Gratitude and Thankfulness

Thankfulness is realizing that this is the Promise Land. This is the Garden of Eden. This is Heaven on Earth. Thankfulness is the automatic response to the realization of nirvana, not somewhere else, but rather, the reality that is seen from the awakened perspective.


Many people don’t think of gratitude as spiritual practice. But if you look at the essence of all spiritual practices, you’ll see some effort to come into the present moment. One thing about gratitude is that it acknowledges the present moment. It acknowledges what you already have in the present moment, rather than directing your attention at what you never had, or what you hope to have one day. So, when practiced properly gratitude is in itself a meditation.
Gratitude means coming into the moment, and into the awareness of the completeness of the moment. To quote Lao Tsu, “When you realize there’s nothing lacking, the whole world belongs to you.” It then means receiving, on a deep and true level, the many gifts that the present moment contains. In other words, it’s the acceptance of the light that is within the present moment.
There’s always light. If you ever find it difficult to cultivate a state of gratitude, you can be sure that your mind is somehow in darkness, that there’s some light in the present moment that you are unable to see, or you are somehow attached to pain. Gratitude is the meditation of coming into the present moment and acknowledging the light that this moment forever contains.
Look at all you have right now and say, “Thank you.” Can you look at the things in your life and say thank you? How about starting with your last meal? Was it satisfying? Where did it come from? Did you buy it? What account did this money come from?
Now ask yourself, do you spend more time in fear and worry about resources that aren’t there, or in gratitude for what is there? Ego has a hard time with gratitude. Again, gratitude is a problem-less, fearless, state of mind. Therefore, there’s not much room for ego in the world of gratitude. The general way the egoic mind operates is from concern regarding the possibility of the resources not being there, more often than focusing on what is there, and being thankful for what is there.
It’s true that we have this tendency of focusing on what we don’t have or fearing that there will not be enough. Why do you think we do this?
I’ve heard it said that the ego wants to want more than it wants to have. There’s this continual struggle for an identity that we see in the ego and the way it operates, that if it can keep you wanting, if it can keep you looking to the future for what you will have one day, it can hold your allegiance to it, that one day, in the future, it will deliver what you want. Eckhart Tolle calls this, “Seeking salvation in the future.”
It has been said that if the only prayer you say in your entire life is, “Thank You,” that would be sufficient! “Thank You,” when said from an authentic place of gratitude—from a place of deep understanding and sincerity, acknowledges the okayness of this moment. In fact, it acknowledges more than the okayness of this moment. It sees grace. It sees that all of its needs are met. The person in the state of gratitude is just delighted continuously in all that life has to offer, and is not concerned with, or questioning what isn’t available.
That’s part of why I like the term “thankfulness.” It is thanks in the acknowledgment of the prevailing fullness. In other words, the true nature of this and every moment is fullness. We talk a lot about emptiness and spaciousness, consciousness and awareness. But it is thankfulness that brings us into awareness this “great fullness” that is the manifest reality! Whether it’s the taste of a strawberry or the sound of a flute, whether it’s being intimate with your lover, or eating a bar of chocolate, viewing a beautiful sunset or sitting in your favorite chair, it’s fullness. There is a great fullness that is acknowledged with thankfulness. And thankfulness opens the heart to the light that fills our daily lives.
You’ve probably heard of the exercise of creating a gratitude list. This is where you make a list of the different aspects of life that you’re grateful for. Often it includes certain close relationships, material things, sometimes it’s just the clothes on your back and the food in your belly, and then sometimes it’s just gratitude for the opportunity to breathe air in this moment, to be alive in this moment.
As the list gets larger and larger, the fullness of our life comes into view. There’s so much that each of us have if we are open to see it. You have a body. What a gift. This vehicle to maneuver in. You have a mind and a brain, what a fun and interesting gadget this is when it doesn’t run your life. There’s also the million little gadgets that exist in our world today that make life potentially so much more fun, efficient, productive, and organized. The iPhone, for example, if you have one, you know it’s an amazing device. I guarantee that that would go on my list of things I’m grateful for.
You said that the ego wants to want, more than it wants to have. What do you mean?
It’s a peculiar thing, what the ego does, continually focusing on what isn’t there, on what you don’t have, rather than on what you do have. If you could just switch the two and be thankful for what you do have you could be in bliss right now. The ego has made it its job to want. Why? Because wanting denies the now and emphasizes both future and judgment. Judgment of this moment, that it’s not enough, and future, that one day, not today, there will be enough. But what the ego doesn’t tell you is that there will never be enough, because as soon as there’s enough, the ego is out of a job. And if the ego is out of a job, then the need for the ego, and the relevance of the ego is seen to be empty in truth.
So thankfulness is realizing that this is the Promise Land. This is the Garden of Eden. This is heaven on earth. Or in the words of Jesus, “The Kingdom of Heaven is in our midst.” Thankfulness is the automatic response to the realization of nirvana, not somewhere else, some enlightened state that only the Buddha can reach, but rather, the reality that is seen from the awakened perspective. This is heaven. This is God’s game. This is Awareness experiencing itself as form, which can be a lot of fun. It can be quite entertaining and heavenly when we don’t lose ourselves in it, or when the “I,” the one who decided to forget who it was for the sake of entertainment, doesn’t lose itself. Again, lila is the name used in Hinduism to describe God’s play.
Thankfulness as a spiritual practice means not letting the ever-so-tempting apple of what you don’t, have lead you out of the all-your-needs-met Garden of Eden. The nature of the universe is basic goodness. This basic goodness is your Garden of Eden before you start to label, judge, separate, and limit it...Read More