We usually think of being thankful or grateful at Thanksgiving, but I think an attitude of gratitude is important all year long. In fact I think gratitude is a very important part of Buddhist practice. Meister Eckhart one of the great Christian mystics who lived in the 13th century said, “If the only prayer your say in your life is “thank you,” that would suffice.”

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.

The Buddha said:

Let us rise up and be thankful,

for if we didn’t learn a lot today,

at least we learned a little,

and if we didn’t learn a little,

at least we didn’t get sick,

and if we got sick,

at least we didn’t die;

so, let us be thankful.

It may sound strange but I read the obituaries every day - and I see people my age or younger who have passed away. I read it not to be macabre or morbid - but it reminds me of two things - 1. Of the impermanence of this life and 2. too also to be thankful that I am alive and have this (relative) healthy body - as the Buddha said in that previous quote.

All too often we choose to focus on the things that are not going right in our lives. But remember these three laws of how we create our own reality:

1. Reality is created in the moment.

2. In each moment there are multiple realities.

3. What you choose to focus upon becomes your reality.

So you can choose to be stuck in suffering, focusing upon your past mistakes and worrying about the future. Or you can choose to focus on what is going right in your life.

Charles Dickens said “Reflect upon your blessings, of which every man has many - not on your past misfortunes, of which all men have some.”

No matter what your situation is, there is always something you can be thankful for. Being thankful for what we have can make all of the difference. One of our members told me that at every meal they stop and think about what they are thankful for each day. They share their gratitude:

• For each other,

• For their families,

• For the food they are about to eat,

• And for their friends.

And Daigaku, the Zen Priest who was here yesterday was telling me that in the Zen tradition before meals they also say a prayer of gratitude.

I honestly believe that if we spent some time each day being grateful we would be much happier.

In fact a very wise man once said:

“Gratefulness is the key to a happy life that we hold in our hands, because if we are not grateful, then no matter how much we have we will not be happy – because we will always want to have something else or something more.”

Remember gratitude unlocks the fullness of life.

There is a great story about gratitude……….Roberto de Vicenzo, the famous Argentine golfer, once won a tournament, after receiving the check and smiling for the cameras, he went to the clubhouse and prepared to leave. Sometime later he walked alone to his car in the parking lot and was approached by a young woman. She congratulated him on his victory and then told him that her child was seriously ill and near death.

DeVicenzo was touched by her story and took out a pen and endorsed his winning check for payment to the woman.  "Make some good days for the baby," he said as he pressed the check into her hand.

The next week he was having lunch in country club when a PGA official came to his table. “Some of the guys in the parking lot last week told me you met a young woman there after you won the tournament.” DeVicenzo nodded. “Well,” said the official. “I have news for you. She’s a phoney. She’s not married. She has no baby. She fleeced you, my friend.”

"You mean there is no baby who is dying?"  said DeVicenzo.

"That's right."	

"That's the best news I've heard all week."  Said DeVicenzo.

I want to close with what Daido Loori Roshi said in the current issue of BuddhaDharma. He said, “Expressing gratitude is transformative, just as transformative as expressing complaint. Imagine an experiment involving two people. One is asked to spend ten minutes each morning and evening expressing gratitude (there is always something to be grateful for), while the other is asked to spend the same amount of time practicing complaining (there is, after all, always something to complain about). One of the subjects is saying things like, “I hate my job. I can’t stand my apartment. Why can’t I make more money? My spouse doesn’t’ get along with me. That dog next door never stops barking and I just can’t stand this neighborhood.” The other is saying things like, “I‘m grateful for my health. What a gorgeous day; I really like this fall breeze.” They do this experiment for a year. Guaranteed, at the en of that year the person practicing complaining will have deeply reaffirmed all his negative “stuff” rather than having let it go, while the one practicing gratitude will be a very grateful person. What you practice is what you are; practice and the goal of practice are identical, cause and effect are one reality. Expressing gratitude can, indeed, change our way of seeing ourselves and the world.

So take time every day to stop and think about things that you are grateful for.