Thanksgiving

Happiness cannot be traveled to, owned, earned, worn or consumed. Happiness is the spiritual experience of living every minute with love, grace, and gratitude. Denis Waitley

I would maintain that thanks are the highest form of thought, and that gratitude is happiness doubled by wonder. Gilbert K. Chesterton

The essence of all beautiful art, all great art, is gratitude. Friedrich Nietzsche

Gratitude is not, to the best of my knowledge, taught explicitly in the Buddhist texts. We are asked to be thankful to the Buddha, the dharma and the sangha, but it does not get much more specific than that. Yet the spirit of gratitude imbues much of what the Buddha taught. In his words on lovingkindness the Buddha said,

Even as a mother protects with her life
Her child, her only child,
So, with a boundless heart
Should one cherish all living beings;
Radiating kindness over the entire world.

It would be exceedingly difficult to carry out this precept if we were not grateful to those toward whom we had these feelings. Of course, this is most difficult to do with those we resent or dislike, but our gratitude toward them should be much greater than it is toward those we naturally love, for in extending love to them we are able to feel the power of the work we do to transform us and the world.

I admit to having an anxious heart; this is my nature. I find more to worry about than to console me. But in gratitude, in lovingkindness I find the ability to open my heart, the heart that has a tendency to close down when I am most anxious. So, as a reminder to myself, for these people and things I am most grateful:

♣ My parents, who not only gave me birth in this human form but nurtured and loved me and continue to nurture and love me.
♣ My wife, Kathy, who has put up with me, loved me, cherished me, corrected me, and been more patient than I deserve.
♣ My son, who is a beautiful soul and a loving man. What more could a father ask for his son but happiness? And he has that, too.
♣ My siblings, for their love and support. Individually we have struggled mightily over the years and each of us has made a great effort to be loving and kind to one another.
♣ All of my family for the love they have shown me and, when I had been gone from their lives for many years, welcomed me back with open arms.
♣ My many friends. For those who are far away I wish safe journeys. For those who are ill or suffering I also wish safe journeys.
♣ The comforts of my home. It is a true blessing to have a haven to which I can come for peace and serenity. It is warm, cozy and well-stocked! I treasure it.
♣ Being born into this human realm. It is, as the Buddha points out, the realm in which we are most able to investigate and make use of what is available in the world to learn.
♣ Having a body which is still functioning quite well and without too many complaints. Being able to use my body to learn who and what I am in the depths of my soul.
♣ Having a job and enough money to do all I need to do and some of what I wish to do. Especially in these economic times it is comforting to have employment that is not just adequate but which provides me with some joy.
♣ The teachings of the Buddha and other spiritual masters. I have been guided in the ways of freedom and have come to understand that nothing stands between me and that freedom but me. This is a great gift and a great challenge. The mountain is high but there is path.
♣  All teachers everywhere who share freely of what they know so the rest of us may benefit.
♣ Humor, grace, forgiveness, hope, charity, compassion, love, harmony, and all of the impulses of the heart that make life most worth living.
♣  All children everywhere for the joy they bring.
♣ Music in all its forms and wonder. I am particularly thankful today for Mozart, Bach, k.d. lang, Joni Mitchell, Brandi Carlile and Telleman.
♣ The ability to follow the precepts of non-harm, honesty, sexual integrity, loving speech and sobriety. I have not always been as able to live within these as I am now. I am very grateful for the willingness that made me more whole.
♣ All those who continue to struggle in confusion and pain. My heart opens to them and their suffering.
♣ All those who challenge and frustrate me for the opportunity they give me to practice what I have been taught.
♣  Those of you who read these words. May you thrive.
♣  All beings everywhere,

Wishing: in gladness and in safety,
May all beings be at ease.
Whatever living beings there may be;
Whether they are weak or strong, omitting none,
The great or the mighty, medium, short or small,
The seen and the unseen,
Those living near and far away,
Those born and to-be-born--
May all beings be at ease!

     The Buddha's Words on Lovingkindness