Gratitude

[RedLantern]

Gratitude is not the same as indebtedness.It is a form of devotion and thankfulness that can naturally arises
within the teacher and student relationship which is the immense gratitude that arises when the truth is seen
There can also be a natural deep appreciation of the apparent person who has pointed you the truth.It's a
strange kind of gratitude as you are grateful for everything and nothing,but it is there nonetheless.It is this gratitude that arises in response to the gift of spiritual teaching the teacher have shared with you.
This applies to both secular and spiritual.To practice gratitude is a step to happiness.

[Klein]

Is gratitude an important attitude / feeling to cultivate in our spiritual path? Why? Can we develop compassion or wisdom without having gratitude?

Dear Negra Orquida,

I believe that gratitude is important in our spiritual path. Gratitude is an appreciation. This attitude will arise when we practise compassion or gain wisdom. We will realise that what we have is a blessing and should be cherished. What we receive from others should also be appreciated because we're all interdependent.

Regardless of whether we are treated positively or negatively, we should still feel grateful because we still learn from both actions. So we appreciate the experience and are thankful because these experiences help us become better people.

[Reena Searl]

I love all these quotes about GRATITUDE.

Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos to order, confusion to clarity. It can turn a meal into a feast, a house into a home, a stranger into a friend. Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today, and creates a vision for tomorrow.- Melody Beattie

I awoke this morning with devout thanksgiving for my friends, the old and the new.- Ralph Waldo Emerson

Be thankful for what you have; you'll end up having more. If you concentrate on what you don't have, you will never, ever have enough.- Oprah Winfrey

Gratitude is not only the greatest of virtues, but the parent of all the others.- Cicero

Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today, and creates a vision for tomorrow.
- Melody Beattie

Develop an attitude of gratitude, and give thanks for everything that happens to you, knowing that every step forward is a step toward achieving something bigger and better than your current situation.
- Brian Tracy

What you focus on expands, and when you focus on the goodness in your life, you create more of it. Opportunities, relationships, even money flowed my way when I learned to be grateful no matter what happened in my life.
- Oprah Winfrey

I strongly feel that Gratitude, compassion and love are very strongly connected....

[Midakpa]

If we do not have gratitude, we'll never be able to build up love, compassion and bodhicitta. In Pabongka Rinpoche's "Liberation in the Palm of your Hand", there are three topics of meditation in Day 19 that have to do with gratitude:

1. recognition that all sentient beings were your mothers
2. both the ordinary and the special ways of recollecting their kindness
3. the wish to repay their kindness

In Pali, gratitude is "katannuta", literally this means "knowing what has been done", that is, remembering what others have done for oneself. The Buddha has said: "Two sorts of people are hard to find in the world: one who first does (something kind or helpful), and one who is grateful and recognises (that kindness)." Without this quality a person forgets parents, relatives, friends, teachers, and those who teach him Dhamma, he turns his back on them just when they could be helped by him or when they are in need of aid. A selfish person seems to try to isolate himself from the world's web. "I alone am important," he says, and forgets all the benefit derived from others. On the other hand, the grateful person makes for harmony and peace." (Dr. R. L. Soni, "Maha Mangala Sutta")

[ratanasutra]

Without gratitude how we can love and care other.. how can we developing the compassion and bodhichitta?

How the ungrateful people gain enlightenment? its impossible..

50 stanzas of guru devotion also part of gratitude to Guru which is the most importance part in our spiritual path.

 
 

[Aurore]

Before recently, I have never thought much about gratitude. The more dharma i know, the more I come to realise why it's important. Gratitude is means much more when applied in the spiritual context. Gratitude for our precious human life. Gratitude for our good fortune to meet dharma. Gratitude to the ones who benefitted us. When we can see the positive and goodness of others, we will want to repay kindness in return. We will tranform. We will benefit others to dedicate to our parents. The path to enlightenment can start from merely having gratitude.

Gratitude is what makes us NOT push away those who care for us.