Words from the Master

Tell me one thing: When you are grieving the loss of a dear one, do you verbalize your grief? Will you be able to verbalize your grief? No! It becomes such a deep-rooted emotion that it becomes the state of your Being, is it not? You can only feel it; you can never report it. Is it not? Yes or No?

Yes Swamiji…

In the same way, gratitude when it becomes your very Being, will simply become your state; you will not be reporting it. You can never report it also. Of course, saying ‘Thank you’ is alright for social reasons because unless you express it, it doesn’t reach the ears of the other person.

But what I am trying to tell you here is, we need to move from gratitude of the mind to gratitude of the Being. The gratitude that we are talking about, you will never be able to express, because it runs so deep.

People often say to me, “Swamiji, we are so grateful to you for so many things that have happened in our lives after your association.”

I tell you: For reasons of social etiquette, you may thank a person for something, but gratitude is not something that you direct towards a person. When you feel gratitude towards a person for something you have received, it is simply gratitude of the mind. This is the kindergarten stage of gratitude.

Real gratitude is a deep overwhelming feeling inside yourself not as a result of any gain but just at the thought of existing, at the thought of the compassionate Life Force that is Existence, that’s all. This gratitude does not need any relationship, it is not dependent on anyone or anything, it is not under the sway of any emotions like lust, anger, hatred or love. It simply IS, that’s all.

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This excerpt has been taken from the book: Guaranteed Solutions.