In the Buddha’s opinion, the practice of gratitude and generosity, while not always easy, is “beautiful in the beginning, beautiful in the middle, and beautiful in the end.” The variety of forms that gratitude takes can be remarkable. Giving to a charity or to a person on the street may be what first come to mind. But what about relating clearly to the present moment – giving it our full attention, and suddenly seeing it (and everyone in it) quite differently. Letting go of a firmly held idea can be a powerful form of generosity to the larger situation.
This week, Eveline guided our discussion of the ways in which practicing any form of generosity brings the mind into a happy, open, receptive place from which to begin again, refreshed. A talk by Jaya Rudgard, who teaches at IMS and Spirit Rock, served as a further source of insights for our discussion.
A link to the talk is forthcoming.
