The Information Channel Felist.Com -*-------------------------------------------------------------------------- +----------------------------------------------------------------------------------+ | [ http://unityway.wordpress.com ] Unity Way | | | | January 14, 2007 | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | | | All-encompassing Gratitude | | by Andrei Yashurin | | | | Let me suggest you six most important themes for developing gratitude. I | | will present them as affirmations: | | | | I am grateful for all Life. | | I am grateful for who I am. | | I am grateful for my unique place in the universal scheme of things. | | I am grateful for all my relationships. | | I am grateful for my abundant provision. | | I am grateful for the unknown. | | | | First things first: in order to bring tangible results in our life, | | gratitude should be all-encompassing. In other words, we need to be | | grateful for all there is, without any exceptions. I do realize that it is | | a high goal, and not so many of us will achieve it in this lifetime - yet | | we should always aspire to this ideal. It is far much better to move into | | the right direction slowly, one step at a time, than not move at all. | | | | The fact is, if we are grateful only for so-called "good" things and | | experiences, we act much like a farmer that blesses full-grown plants but | | curses seeds which are still in the ground. But no wise farmer will ever | | curse seeds. Seeds, once they are planted and properly taken care of, will | | spring forth, grow, and become fruitful plants. | | | | We mentioned before that gratitude allows us to see that there is an | | inherent goodness within every person, thing, or event. This goodness might | | not be evident. Looking at some things, we often label them as "bad", | | "dangerous", "destructive", and so forth. But could it be that we just | | don't see them in depth - as they truly are - and because of this we cannot | | establish proper relationships with them? Could it be that great spiritual | | teachers of the past were right? | | | | Inherent goodness of all things is the teaching of all mystical traditions. | | The Baal Shem Tov, a famous Jewish mystic, said: | | | | "There is no act, word or thought in which the essence of divinity is not | | constricted and hiding. | | | | And so when you look and see with your mind's eye, you will see the inner, | | life-force aspect of everything, not just its outer, superficial layer. You | | will see nothing but the divine power inside all things that is giving them | | life, being and existence at every moment. | | | | And when you listen carefully to the inner voice within any physical sound | | that you hear, you will hear only the voice of God as, at that moment, it | | is literally giving life and existence to the sound that you are hearing". | | | | In the gospel of Thomas Jesus says, in essence, the same thing - God is | | present in all Life. And since God is the ultimate goodness, the same | | goodness is present everywhere. | | | | "I am the light that is over all things. I am all: from me all came forth, | | and to me all attained. | | Split a piece of wood; I am there. | | Lift up the stone, and you will find me there." | | | | Mysticism is not about escaping from the world into a realm of illusions. | | It has nothing to do with despising the world or struggling against it. | | True mysticism is about loving the world deeper than any materialist could | | ever do. | | | | A mystic sees no so-called "dead matter". He/she recognizes that every | | thing is alive and vibrant with God's life. But as the gospel of Thomas | | suggests, it takes "lifting up stones" and "splitting pieces of wood" to | | achieve that perception. | | | | Gratitude is the art of directed attention. When we look at certain thing, | | we might not discern its goodness - but let us look with intensity and an | | open heart. Let us say to ourselves: "I recognize that this thing is a part | | of the great Whole. It has its being in God - just like me. I am willing to | | let go my though patterns and preconceived ideas about thins thing, my | | resentment to it, and to search for true understanding. Let my inner eyes | | be enlightened. May I see the presence of God within this thing - the same | | presence that is within me". | | | | (to be continued) | | | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | | | Recommended Material: | | | | [ http://www.amazon.com/gp/redirect.html?ie=UTF8&location= | | http%3A%2F%2Fwww.amazon.com%2FDynamic-Laws-Prosperity-Lectures%2Fdp%2F9562911950 | | &tag=talksontruth-20&linkCode=ur2&camp=1789&creative=9325 ] The Dynamic | | Laws of Prosperity Lectures (MP3 CD) by Catherine Ponder* | | | | Previous Articles of Andrei Yashurin: | | | | [ http://unityway.wordpress.com/2006/12/23/from-meaning-to-meaning/ ] From | | Meaning to Meaning | [ http://unityway.wordpress.com/2006/12/17/ | | meaningful-life-and-non-attachment/ ] Meaningful Life and Non-attachment | | | [ http://unityway.wordpress.com/2006/12/09/meaningful-life-and-others/ | | ] Meaningful Life and Others | [ http://unityway.wordpress.com/2006/11/ | | 25/meaningful-life-and-self-knowledge/ ] Meaningful Life and Self-knowledge | | | [ http://unityway.wordpress.com/2006/11/18/meaningful-life/ ] | | Meaningful Life | | | | [ http://unityway.wordpress.com ] Talks on Truth Blog | | | | [ http://zme.amazon.com/exec/varzea/pay/T3FSLT9BWIHSWQ ] If you find these | | messages helpful, please send a donation to Andrei Yashurin | | | | If you like our list, please recommend it to others. | | | | To be unsubscribed, click the link at the bottom of this message, do not | | write to the author. | | | | E-mail: [ mailto:yashurin@gmail.com ] yashurin@gmail.com | | | | Information: The publisher of this list technically cannot subscribe/ | | unsubscribe anyone. You are responsible to do it yourself. Please check | | links at the bottom of this message. | | | | All messages (c) 2007 by Andrei Yashurin | +----------------------------------------------------------------------------------+ -*-------------------------------------------------------------------------- Unsubscribe: http://felist.com/member/unsub?grp=lit.unityway&email=e@mail http://felist.com/ mailto:ask@felist.com