Thanksgiving Message 2016

“Giving thanks—and the attitude of gratitude behind Thanksgiving Day—is one of the most fundamental aspects of the spiritual path.” —Nayaswami Jyotish

“The deeper meaning of Thanksgiving is always to have a connection with the Divine. Always to be thanking the Divine for what is given to us. And to express that gratitude. We should express it to the people around us: to our family, our friends, our neighbors, and, most of all, to the Divine and to our masters when we meditate and when we think of them.” —Nayaswami Jyotish

“A very necessary component of true gratitude is rooted in non-attachment. I recently read a story that I found inspiring and thought-provoking. A spiritual teacher was giving a discourse, and one of his students asked him, ‘Tell us about non-attachment.’

“The teacher was drinking out of a beautiful glass goblet. He held it up and said, ‘Do you see this beautiful glass? I already see it as broken. I know that in time I will knock it over with my elbow, or perhaps it will get cracked against another glass. However it may happen, the impermanence of this world predicts infallibly that this glass will be broken. And that’s how I see it. So every moment that I can use this goblet I enjoy as a gift.’

“We need to understand that whether it’s a happy situation or the opposite—if it’s difficulties and challenges—they are all ‘broken’ in the sense that they are all temporary, all held together only by the thought of God. So we can enjoy the good, but must realize that it is on temporary loan. ‘The glass will break’: It is the nature of maya. And on the opposite side, whatever challenges we may be facing, in America now with the new administration coming in, this too is impermanent. If we make the best use of this time, taking the opportunity to live more consciously in the light, then all of these things are gifts to us—always from God. Good, or bad: If we are grateful for every moment, grateful in God and with God, then life becomes so much sweeter.” —Nayaswami Devi