image: Shinjan Patra
words: Debarati Ray
Whenever around the dusk mottled corridors of my world of expectations, the material part of my being harks me back and shrieks in desire; “Where do I get that golden horse that once I cherished for?” every time, my entity reminds me to pause for a while, allowing my stumbling feet to rest for that night and the answers come quite surprisingly in her gentle presence; “There would be a serendipitous encounter when your heart would be opened enough to greet that energy. There you may not find that horse you chased for, may not find any tangible thing to cling around. But there you may perceive an eternal peace and harmony that once your heart had wished for; then only a smile may come on your face. You may forget what much you`ve or what you less. Only a serenity can be felt with your thankful heart, with its silent pace.”
Here, in this blog I would like to lay bare the secret of that serendipitous encounter that brings smile on your face. You may not see it in a tangible way. But it may inspire you, once again to look forward with a happy heart, allowing you to perceive a higher contentment, within and make you feel, where in lies the secret of being grateful ever, even if you don`t have that much, you had been desiring for a long period of time.
Gratitude always brings forth a higher vision of self- cognition:
Gratitude is something that allows your consciousness into a different self- explorative state from where you may have a different cognition of your own worth. It not only acts as a state of your mind but also as a state of your being, always leading you towards a different territory of being grounded and inspiring you to be aligned to your true spiritual purpose. When expectations come along, your ego self can do nothing but only falter your existence, then gratitude may only be your savior to inspire you to contemplate over whatever you have. It once again may stir your energy to perceive that integrity, your soul has been wishing for. May be, since the time of eternity when your being had been seeking for some solace, for some eternal harmony to adore. It may never indulge you to stand on a complaint counter and make a never ending list of whatever you don`t have, rather always inspire you to be thankful for what you have in this lifetime;
“Along the dusty road,
Where you`ve nothing but
Only pebbles to confront
Never try to complain, but
Be thankful in your heart
That still you`ve that faith enough
To move beyond;
And to overcome those!
To enjoy that shift, that precious thing
That God is going to give you,
May be, as an eternal gift!”
Always remember, a thankful heart is hundred times better than an over ambitious regretful one. It has an eternal ability to see beyond the present circumstances, yet living in the present, feeling and enjoying the present moment as it comes. It doesn`t have any regret for the past or aspirations for a better future that is supposed to be never achieved in this lifetime. Rather, it always makes you feel a blessed one, guiding you to discover a better version of yourself, to be more creative and productive. Endless expectations and that related frustrations may only lead you towards an unknown world of dissatisfactions from where you only find yourself as a helpless, complaining creature hopelessly wandering here and there in search for something better, but never finding that special something that would make you feel happy, within. You may find out a thousand of reasons to be dissatisfied but if you probe deep into your heart and adopt this grace of gratitude, you may feel a different inspiring energy that has always been guiding you how to be peaceful in a harmonious way. And here in lies the secret of being grateful, of being grounded with whatever you have, or being thankful for whatever you’ve escaped in this lifetime, according to the divine order. As I feel, rejection is always a protection and to some extent, a redirection towards a higher level for accomplishing something greater, something true to your soul`s purpose. But being grateful doesn`t mean to cease all of your efforts and remain completely as an idle mind, unknown of your ideal purpose on this planet. Rather, being grateful tells you a different story to be aligned to your true purpose that your soul knows, since the primordial time of your existence. It`ll never allow you to stop your journey, rather always inspire you to move on for a special purpose with the law of life, with the law of continuity keeping a complete faith on God`s grace. It never let you feel overwhelmed for some unforeseen ambitions, but always deepens your belief system with a powerful, divine magic that in spite of numerous ups and downs always helps you to behold a mirror for yourself allowing you to contemplate more in a self-reflective way where your soul can have that ability to feel the truth of your life.
It allows your consciousness to surrender to the divine intelligence:
When gratitude comes, it not only helps you to grow emotionally, rather inspires you to enlighten your being from a spiritual dimension from where life is not to be viewed as a mere search for some fruitless expectations, rather a revelation with your soul that always guides you to tread on a right direction, on a special journey of harmony and acceptance. Here, acceptance doesn`t mean to accept something under some pressure or compulsion but here acceptance comes along with a deeper sense of faith and assurance, an assurance that can only come forward with a thankful heart. And there you may never place yourself to grieve over the past sorrows, rather allow your soul to lift your heart for a better tomorrow in a harmonious and fruitful way.
Gratitude always leads you to enliven the depth of your being in a miraculous way. Remember, whenever you`re feeling grateful from the core of your heart, it not only expands your vision but always acts as a bridge for a higher level of communication, a communication between your higher self and the divine intelligence. It may be awe striking on a very first place but if you probe deep into your heart you may have a vision of perceiving a higher truth, the different truth of your life that always speaks for a complete surrender to the divine intelligence. It also has a healing power to channelize your unconscious into a different realm of realization from where every thoughts of doubts and uncertainties quite automatically start to fade away and you may once again start to feel that being thankful is nothing but allowing your soul to be rejuvenated and aligning her to her destined purpose, according to the divine grace. It has a miraculous power to open up the doors towards an unknown destination where something may be created out of nothing and nothing may also be viewed as something, not being lured up with the thought of expectancy, but with the thought of some higher belief, a belief where only truth resides in a peaceful, harmonious way. In a way, it empowers your soul and enlightens your being to be in accord with the divine intelligence that surrounds your being and the entire universe as well;
“The stars burn, melt themselves,
To bring the light, to make you feel
Serene and safe!
Patience comes forward
To assist them,
But they burn and burn themselves,
Smiling still-
For what we don`t know,
Is it something they want to heal?
Desire comes but moves backward,
Sneers a bit,
“How long would you melt yourselves?”
Their flames ask;
“How long my dear? Do you need some help?”
There is no one to answer,
Only silence comes.
Then all at once, their gratitude answers,
Breaking that silence;
“We`re still here to adopt
Our destined place!
To nurture ourselves,
With an eternal grace!”
When a grateful heart knows all the answers:
A thankful heart is always a blessing in itself. Whenever in this materialistic world of reality you got stuck by some unavoidable questions, never feel yourself gloomed inside, rather try to utter `Thank you` only for once, even in a whispering way. And let`s feel the magic! In this section, I`m trying to sort out those questions that sometimes arise in our mind, whenever get stuck into the labyrinthine tunnels of hopeless desires and that related dissatisfactions:
If any question comes from your ambitious self like; “Why am I failing again and again, in spite of all my diligence?” Let that answer come from your thankful self; “May be that was not the right direction for me. Redirection is always better and I would rather consider it as a blessing for which I`m destined on this planet.”
If your impatient self asks; “How long should I have to wait as I`m about to cross the finish line?” Your thankful heart would console him and answer; “Still, I`m thanking to the divine, preparing me for this journey. I`ve learned a lot. And now this waiting is a blessing in disguise!”
Sometimes your overwhelming self may stumble, may not find any other track to move further and desperately ask you; “How long should I have to continue? How long will it take to reach that destination?” Never feel yourself gloomed, rather try to listen to the gentle whispers, coming from the depth of your heart. There you may find your thankful heart, mumbling softly; “I`m already at my destination. I`m content within. I`ve achieved a lot and nothing external is required now to make me strong!”
If in this material world of continuous, superficial progression, the dissatisfied self would come at your doorstep and ask; “Nothing is permanent. So, what am I looking for? Why am I engaging myself to secure my future, as everything is impermanent in this mundane world?” Your thankful heart may readily knock you once again and rekindle your spirit with her gentle note; “Acceptance has an eternal glory in itself when something is being accepted in the light of an eternal truth. And here the truth is, the truth of your life, your existence as well that has a continuity within itself.”
Sometimes, your ego self may also come forward to ask you one simple question; “Where in lies the reason of being grateful to other circumstances, while everything is being achieved by my own strength?” your thankful self, once again would ask you to pause for a while and calm your heart with a sweet note: “It`s all because of an inner strength you`re able to do so. If you`re not thankful enough that means you`re distancing yourself from God`s grace (that is all- pervading and abundant). Hence, it`s not because of you, you`ve achieved such success, but because of that divine power, surrounding your being, you`re still on the right track.”
Try to be thankful and feel the divinity within your Being:
In this section, I would like to share with you how the miraculous power of being grateful had entirely changed one`s vision, healed her heart in order to make her to believe once again, on a different dimension of life, on a higher truth. And that truth is to surrender yourself completely to the divine intelligence in spite of losing everything. During my last visit at Pondicherry, as I stayed over there for a couple of weeks, I fortunately encountered with a lady who made me feel that gratitude is not something to philosophize but something to experience from the core of your heart, allowing your soul to feel your life as an eternal journey and believing on the divine power of the universe.
At every dawn reaching over the beach, she used to stand in front of the sea for a while, closing her eyes and mumbling something, inaudible. After that, she used to open her eyes with a satisfactory smile on her face, perhaps to greet another morning, with all its habitual charm and grace. Though, for the first few days, her action was totally incomprehensible for me. But as days passed on, my intuition started to feel that there must be something special in her action, beyond the knowledge of our tangible understanding. And trust me, I was not wrong in my perception. Those soft mumbles that she used to whisper at every dawn, standing over the beach, closing her eyes was nothing but some thankful notes, delivered to the universe. When asked by some of my friends; “What brings you here to thank to the universe?”, while she had already lost everything including her family and her last hope of finding any shelter, she neither felt startle for that moment nor embarrassed, rather smiled and gently nodded her head. She took a deep breath and stared at the sky for a while, then continued; “But, still I`m grateful to my creator. May be, He has some other plans for me to share! I`m here, only to thank that special energy that helped me to learn, how to live in spite of losing everything. I`m here, to thank to that higher source of intelligence inspiring me to learn something higher than this tangible world of self- absorption. I`m here, to thank that energy that made me to believe, once again how to live in this wonderful world without expecting anything from anyone but to be thankful for whatever I`ve. I`m here only to thank that eternal divine energy that enlivened me to perceive my life as a blissful journey without any despair, without any dissatisfactions. I`m here to thank that special energy that helped me to behold the eternal truth of life.” She paused for a moment, staring at those waves, coming and hitting at the shore in an incessant manner, perhaps reminiscing something and then closed her eyes, once again, may be allowing her soul to feel the divinity, even living in this mundane world. The vast expansion, perhaps was listening her soft whispers, allowing the clouds to float over the sky in a spontaneous way. The sun was gradually rising above, radiating his energy over the eastern sky, once again to make her feel that her existence on this planet is nothing but a blessed one to perceive!
On that day, I got realized that the vast expansion, overhead is not only a shelter to nourish our wounded souls, rather its vastness is always reminding us that there are still something special for us to be grateful. And that special something is nothing, but our own eternal existence on this planet. Being thankful is another way of embracing that existence, of feeling that divinity, once again within your mundane self. That was our last day at Pondicherry. Years passed. Later we got informed that her faith on the divine order not only helped her to rekindle newer hopes within her but also prepared her to build her foundation, once again, allowing some miracles to happen in her world of reality.
In this connection, I would like to tell you that in this world of material prosperity, you may find numerous reasons to be grateful or regretful. But always try to remember one thing; the universe always prefers the grateful ones and listens to them patiently. Are you still thinking to lead your life being on the complaint counter as some regretful creatures? Or thinking to lead your life as an eternal journey of gratitude where a complete surrender to the divine is only required. Now the choice is yours! I can only show you the way. But you have to tread on the right one, whatever you think, suits for you.
