Don’t Underestimate Gratitude

Please remember always to be grateful, for gratitude is a great antidote to misfortune. Life overflows with abundance and yet all too often we hardly notice it and fail to give thanks. This is the greatest tragedy for mankind, but every individual still has the power to make a difference to the world through integrity and courage.

If Life has taught me anything, it is that our conscious existence is fleeting and supremely precious – never to be taken for granted. Love created us and will never abandon what It has made. Trusting in this realisation, we must never, ever give up hope.

Above all, I trust in this love, but I frequently reflect also that Truth can never be grasped and that there is no neat formula by which finally it may be known or described. It is the one ineffable living Reality – and everyone is already an expression of That, moment by moment. Enlightenment does not need to be attained – our true nature as consciousness only needs to be recognised.

Look deeply with the eyes of love and you will clearly see the hidden beauty at the heart of creation, perceiving it in the midst of human cruely and conflict no less than in the marvels and sometimes destructive power of Nature.

How inscrutable this beauty is, for it speaks a secret language we cannot yet discern adequately. Stay silent and ponder then in the face of the unimaginable suffering of the world. Such deep reflection will yield a sense of profound peace and equanimity.

Love is never absent, but it often seems veiled – and this too is an inconceivable mystery, which cannot be apprehended without humility. So let us refrain from judgement when tempted to flinch before the hard face of Reality. Instead let us remain calm and show forbearance rather than being disconcerted by the continual buffeting of daily life. We need to accept that a degree of sometimes unbearable discomfort belongs to the privilege of physical embodiment.

Perceiving the inescapable duality of all created things, we can then more easily allow pain along with pleasure – and beauty together with ugliness. We can learn to see all separate appearances as distinct but cohesive within the all-embracing light of Oneness and sense the stable reality of our existence rooted in the silent background of Being.

Acceptance is surrender to Life and this brings joy, not the sorrow which is so often evident as the bitter harvest of resistance. When we endeavour to accept our difficulties with as much dignity and goodwill as we can muster, those very impediments become creative opportunities – and the sting of pain eases.

Hardship accepted with good grace ennobles us in the radiance of fortitude. You will marvel to witness how great courage can emerge from the ashes of considerable loss. Finally you will no longer fear stern challenges and at last you will glimpse what it means to be fully human. Genuine compassion will arise within us all as we embrace the suffering of the world with fresh understanding.