Amba, is it your experience that becoming very present in the moment, where "time does not exist", automatically produces a mood of gratitude? Or is gratitude an independent mood that requires a specific and intentional invocation, beyond basic meditation practice and the effort to just be fully here?
Thank. you so. much for your questions, Rick. They are deep and call for days and much work.
Rather than addressing your two questions themselves, I'd like to say that the distinction is, actually, "gratefulness," not gratitude. Gratefulness is not a mood, but rather a commitment to being something. It's created. It's something you bring to any given situation.
Both Brother David Steindl-Rast and Kristi Nelson, who was the previous ED of his nonprofit, gratefulness.org, spend much time drawing the distinction between the two, Kristi in her book "Wake Up Grateful" and Brother David in many of his books, including "A Listening Heart." I have spent many, many hours in the last few years reading, reflecting upon, and embodying, Brother David's books and Kristi's recent one, diving deeply myself into exploring and cultivating gratitude, as a developmental and spiritual distinction, and teaching others. It's a beautiful distinction. Kristi also has a gracious and deeply empowering newsletter, Everyday Matters, that you can subscribe to,
Last, let me share with you a "snippet" from "A Listening Heart." I
"The clue lies in the fact that any given moment confronts us with a given reality. But if it is given, it is gift. If it is gift, the appropriate response is thanksgiving. Yet, thanksgiving, where it is genuine, does not primarily look at the gift and express appreciation; it looks at the giver and expresses trust. The courageous confidence that trusts in the Giver of all gifts is faith. To give thanks even when we cannot see the goodness of the Giver – to learn this is to find the path to peace of heart. For happiness is not what makes us grateful. It is gratefulness that makes us happy."
This is very helpful Amba, and the final quote is particularly inspiring. Especially this. "Yet, thanksgiving, where it is genuine, does not primarily look at the gift and express appreciation; it looks at the giver and expresses trust." I'm letting that sink in. It's a big shift, moving one's attention from the context of a profitable transaction to the continuity of a trusted relationship.
Beautiful, Amba.
Thank you, Kathy.
Amba, is it your experience that becoming very present in the moment, where "time does not exist", automatically produces a mood of gratitude? Or is gratitude an independent mood that requires a specific and intentional invocation, beyond basic meditation practice and the effort to just be fully here?
Thank. you so. much for your questions, Rick. They are deep and call for days and much work.
Rather than addressing your two questions themselves, I'd like to say that the distinction is, actually, "gratefulness," not gratitude. Gratefulness is not a mood, but rather a commitment to being something. It's created. It's something you bring to any given situation.
Both Brother David Steindl-Rast and Kristi Nelson, who was the previous ED of his nonprofit, gratefulness.org, spend much time drawing the distinction between the two, Kristi in her book "Wake Up Grateful" and Brother David in many of his books, including "A Listening Heart." I have spent many, many hours in the last few years reading, reflecting upon, and embodying, Brother David's books and Kristi's recent one, diving deeply myself into exploring and cultivating gratitude, as a developmental and spiritual distinction, and teaching others. It's a beautiful distinction. Kristi also has a gracious and deeply empowering newsletter, Everyday Matters, that you can subscribe to,
Last, let me share with you a "snippet" from "A Listening Heart." I
"The clue lies in the fact that any given moment confronts us with a given reality. But if it is given, it is gift. If it is gift, the appropriate response is thanksgiving. Yet, thanksgiving, where it is genuine, does not primarily look at the gift and express appreciation; it looks at the giver and expresses trust. The courageous confidence that trusts in the Giver of all gifts is faith. To give thanks even when we cannot see the goodness of the Giver – to learn this is to find the path to peace of heart. For happiness is not what makes us grateful. It is gratefulness that makes us happy."
This is very helpful Amba, and the final quote is particularly inspiring. Especially this. "Yet, thanksgiving, where it is genuine, does not primarily look at the gift and express appreciation; it looks at the giver and expresses trust." I'm letting that sink in. It's a big shift, moving one's attention from the context of a profitable transaction to the continuity of a trusted relationship.