In Gratitude

 

Gratitude for the gift of life is the primary wellspring of all religions, the hallmark of the mystic, the source of all true art. ~ Joanna Macy

Among all human sentiments, I believe having a sense of gratitude towards our benefactors, be it Mother Nature, our parents, family members, our friends, the community and the nation is key to mental balance and happiness. A grateful person is good to others, not insecure and spreads happiness. As the world grapples with the raging and rampaging Covid pandemic, I want to take a moment to step back and think about our place in this tumultuous world. There is much sorrow, despair and anguish in the world. Many have lost loved ones or are facing economic peril and many are amidst personal struggles. So, do we engulf ourselves in gloom and desolation or try to catch straws in the wind and find warmth in rays of hope? In such moments of despair, I’d say that the responsibility of spreading optimism, hope and positivity rests on those who have survived and lived to fight on and others who escaped unscathed. We have much to be thankful and grateful for. 

 

It is not surprising that gratitude itself has long been appreciated by human civilization. The word derives from the Latin, ‘gratus’ meaning pleasing or thankful. It is a feeling of appreciation or similar positive response shown by the recipient of kindness, towards the giver. Gratus is also the root of related terms such as grace, gratuity and gratis, all signifying positive moods, actions and ideas. Gratus has Proto-Indo-European (PIE) origin or root, gwere, meaning to praise, to celebrate; to be in contact with the Divine. So being grateful is equivalent to feeling the presence of the Divine in our lives. It might also be, in its own right, an actual and simple path to spirituality. Gwere in one usage means "heavy." It forms words such as aggravate; aggravation; aggrieve; gravamen; grave; gravitate; gravity; grief; grieve; guru. It is also linked to the Sanskrit guruh or "heavy, weighty, venerable. Another usage of gwere has been "to favor." It forms words such as agree; grace; gracious; grateful; gratify; gratis; gratitude; gratuity among others. In Sanskrit its existence is provided by grnati which means sings, praises or announces. So even etymologically it reveals itself to be an ancient and universal sentiment.

 

Now, is being grateful an outcome of natural predisposition or choice? I believe it is the latter. Just a little gratitude can do wonders for one’s temperament. Research by Harvard University has shown that gratitude is strongly and consistently associated with a greater sense of happiness. No wonder it is intrinsic in most religious discourse and many practice saying a prayer of gratitude before meals.

 

So if gratitude is a matter of choice, and being grateful makes one happy, clearly it needs wider application than just being part of our prayers. Most of us are not conscious about how fortunate we are. Despite all the calamities that we are facing, as humans our lot has never been better; generally free of famine, genocide, war, pillage and disease, the pandemic notwithstanding. So awareness and consciousness about our state of being can make us grateful. Association with spiritual masters allows us to take a shortcut to reaching our destination of grateful bliss. I, myself, have found that reading the Bhagavad Gita and its various interpretations gives one contentment and the feeling of gratefulness. The world around us, nature, our country, our family and friends give us so much. As a return gift we can choose gratitude.

 &&&&&