Giving Buddhist Gratitude (Lion's Roar)

"Grrr!" like a lioness roaring for American Buddhism

The Spiderman theme is such a catchy earworm to get stuck in your head that it's good to convert it into these season-appropriate lyrics:

How can you be so happy?

Gratitude, gratitude

Does whatever a spider could

Spins a web any size

Catches thanks just like flies

Look out, here comes some gratitude!

Is it strong? Listen, Bud:

It's got super-magnetic suds

Can it spring from a thread?

Take a look overhead

Hey there,

There goes that gratitude!

In the chill of night

At the scene of a crime

Like a streak of light

It arrives every time!

Gratitude, gratitude

Friendly neighborhood gratitude

As for fame, it's ignored

Action (karma) is

Its reward

To it

Life is a great big bang up

Wherever there's a hang up

You'll find some

GRATITUDE!

Fake Buddha quote gone good -- a wise teaching

Gratitude (Lion's Roar)

Gratitude is a crucial part of Buddhist spiritual practice, helping practitioners to live mindfully, compassionately, and peacefully, with a heart opening attitude of gratitude.

In Buddhist Pali terms, "gratitude" is kataññutā (or kataveditā), literally, “to have a sense of what was done [for us, for our benefit],” gratefulness.

It is more than just a feeling or a verbal expression of thanks. It is an important part of spiritual practice. Practicing gratitude can help us cultivate mindfulness, compassion, an awareness of the interconnectedness of all beings and things, and a peaceful, open-hearted attitude toward life and our fellows all around us.

Buddhism and gratitude are connected in a variety of ways, including:

• Appreciation for life [particularly our chance at this human life, which was brought about by our past karma, which had to have been good to produce this result and which was helped by others because there are just as many or more bad influences in the universe]

What a teacher can do for students, I have done.

Buddhism emphasizes the extreme preciousness — both the rarity and grand opportunity — of being reborn as a human being. Why? It is because this rebirth offers the potential for quick spiritual growth and enlightenment here and now. Buddhist practitioners incorporate gratitude into daily life, expressing thanks for, among other things, food, shelter, clothing, and the opportunity to cultivate wisdom (insight) and compassion (boundless loving kindness that seeks to alleviate the suffering of others).

• Appreciation for others

The contemporary American Theravada Buddhist teacher Ven. Thanissaro (Geoffrey DeGraff) notes that the Buddha pointed out that there are two kinds of people who are hard to find in the world, “The one who is first to do a kindness, and the one who is grateful and thankful for a kindness done.” This is the Buddha saying that because they are rare, we should be both kinds.

• The Lessons of Gratitude (Ven. Thanissaro)
• The Monastery of Open Doors (Soto Zen)

Mindfulness

Ever mindful, wakeful, present in this moment

Buddhism places a strong emphasis on being fully present in this moment with awareness and non-judgment. Practicing mindfulness helps us attune to the beauty and richness of each moment, the ever-present NOW, fostering a sense of gratitude for presence and, by extension, for life itself.

Impermanence

Contemplating radical impermanence — one of Buddhism’s “Three Marks of Existence” — can lead to a sense of gratitude for the opportunities and joys that arise and even for life’s unwelcome challenges.

• Two excellent Buddhist reminders of this are American Tibetan Buddhist nun Pema Chodron (Welcoming the Unwelcome: Wholehearted Living in a Brokenhearted World and the classic When Things Fall Apart: Heart Advice for Difficult Times) and British Thai Theravada Forest Tradition Buddhist monk Ajahn Brahm (Who Ordered This Truckload of Dung?: Inspiring Stories for Welcoming Life's Difficulties about seeing opportunity in what we regard as the sh*tty or dunglike things that happen to us in life)

Letting go/Generosity

I'd never let go of my beautiful hair except for...

Generosity (non-clinging), a core Buddhist practice and the first of the Ten Perfections or paramis (and later Six Perfections or paramitas in Mahayana writings), involves giving without expectation of return. Engaging in giving cultivates a sense of gratitude for our ability to help and support others, and for what it means when someone does the same for us.

Loving-Kindness (Metta)

Making love at insightla.org with Trudy & Co.

Metta-bhavana, or universal "loving-kindness meditation" (cultivating agape) is a practice of sending thoughts of gratitude and goodwill to oneself and others -- building up to a universal expression covering ALL beings, even the ugly, mean, foul, enemy, antagonistic, bad ones (who often turn out, in the long run, to be great and precious teachers whether we realize it or not). When we experience the profound emotion of LOVE of this kind (boundless, infinite, unbiased, and unlimited), we feel deep gratitude for all life and all that this life gives us. More: Gratitude in Buddhism | Buddhism A–Z

• Gratitude (kataññu-katavedi) Abhayagiri Monastery
• Eckhart Tolle: gratitude, allow, radically accept
• Lion's Roar (lionsroar.com); edited and expanded by Dhr. Seven, Ananda (Dharma Buddhist Meditation), Ashley Wells, Wisdom Quarterly, Thanksgiving 2024