Dearest Friends,

It was such good medicine to be in your gracious company in our most recent gathering.

In our last session, we continued our explorations of the self-transcendent emotions, i.e., the emotions that reduce our preoccupation with ourselves and shift our attention to enhancing the well-being of others. As I mentioned previously, I’ve chosen to focus on these emotions because they can powerfully support us in meeting and transforming the ecological crises of our times.

In our most recent conversation, we explored the self-transcendent emotion of gratitude from the Buddhist perspective. The Buddhist analogue for gratitude is the quality referred to in Pali as kataññu-katavedi. Kataññu literally means “knowing what has been done” in the sense of recognizing the kindness and the support that we constantly receive from others and the world. Katavedi refers to the heartfelt response of appreciation and the active expression of thankfulness that we would name as reciprocity in English. Together, these qualities constitute gratitude as both recognition and action.

In the context of the ecological challenges of our times, kataññu fosters the ongoing awareness that our lives are sustained by the constant support of the natural world. Repeated reflections on how we’re supported by the air that we breathe, the water that we drink, the food that we eat, etc., then incline us more towards the reciprocity of katavedi: As we become more present to how this precious world cares for us so abundantly, our desire to care for it deepens, in turn.

SUGGESTED PRACTICE:

Sit quietly and take a few moments to attend to your breath. Then take several minutes to reflect on the gifts you’ve received from Mother Earth today, e.g., air to breathe, water to drink, food to eat, and so on and so forth. As you bring each gift to mind, imagine bowing in gratitude and offering these words: “Thank you for sustaining me. Thank you for your quiet, gracious and unwavering generosity.” As the meditation unfolds, widen the circle of gratitude to include animal beings, planted beings, mineral beings and then, finally, the entire web of life. End the meditation by resting in the felt sense of being held, nourished and supported.

RECOMMENDED POEM:

Mary Oliver’s Mindful

REFELECTION PROMPTS:

1. What aspects of your daily life reveal the unseen support of Mother Earth?
2. How does gratitude shift your relationship to ecological responsibility?
3. What concrete actions can you take to express your gratitude toward the natural world?