Expressing Gratitude!

The Watercooler
1

I’ve been thinking lately about how unbelievably fortunate I am for not just hearing the Dhamma in this lifetime, but for having such priceless resources for following the Buddha available to me. I want to express some of my gratitude about that here. I know that what I say now is just scratching the surface and I’m leaving a lot out and a lot of specific people too, but I just want to express my thankfulness.

I’m grateful for the Buddha, that he had the sensitivity, inquisitiveness and fortitude to embark upon his Noble Quest. I’m so grateful for his sila and that he fully tested all the existing practices with penetrating investigation, followed them to where they led and admitted to himself that he was not content until he went all the way. I’m grateful that he developed and refined his mind until he was able to perceive the path to awakening. I’m grateful that he was so brilliant and diligent that he was able to correctly navigate the jhanas, go all the way to the three knowledges, see and thoroughly understand everything and then compassionately devote 40 years to give us the Noble Eightfold Path. His achievement is astounding!

I’m grateful for the Dhamma that the Buddha explained so completely and unambiguously. I’m grateful how the Dhamma has radically changed everything for me. I’m grateful that there is so much in the tipitika and so beautifully preserved that I have everything I need to follow the Buddha. What a fortunate birth!

I’m grateful for the Sangha for their devotion to sacrificing , learning, practicing, attaining, teaching and keeping the Dhamma alive for centuries. I’m so grateful that monastics give the gift of sharing the Dhamma with anyone who will listen, particularly here on this forum.

I’m grateful for Bhante Sujato and his vision of Sutta Central and the Discuss & Discover forum. I’m grateful for his tireless devotion to practicing, translating and teaching the Dhamma to make it available for us and for the world. I’m grateful that he is so resolute and passionate about preserving the purity of the Dhamma!

I’m grateful for all of the people, monastic and lay alike, who, in following the path of the Buddha, have made wholesome and beneficial contributions to SC and D&D. I’m grateful for this community and everything that I’ve learned here over the last 10 years.

I’m grateful for all of the volunteers who have donated their time and energy behind the scenes to make SC and D&D what it is today. I’m grateful that their love of the Triple Gem is their impetus and motivation.

:folded_hands: Sahdu! Sahdu! Sahdu! :folded_hands:

If you’s like to express your gratitude to someone or something, please feel free.

24 Likes
2

I’m wondering how I can give like eight hearts to this…? I’m limited to only the one, sadly. :smiling_face_with_three_hearts: :folded_hands: :folded_hands: :folded_hands:

11 Likes
3

I’m grateful to the mods for keeping this a friendly and interesting corner of the internet.

13 Likes
4

I am a lone practitioner living in the Middle East. The internet sangha made the dhamma accessible to me, be it through translating the suttas or discussion forums - and for that i am grateful.

The dhamma made me more adaptive and less aversive. It gave me a vantage point and a path to walk in. :folded_hands:

10 Likes
5

@Adutiya

SO much Much Mudita for this Udana!

May you have access to this feeling (or even the memory of this feeling) whenever you want :folded_hands: :sparkling_heart:

10 Likes
6

Sadhu Sadhu Sadhu :folded_hands:t2: I’m too am grateful for the Buddha, the Dhamma, and the Sangha and how well you express what I feel so deeply in my bones.

6 Likes
7

The poem by Matrceta, a Buddhist poet from the 1st century CE, called the Satapañcasatka, translated into English by Bhante S. Dhammika as Matrceta’s Hymn to the Buddha, expresses deep gratitude to the Buddha in beautiful language. Here’s a delightful taste:

102-3 You admonish the stubborn,
restrain the hasty and straighten the crooked.
You encourage the slow and harness the tamed.
Truly, you are the unsurpassed guide of men.

104 You have pity for the suffering, good-will for the happy,
compassion for the distressed, benevolence for all.

105 The hostile evoke your warmth,
the immoral receive your help, the fierce find you tender.
How wonderful is your noble heart!

106 If father and mother are to be honored
because of concern for their children,
what reverence should you receive who love has no limits?

107 You are a wall of safety
for those hovering at the edge of the cliff,
those blind to their own welfare,
those who are their own worst enemy.

108 For the welfare of the two worlds
and to help beings transcend them,
you lit the lamp of wisdom
among those who dwell in darkness.[28]

109 When worldly enjoyments are at stake,
men and gods act at variance with each other.
But because they can enjoy the Dharma in harmony,
they are reconciled in you.

110 O Blessed One, you have given the comfort
of the Dharma unstintingly to all,
regardless of birth, age or caste,
regardless of time or place.

111 As if amazed and envious
the gods honor with joined palms even your disciples,
who unlike them are free from amazement and envy.

112 Ah! How brilliant is the arising of a Buddha,
that cream of samsara.
Because of him the gods envy mankind.

5 Likes