the sleeping god in us and fill our heart center with all the love and cheerfulness of the higher world.
When our heart cries for the undernourished and underprivileged children of God, those who need our helping hands of love and compassion, those who look into our eyes and we feel we are seeing the face of God, those are the ones who deserve our attention, our love, our heart. Let us give them our love, give them our hands of support, pull them out of the clutch of starvation and disease, pain and sufferance. We will feel blessed, we will feel grateful to God that He made us His instrument to help and heal His dear children.
In its essence gratefulness is prayerfulness. Let us pray: May we be healthy in body, heart and mind and may we see good in each other. May there be no misery in this world. May all children have enough good food to eat, good water to drink and breathe good air. May we always have a humble, loving and grateful heart.
