November 28, 2019
Good morning,
One of the best ways to transform is through the development of gratitude and thankfulness. This understanding goes back a long time. In Aesop’s Fables we learn that: “Gratitude is the sign of a noble soul.” This wisdom is still going strong today, captured by the saying: “An attitude of gratitude creates a space for grace.”
One reason for being thankful was emphasized by a number of the wisest philosophers, including Kant, Kierkegaard, and William James. All pondered the question of why is there something rather than nothing. There is no known necessity for you to exist, or for a universe to exist—no necessity at all. It is easier to imagine that, if there was once a void, that void just continued forever, rather than to imagine that out of a void came this universe, including its trees and flowers and cows and puppies and kittens and sunsets and you and me. So how did this amazing thing happen? We don’t know—but here we are. Without this universe, you would not exist, would never have existed, so the only reasonable responses in the face of such a mystery are awe, wonder, gratitude, thankfulness, and praise.
It is not surprising, then, that for thousands of years, most religions had at their center songs and poems of praise and gratitude—from Shamanic services to the ancient Vedas to the Psalms of the Hebrew Bible, all the way to many songs of modern worship in every tradition. Trying to get at the reason for thankfulness, one of the leading philosophers of the 20th century, Martin Heidegger, distinguished between two primary ways of thinking: 1) Calculative thinking is organizing, planning, every day taking-care-of-business thinking. With this thinking we build buildings, solve problems, perform our jobs, and do math. 2) But Heidegger said there is a totally different kind of thinking, which he called Contemplative thinking, He believed this kind of thinking is actually the fundamental nature of the mind, so when we move into contemplative thinking, we are led to our own deep ground.
Heidegger knew well that we spend most of our time in calculative thinking. He made a number of wrong turns in his own life and thinking, but he came to believe in his later years that even when this calculative thinking is going on, there is always a harmonizing and unifying flow of contemplation going on underneath, even if we are not conscious of it. Crucially, each of us has immediate access to this contemplative current at any moment—if we will only learn to turn our attention to it. And Heidegger believed this deepest level of our being is the most precious human possibility and the doorway to serenity and inner peace.
So how does thankfulness fit in? Perhaps Heidegger’s most profound conclusion is that, at the deepest level, meditative thinking is thanking. In his phrase, “denken ist danken.” In this deepest of places, we discover a thankful sense of Beingness. We feel lifted up; we are able to let go into something larger. If we can release into that, it feels like receiving a loving gift, and we find ourselves resting in a place that is free of personal striving, deserving, or attaining. If we can open into this place, we will spontaneously feel grateful. Then, with Shakespeare in Twelfth Night, we will say:
I can no other answer make
But thanks,
And thanks,
and ever thanks.
There is one caveat, however, as Samuel Johnson put it: “Gratitude is a fruit requiring great cultivation.” If we wish to experience thankfulness, we will have to practice it. In that light, here are a few videos and web sites to explore and to encourage gratitude, thankfulness, and kindness.
(Kindness is almost always an outgrowth of gratitude, for, as Philo of Alexandria observed: “Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a great battle.”)
Individual videos and stories:
Making Homeless People Smile
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bxqtdMwkIKs
Playing for Change
http://www.karmatube.org/videos.php?id=1430
Angel of Queens
http://www.karmatube.org/videos.php?id=1606
A Cab Ride
https://www.kindspring.org/story/view.php?sid=8769
Get Service
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D38S9o_6qnc
And a few good web sites to explore:
https://gratefulness.org
http://www.karmatube.org
https://www.kindspring.org
May you have a wonderful Thanksgiving Day,
and many, many wonderful days thereafter,
David