Cultivating Blessings

  This past month, I have been showing a lot of Master Sheng Yen's videos regarding blessings during the Wednesday group practices, specifically around cultivating blessings and sources of blessings. I would like to take some time to digest the information and share my thoughts on this topic.

   Why is it hard to feel blessed? Quite simply, it's because people look for blessings in things they haven't yet acquired or known. I am thinking about people who have gotten in the habit of paying for things using their credit cards instead of buying with the money they already have in their bank account. Buying on credit often leads to a habit of not even waiting before one is fully paid to purchase things. But I think this is somewhat analogous to someone who is not counting, much less seeing, their blessings. Sometimes I have to go through a process of subtraction--that is, trying to imagine what it would be like not to have something cherished or beloved in my life. Then through this process I can see that there are certain things I am blessed with that I can appreciate. If I am operating in an autopilot and not realizing my blessings in this moment, then my mind dwells only on future attainments, which often don't even come to fruition. In a sense, the ability to be present is crucial to the feeling of being blessed.