Master Sheng Yen remarks "Gratitude can make us grow, and the resolve to return favors can help us succeed."
I think it's interesting especially that Master Sheng Yen connects gratitude to the ability to succeed. When a person truly feels that they have been indebted to others for their success, they start to internalize the perspective of "paying forward", and this is a different motivation from simply succeeding for one's own sake.
During our Wednesday guided class tonight, we talked about how making goals and even teaching students changes with meditation and the ability to see the nature of things as 5 skandhas. It's not that students don't set goals anymore. To the contrary, the scope and nature of those goals starts to change and grow when we are trying to work less for the sake of self and more in interconnection with others. Part of it is seeing that living in the world is a collaborative effort. The other part is renouncing the self that is always seeking its own gratification or aggrandizement.
I think gratitude also comes from simply relaxing and being present rather than shooting for the next goal. This is very important, for as I mentioned in my previous entry, how is gratitude possible when a person is not able to stop and appreciate or even receive anything from others? Without that delicate balance of giving and receiving, one may give without knowing the true value of the gift itself.
http://www.dharmadrum.org/content/about/about2.aspx?sn=46
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