Gratus animus est una virtus non solum maxima, sed etiam mater virtutum omnium reliquarum.

Posted by: Michael | 07/28/2013

Gratus animus est una virtus non solum maxima, sed etiam mater virtutum omnium reliquarum.

My apologies for the really long title but it really wouldn’t do to cut it off in the middle. I see this morning that yesterday’s post never uploaded which is fine because it really wasn’t anything worth reading. I was in a definite funk all day yesterday ostensibly due to fasting but in reality due to the uncovering of the dukkha that lies dormant in this fathom long body for the unenlightened mind. However, late last night, well after I had thought that my post uploaded, I stumbled back upon the realization that I have so much in my life to appreciate and for which to be grateful. I don’t know why this stuck me as so revolutionary but it completely turned my mind state around and brightened my mind tremendously.

Now, for those of you who have been following this blog for some time, it will not come as a surprise that I rediscover the power of gratitude/appreciation from time to time and then forget it about it for months on end. I think this is because gratitude/appreciation as such does not appear as a separate quality in any of the numerous list in the suttas and commentaries with which I am familiar and the concept is one which these days is primarily within the province of theists. For a Theravada Buddhist to be grateful for something seems initially like an oxymoron since we dispense with the notion off a creator deity but, with some thought, it is not as nonsensical as it may first appear.

In the Karaniya Metta Sutta, contentment is listed as one of the qualities of a bhikkhu/ni needed to cultivate metta. Contentment may at first seem like a poor stand-in for gratitude but in my mind it is a difference solely of magnitude not of a kind. With the typical restraint of the Blessed One, a disciple is advised to be content with what is which seems to me a form of gratitude that represents a more balanced and equanimous mind that the more sentimental gratitude. To me, gratitude is contentment on steroids. I can feel the energy of gratitude in my chest like a hot, white lite in the center of my chest whereas contentment more closely resembles a soft, white glow felt throughout the body. In essence, it seems to me that contentment is simply an attenuation of the energy of gratitude made possible by panna. Then again, I could be completely mistaken about the etiology.

Regardless, of the mechanics behind gratitude I can state that th role that it plays in helping me to overcome unskillful states and engender wholesome ones is proof enough of its importance for my at this point in my practice. And, rather than getting hung up on “suitable objects” for my appreciation I now feel that it is good and just even to be grateful for small sensual pleasures if only for the reason that I am able to enjoy them at the expense of countless beings who cannot. In essence, rather than hold AC in disdain (for example) as a weakness I should give thanks for it while using it sparingly in recognition of the resources I am using and thereby depriving others of. Does that make sense? All I am trying to say is that if I am going to have a nice apartment or a nice pair of shorts I should not flagellate myself for them and disregard their value but I should appreciate them and those who have had to sacrifice (both willingly and not) to make them possible.

My apologies for my long-windedness and rambling and I thank all of you for your comments and advice. Bhavatu sabba mangalam!