Welcome,
Welcome to a meditation on gratitude and joy.
I'm Rabbi Chassia Uriel Steinbauer,
The founder and director of the Institute for Holiness,
Kihilat Musar.
Allow yourself to settle and arrive and we shall begin.
Buddhist monks begin each day with a chant of gratitude for the blessings of their life.
The Jewish people begin each day with a prayer of gratitude for the return of their soul after a good night's sleep.
Native American elders begin each ceremony with gratitude prayers to Mother Earth and Father Sky,
To the four directions,
To the animal,
Plant,
And mineral brothers and sisters who share our earth and support our life.
Even in Tibet,
The monks and nuns even offer prayers of gratitude for the suffering that they have been given,
Where they say,
Grant that I might have enough suffering to awaken in me the deepest possible compassion and wisdom.
The aim of spiritual life is to awaken a joyful freedom,
A benevolent and compassionate heart,
Even in spite of everything,
Perhaps because of everything.
Gratitude is a gracious acknowledgement of all that sustains us,
A bow to our blessings,
Great and small,
An appreciation of the moments that sustain our life every day.
We do have so much to be grateful for.
Gratitude gladdens the heart.
It receives in wonder the myriad offerings of rain and the earth,
The care that supports every single life.
As gratitude grows,
It gives rise to joy.
We experience the courage to rejoice in our good fortune and in the good fortune of others.
Like gratitude,
Joy gladdens the heart.
We can be joyful for those we love,
For moments of goodness,
For sunlight and trees,
For the breath that comes again and again and again.
Let yourself sit quietly now and at ease.
Allow your body to be relaxed and open,
Your breath natural,
Your heart easy.
Begin the practice of gratitude by feeling how year after year you have cared for your own life.
Begin again with the feeling how year after year God has cared for you and your life and sustained you all these years.
Begin again with the feeling how year after year you have been cared for by those who love you.
And now let yourself begin to acknowledge all that has supported you in this care.
Allow yourself to take in the words and you may say them quietly to yourself.
We will pause after each one.
With gratitude,
I remember the people animals,
Plants,
Insects,
Creatures of the sky and sea,
Air and water,
Fire and earth,
All whose joyful exertion blesses my life and those I love every day.
With gratitude,
I remember the care and labor of 1000 generations of elders and ancestors who came before me.
I offer my gratitude for the safety and well being I have been given right now in this present moment.
I offer my gratitude for the blessings of this earth that I have been given right now in this present moment.
I offer gratitude for the measure of health that I have been given right here right now in this present moment.
I offer gratitude for the family and friends I have been given right here right now in this present moment.
I offer my gratitude for the community I have been given right here right now in this present moment.
I offer my gratitude for the teachings and lessons I have been given right here right now in this present moment.
I offer my gratitude for the life I have been given right here and right now.
Thank you God.
Just as we are grateful for our blessings.
So we can be grateful for the blessings of others.
Continue to breathe gently.
Bring to mind someone you care about.
Someone it is easy to rejoice for.
Picture them and feel the natural joy you have for their well being,
For their happiness,
For their success.
With each breath,
Offer them your grateful heartfelt wishes.
You may repeat after me.
May you be joyful.
May your joy increase.
May you not be separated from that deep joy,
That deep knowing,
That deep peace.
May your good fortune and the causes of your joy increase.
Allow yourself to sense fully that sympathetic joy and care in each phrase.
And you feel some degree of natural gratitude for the joy of this loved one.
Extend this practice to another person you care about.
You may recite the same simple phrases that express your heart's intention or create your own.
And then gradually open the meditation to include neutral people,
Difficult people,
Even those you might consider to be an enemy.
Extending your gratitude and joy to all beings everywhere.
Young,
Old,
Near and far.
May you be joyful.
May you awaken to the good.
May you give thanks.
May your joy increase.
May you not be separated from that great knowing,
From awakening to the good.
May your good fortune and joy increase.
From giving thanks to the one that sustains us all and to those we love and near and far who sustain us every single day.
We'll sit this next minute in silence and I will ring the bells when it's time to come out of this meditation.
Thank you for your practice today.
Thank you for your practice today.
Thank you to the Almighty who brought us to this moment that sustained us.
