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Gratitude is a natural state of Being for one who lives from their true nature and sees the world as it is.
Gratitude, and its expression, appreciation, resonate at a very high energy vibration. They are expressions of our connection with all that is. When we experience gratitude, our body and mind relax, and we move into a natural and profound state of harmony and peace. We expand outward, embracing other Beings and the world, rather than retreating into our mind in the illusion of separateness. Gratitude arises when we are present to the remarkable miracle and gift that life is, in all of its manifestations and permutations, from the simplest to the most sublime. When this occurs, we find that we are living in a constant state of gratitude, seeing the dance of creation all around us in every moment, in awe at the Play of Consciousness that the Universe is.
Conversely, the conditioned state of Being is one of LACK. It is often experienced as a vague feeling of dissatisfaction, of "waiting for the other shoe to drop," and is at the heart of the expression, "It's too good to be true." Dissatisfaction leads to a sense that there is never enough (fill in the blank) for us to really be certain that we are safe and secure, and can just relax and flow with life. In this state of LACK, there is a sense of being poor or insufficient in some way. We all have heard of the person with a giant closet bursting with clothes who wails, "I've got nothing to wear!" In some cases, we may insist that we are fine, and the problem is those "other" people. It may manifest for us either way-- within, or projected without.
In the conditioned state, we can't realize how rich we are in the blessings we have been given. The shift occurs when we stop identifying ourselves with that which is impermanent and changing, and recognize our true nature as that which is always unchanging. Then gratitude for all of the expressions of "X" (God, Spirit, Life Principle, Source, etc.) is natural.
Interestingly, you don't have to be present to your true nature to get to gratitude. You can come at it from the other direction. If you begin to be present to gratitude, it will lead you back home to your true unchanging nature. And often, it is the simplest gifts that we begin with.
Do you consider yourself rich in blessings and gifts of life? If someone offered you two million dollars for your eyes so that they could have the gift of sight, would you sell them your eyes? How much would you take to give up the gift of seeing a sunset, the dew on the grass, a great work of art, or the expression on your lover's or child's face? How many times do we get up in the morning in awe of how rich we are to have the gift of sight?
How much is your ability to hear worth to you? Would you give up the miracle of hearing the singing of birds, the gurgling of a running creek, the chords of a piece of music that touches your heart, or the laughter of your child, for a thousand dollars? A million? Two million?
How about the gifts of touch, of smell, of taste? What about the gift of being able to walk, the gift of breathing easily, the gift of good health? How much are these worth? Do we give thanks for these gifts we are given or do we take them for granted, focusing instead on what we don't have? Could we cultivate a state of gratitude and appreciation for what we have?
It is easy to experience gratitude for life. Start with something simple such as those gifts mentioned above and expand it out from there. Do you have food, clothing, shelter, and someone to relate to? If so, can you open yourself to fully experience gratitude for these gifts?
But, you may ask, what if something happens that is not pleasant but is painful, that is not joyful but sad, then what? Can we have gratitude for that? No matter what occurred, can we find and have gratitude for something in the situation? Can we bring gratitude to even those times we experience what is considered a misfortune?
The answer is "Yes,"
Gratitude always includes an appreciation for the whole spectrum of life, not just what we "want" or what makes us non-disturbed for a moment.
Recall a time in your life when something happened that you considered negative. Looking back on the situation now, you may see that it was exactly the thing that allowed you to get out of your comfort zone, learn a critical lesson, and dare to do the thing you always wanted to do or were meant to do. No matter what occurred, if you inquire into it you may discover a gift present in that experience. I'm not talking about some phony positive thinking or affirmation. I am inviting you to pierce through the illusion of dichotomy, of good vs. bad, right vs. wrong, and authentically embrace what is. If you do so, you may discover a strength or ability you now have that was forged in the crucible of what you considered a negative or even devastating experience.
You may recall the sadness you experienced at the loss of a loved one. If you allowed yourself to embrace the sadness and move without resistance through the feelings of anger at God for "taking them" or at them for leaving you or whatever else may be there, you found you were left with a sense of profound love and gratitude for the gift that they were in your life, and that they still live as an ever present inspiration for you within your heart.
The Experiment
I invite you to spend a portion of each day this week practicing making the principle of gratitude real in your life. Be in an inquiry. What can I be grateful for? Who and what do I appreciate in my life?
Begin the experiment even before you open your eyes in the morning. When you are in your morning practice or meditation, and when you are getting ready to start your day. It might be as simple the feeling of water on your body as you shower or appreciation for whoever came up with the design of the toothbrush or the toothpaste tube! Ask yourself what you can be grateful for and appreciate about every person you meet, and with every situation or circumstance in which you find yourself during the day.
Make a list of everyone you know, all your relatives and friends, and write down one thing you are grateful for about each of them or what you have learned from them. Then make a list of everyone you don't like, that you judge, that you can't stand to be around, and discover what their gift is to you. What is it they are here to allow you to learn? When you discover what it is, you may find yourself experiencing gratitude for them as well, and for "X" for bringing them into your life.
Start with the simple things, the people and situations that easily bring up a sense of appreciation and gratitude within your heart. Take a walk and observe the texture of the ground, the sidewalk, the trees. Look at the cars going by and discover how many colors and shapes exist in the reflections that move across the surface of every color. Discover that black cars aren't black, and red cars aren't red. Recall with each step someone in your life who contributed to you, supported you, or loved you. Can you allow yourself to be present to your gratitude for them being in your life?
Then keep allowing yourself to expand to include those people and situations that at first glance do not seem deserving of gratitude or capable of eliciting it within you. Can you give thanks for being able to be aware that everyone is acting from whatever view of the world and themselves they are identified with? Can you appreciate that everything that they do, they do because in that moment it seems to be the right thing to do, or the proper thing to do, or they have it justified in some one way (including such justifications as, "I couldn't help myself," "Get them before they get me," and "I'm doing it for their own good.")? Could you experience gratitude for being able to have compassion for all human beings, knowing that they are doing what they are doing guided by whatever light or lack of it that they have at the moment?
This may not be easy to do at first. If there is someone or something that you find you cannot appreciate in any way, use this as a gift to discover what anger, resentment, or regret is stuck there for you. Whatever it is keeps your energy from flowing, and you can have gratitude for the stuckness for allowing you to crystallize and clarify the presence of this block to Being. Then you can take action to dissolve this energy block with any of the methods you have learned in Core Wisdom.
Whatever arises will be part of the inquiry. You may come up against a decades-old constriction or memory. Be with it. Be open to receive its lesson from Spirit to you. You may be surprised by what arises. Spirit has a way of shifting the ground of Being from under your feet when you allow yourself to be open to receive from the Source of Unconditional Love.
I invite you to keep doing the Experiment in Gratitude and discover what unfolds by the end of the week. You won't know unless you do the experiment.
I look forward to hearing from you.
In-Joy!
-- Hal Isen
From Core Wisdom On-Line Number 73 - Mar. 23, 2007
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