Gratitude and Generosity

Since it is Thanksgiving Week we will talk again about Gratitude and Generosity. We discussed the 13th loJong Slogan this summer, which is "Be Grateful to Everyone." This slogan teaches us about how important everyone is to us. Without them enlightenment would be impossible; other people are the "grist for the mill" as Ram Das said. Pema Chodron said, "We need all the obstacles and troubles and encouragement and mentoring and pushing and prodding we get from other people. They are our greatest teachers." Along with gratitude goes generosity or dana, the practie of giving in all areas of our lives. Dana teaches us to let go, to experience the world with an open heart and and open hand.

Sharon Salzberg: “We purify the mind of craving by practicing generosity. Desire, greed, is a central longing in which we seek to draw everything inward toward ourselves. Giving is a basic reorientation of that attitude into one of opening, one of offering. Generosity is not merely the overt action of giving somebody something material: it can also be giving of care, of protection, of kindness, and of love. Generosity is not just interpersonal; it is also an inward state, a generosity of the spirit that extends to ourselves as well as to others.”

Sharon Salzberg: “When we look at others, we see ourselves as well; when we look within ourselves, we discover all beings and all things in the universe. Every event, every entity, every mind-state, every experience we have is born out of a web of interconnectedness.”

Chogyam Trungpa: “A more literal translation of the slogan “Be Grateful to Everyone” is “Contemplate the great kindness of everyone.”

Osho: “A man once came and spat in the Buddha’s face. His attendant, Ananda, was incredibly angry. The Buddha wiped his face and said to the man “Thank you, sir... You created a context in which I could see whether I can still be angry or not. And I am not, and I am tremendously happy. And you also created a context for Ananda: now he can see that he can still be angry. Many thanks - we are so grateful! Once in a while, please, you are invited to come. Whenever you have the urge to spit on somebody, you can come to us.” His whole being was saying that he was grateful, his whole attitude was grateful. The man was horrified! What had he done? Spitting on a man like the Buddha. It was unforgivable.

The next morning the man ran back, fell down at the Buddha’s feet, and said “Forgive me, sir, I could not sleep the whole night.” Buddha said “Forget about it... and I cannot forgive you, because in the first place I was not angry with you. If I had been angry, I could have forgiven you. If you really need forgiveness, ask Ananda. Fall at HIS feet - he will enjoy it!”

Pema Chodron: “If we were to make a list of people we don't like – people we find obnoxious, threatening, or worthy of contempt – we would find out a lot about those aspects of ourselves that we can't face. If we were to come up with one word about each of the troublemakers in our lives, we would find ourselves with a list of descriptions of our own rejected qualities, which we project onto the outside world. [O]ther people trigger the karma that we haven't worked out. They mirror us and give us the chance to befriend all of that ancient stuff that we carry around like a backpack full of granite boulders.”