inspiration

Giving Thanks Meditation on Gratitude and Joy

by Jack Kornfield

Ioffer this meditation that opens our hearts to gratitude and joy this holiday season.

Let yourself sit quietly and at ease. Allow your body to be relaxed and open, your breath natural, your heart easy. Begin the practice of gratitude by feeling how that, year after year, you have cared for your own life. Now let yourself begin to acknowledge all that has supported you in this care:

With gratitude, I remember the people, animals, plants, insects, creatures of the sky and sea, air and water, fire and earth, all whose joyful exertion blesses my life every day.

With gratitude, I remember the care and labor of a thousand generations of elders and ancestors who came before me.

I offer my gratitude for the safety and well-being I have been given.

I offer my gratitude for the blessing of this Earth I have been given.

I offer my gratitude for the measure of health I have been given.

I offer my gratitude for the family and friends I have been given.

I offer my gratitude for the community I have been given.

I offer my gratitude for the teachings and lessons I have been given.

I offer my gratitude for the life I have been given.

Just as we are grateful for our blessings, so we can be grateful for the blessings of others.

Continue to breathe gently. Bring to mind someone you care about; someone it is easy to rejoice for. Picture them and feel the natural joy you have for their well-being, for their happiness and success. With each breath, offer them your grateful, heartfelt wishes:

May you be joyful.

May your happiness increase.

May you not be separated from great happiness.

May your good fortune and the causes for your joy and happiness increase.

Sense the sympathetic joy and caring in each phrase. When you feel some degree of natural gratitude for the happiness of this loved one, extend this practice to another person you care about. Recite the same simple phrases that express your heart’s intention.

Then, gradually open the meditation to include neutral people, difficult people and even enemies, until you extend sympathetic joy to all beings everywhere, young and old, near and far.

Practice dwelling in joy until the deliberate effort of practice drops away and the intentions of joy blend into the natural joy of your own wise heart.

Jack Kornfield is a bestselling author, Buddhist practitioner and a key teacher in introducing and spreading mindfulness practices in the West. For more information about his teachings, podcasts and books, visit JackKornfield.com.

Indiana’s Largest Environmental Gathering is Virtual in 2020

Hoosiers of diverse ages and places have been gathering together for twelve consecutive years to be a part of Greening the Statehouse, Indiana’s largest annual gathering of environmental-minded people. It’s a time when you can learn all you need to know to be a high-impact citizen in your community and in the Statehouse for the environment. It’s also a time to make new friends and deepen old friendships with people who share your passion to make Indiana a healthier place, where sustainable technologies, like solar, thrive and where more abundant open spaces come into being.

This year, in the backdrop of the continuing pandemic, Greening the Statehouse, affectionately known as “GTS”, is going virtual. Our conference, primarily on November 21st but also on November 20th, will have an array of engaging, expert panel discussions on environmental justice, climate solutions, rivers and lakes, forest and wetlands, and factory farming. Confirmed speakers include state lawmakers, a city council president, a farmer at the forefront of conservation, and national experts in the emerging “plant-based economy” and in the accelerating renewables-powered economy. Our event will be capstoned by an engaging conversation with a prominent journalist and two refreshingly candid bipartisan lawmakers.

GTS will be using a special conference platform that will allow attendees to engage with panelists, network with people they’ve never met before, reconnect with old friends, and interact with an array of non-profits and green businesses -- all through the power of video chat technology. We hope it will make GTS even more accessible to people across the state.

Get an all-access ticket for GTS 2020 at Hecweb.org/gts. We look forward to “seeing” you there!

Jesse Kharbanda is the Executive Director of the Hoosier Environmental Council, Indiana’s leading educator and advocate for the environment. Over his more than twelve years leading HEC, he has sought to help build a “big tent” environmental movement, where people of diverse political, professional, faith, and demographic backgrounds feel welcome, since environmental sustainability and climate action can only be accelerated when we marshal the talents of a truly diverse cross-section of Indiana. His leadership honors include the Hulman Health Public Policy Advocacy Award, Forty Under 40 from the Indianapolis Business Journal, and an honorary doctorate from DePauw University. See ad on page 5.

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