El Día de Acción de Gracias es, por lo que he leído y escuchado, la fiesta favorita de los gringos. ¿La razón? Es una fecha en la que se reúne la familia y los amigos sólo para agradecer.
Casualmente viene muy cerca de Fin de año cuando muchos de nosotros (los que no tenemos esa fiesta) hacemos una reflexión sobre lo bueno y lo malo de todo lo vivido.
Ayer me llegó un correo electrónico recordándome la fecha, en el que el autor agradecía a varias de las personas que estamos en su vida. ¡Fue realmente conmovedor!
Yo acabo de hacer un ejercicio –incompleto- sobre el agradecimiento que más adelante publicaré.
Mientras tanto, les quiero preguntar, ¿qué quisieran agradecer de este 2008?
Estamos a buen tiempo de hacer una reflexión.
Mientras, les comparto algo de la página de Gwyneth Paltrow, disculpen si no lo traduzco, pero es muy largo, ojalá lo puedan disfrutar.
¡Gracias a todos ustedes por formar parte de mi vida!
Con mucho amor,
Cris.
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Dennis Genpo Merzel:
So, let me speak to the one who is Human.
I am the Human in all aspects of being human. I am not you, you are separate from me. I have my own thoughts, memories, desires and emotions. My feelings can be hurt. I can feel discontented, alienated. I can feel pain, the pain of rejection, of criticism, of loneliness and loss. I have fear, anger and resentment. I wish that other people, the world, and even the self, were different. I frequently want things to be other than they way they are.
Now let me speak to the other side of you as a human being. May I please speak to Being?
I am Being. I just am. I am the I am-ness of life. I am pure awareness, pure stillness, silence. I am unmoving. I have no preferences or judgments; I don’t need things to be other than the way they are. I don’t suffer because there is no me to suffer. I have no center, no boundaries or limits. I am all things. I am the world, I am the universe. Everything is a manifestation of me, complete, whole and perfect just as it is. I am complete contentment.
If we think of these two opposing voices, the Human and Being, as opposite ends of the base of a triangle, I’d like now to speak to the apex, which includes and yet transcends these two aspects. Now may I please speak to the one who consciously chooses to be a Human Being?
I am the one who consciously chooses to be a Human Being. As this voice I am grateful for this life. I am satisfied and happy. I feel great appreciation and great joy. Very often, when I am stuck only in the Human side and am not including my Being-ness, I want things to be other than the way they are. From the Being side, everything is perfect, complete and whole as it is. As a Human Being I feel great compassion for this and all others’ humanity, for just how difficult life can sometimes be. And so I feel empathy and compassion for all beings. I am grateful and I give thanks for this life, this world.
– Dennis Genpo Merzel
Zen Master Dennis Genpo Merzel is the founder of Kanzeon Sangha, an international Zen community, and abbot of Kanzeon Zen Center in Salt Lake City. His latest book is Big Mind, Big Heart: Finding Your Way www.genpo.org.
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Michael Berg:
During this time of Thanksgiving, we can inspire greater “thanks-giving” by understanding the spiritual importance of being grateful.
There are many things in our lives that give us pleasure, joy and fulfillment. Our relationships, material possessions, position in life, food, music – there are so many things from which we draw enjoyment.
But on a deeper level, what gives us the joy and fulfillment is the internal Light and energy within these things. When we feel love from our relationships, nourished from our work, enjoyment from a good meal, what we are actually enjoying is the energy and Light within those things.
Furthermore, there is an important Kabbalistic concept that states that we are only receiving a small percentage of the joy and fulfillment all these things can give us. Whether it’s the joy we feel with our spouse or friends, or the happiness and love we feel towards our kids, right now, at this moment, our experience can be many times greater than what it is (even if it’s already good). This is because our joy and fulfillment is dependent and exactly correlated to our appreciation of these blessings.
More energy, and therefore fulfillment, can be flowing to us – when we strengthen and grow our gratitude. Appreciation and giving thanks actually unlocks more Light and energy from relationships and even physical objects, so that in turn, we can receive more fulfillment from them.
Therefore, the reason we want to appreciate the people in our lives and our gifts and blessings on Thanksgiving (and hopefully every day) is not because “we should” or “it’s the right thing to do.” Rather it is because the joy we feel from these blessings and gifts is exactly correlated to the appreciation we have for them.
This holiday season, take time to focus on and grow yourgratitude for what you already have, the relationships you’ve nurtured over the years, the qualities within that you’ve been blessed with at birth, and the material items you have worked so hard to acquire and make your own. Try to focus on the gifts you usually take for granted or a relationship that you realize you have not focused your appreciation on enough.
Giving thanks will awaken even more Light and energy within those gifts, thereby filling you with even greater fulfillment, joy and peace.
– Michael Berg
Michael Berg is Co-Director of the Kabbalah Centre.
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