[Ecodharma] Active Hope Chapter 3 Coming From Gratitude

[Tairin]

Hello everyone. Thank you for reading along and thank you to those who are contributing to the discussion.

Practising gratitude is part of my daily practice. Every day at supper time as part of our meal each of us takes a turn stating three things we are thankful for from that day. Some days it is easy to come up with many things which is why we limited to three. Some days you have to dig deep to find one thing let alone three things. There is always something to be thankful for. Gratitude can be a great antidote against negativity.

There is a lot I liked about this chapter but particularly the section on Learning from the Haudenosaunee. I saw a lot of similarities between the “Basic Call to Consciousness” and our views on interconnectedness of all things.

What about you? Was there any specific section or paragraph that caught your attention?

Please complete and share your versions of the open sentences on gratitude

Here’s mine.

• Some things I love about being alive on Earth is sitting quietly somewhere in nature and listening to the sounds around me
• A place that was magical to me as a child was a wooded area down by the river near my house where my friends and I would go exploring
• Some things I love doing are vegetable gardening. Every year I look forward to the effort of preparing the garden, planting the seeds, tending to the plants and eating the produce. I love being active by going for walks, runs, exercising. I love playing and listening to music.
• Some things I love making is music. I’ve always been musically inclined and really just enjoy sitting down with my guitar and playing around. I also do some simple carpentry. I’ve made tables and vanity stands.
• A person who helped me believe in myself is my Dad who constantly supported and encouraged me to explore my creativity and to continually have a learning mind
• Some things I appreciate about myself are my creativity, my patience, and my generally steady nature.

Tairin
Sat today and lah

[Naiko]

Thank you, Tairin, for introducing this chapter and for sharing your gratitude practice. I found this chapter a real joy to read.

I also was particularly moved by the Haudenosaunee’s “words that come before all else.” These are such powerful statements of interbeing. I love how they punctuate them with, “Now our minds are one.” Their focus on the gifts of life received by all beings instead of more personal fortune has shown me an expansiveness and inclusiveness to the practice that I hadn’t fully appreciated.

* Some things I love about being alive on Earth are sunrises and sunsets, full moons and stars at night, the sound of waves on the shore and wind in the trees, birds singing, and the best of human imagination-art, music, stories/myths.
* A place that was magical to me as a child was a Georgia creek or swamp where my stepfather liked to fish. It was dense with live oaks draped with Spanish moss.
* Some things I love doing are walking along the beach, getting lost in a good book, having a meal with friends.
* Some things I love making are anything sewn by hand, and music also (though I am still learning to play my mandolin).
* A person who helped me believe in myself was a wonderful neighbor and friend I met when I moved into the first apartment I had on my own with no roommates. She encouraged my creative and spiritual pursuits.
* Some things I appreciate about myself are my curiosity, love of learning, and empathy.

I confess that gratitude is something I’ve struggled with my whole life, but it’s something I tried to cultivate in recent years. Not long ago I was inspired by a practice called Everyday Gassho that Satya Robyn wrote about in Tricycle. I try to begin each day with a Gassho and the thought that Kannon may use my eyes, ears and hands, and end each day with a Gassho of gratitude. (Link to article, if anyone is interested https://tricycle.org/article/buddhis...SkEJQ63Rj60i7o)

Gassho,
Naiko
st

[Tairin]

Hi Naiko

I read about the Everyday Gassho earlier this week and it seems like a lovely practice that I am aiming to incorporate into my daily practice (although admittedly I’ve failed to do so several times this week)


Tairin
Sat today and lah

[Naiko]

Hi Naiko

I read about the Everyday Gassho earlier this week and it seems like a lovely practice that I am aiming to incorporate into my daily practice (although admittedly I’ve failed to do so several times this week)


Tairin
Sat today and lah

I can relate. I took comfort in the author’s struggle as well.
Gassho,
Naiko
st lah

[Kokuu]

Thank you both for your posts. Similarly, I was struck by the words of the Haudenosaunee people. It seems to me that we quickly forget what we have, and how comfortable our lives are compared to both people in the history of our own country, and many people today living in poorer nations. Just having somewhere to live, heat, running water and sufficient food and clothing makes us incredibly fortunate. And all of those things come through a dependency on others.

My Open Sentences on Gratitude

* Some things I love about being alive on earth are the sound of the wind in the trees, especially at night, and the living and growing green world. Sitting outside today with my dog I saw new shoots of sorrel and the large leaves of arum lillies pushing through autumn's fallen leaves. The cycle of birth and death is right there.
* A place that was magical to me as a child was the woods behind my house, also some woods I could cycle to, and trees lining the river as I walked to school - basically anywhere with trees!
* Some thing I love doing are sitting outside on the grass and looking at all of the different plant species in a small area, feeling the sun on my skin, growing herbs for medicine.
* Some things I love making are woollen hats, miso soup, sashiko patterns on fabric and haiku poems.
* A person who helped me believe in myself was one of my ecology lecturers at university - Professor Rory Putman.
* Some things I appreciate about myself are my hands, my eyes and my feet.

Thank you for posting the Everyday Gassho, Naiko! There is something similar I have used from Tibetan lojong teachings called 'One at the beginning, one at the end' but that is much simpler and more elegant!

Gassho
Kokuu
-sattoday-

[paulashby]

Is it not deep wisdom how often gratitude is connected to being in nature? I live near national
parks and people remember moments of beauty,silence and awe from 50 years ago as if it were
a few days ago. We will need the heart of the Haudenosaunee to perserve life and beauty on this
tiny blue planet.
I enjoyed this chapter for all the life lessons and prophetic words shared in a few pages. This chapter
unfolds the often hidden secret to a good life- the capacity to look back and taste the present with
gratitude.
Gassho, peace, Paul Ashby sat lah