GRATITUDE IS BLISS

There was a King who saw a lad begging for alms at his palace gate. Out of sheer compassion, the monarch offered him accomodation for a few days in the palace which he accepted. Next morning, the lad was audacious enough to express his dissatisfaction with the room and other measely facilities. The monarch was furious and ordered him to be thrown out. When the boy mentioned it to a Sadhu, he was advised to disguise himself and go to the palace gate again alongwith him. Next morning, they were invited to stay in the palace to enjoy same hospitality as with the lad earlier. The Sadhu thanked him profoundly and both were accomodated in the same room. After a few days upon leaving, the hermit expressed deep gratitude to the monarch for extending him all the comforts. The King was pleased, rewarded him with gold coins and offered them to stay in a royal suite. The Sadhu thanked again and politely declined the offer of augmented hospitality. 

Thankfulness must evolve into sense of gratitude in a natural course. Being thankful is often a shallow ripple generated instantly, profoundly virtuous yet constrained to circumstantial ambiance. On the contrary, gratitude is the sense of being gratified transcending the sense of being thankful, an innate abode of acknowledgement of being propitiated. Gratitude elicits a sense of universality flowing from the Absolute One dissolving egoic barriers, whispers of entitlement emanating from that are compassion and contentment. Gratitude inculcates self-esteem, dignified disposition and sobriety.     

The tale of gratitude has enormous lessons to learn. If you live in this world with a sense of gratitude, you are satisfied with life and remain ever blissful. When we are grateful, then we are certainly blissful as bliss is a natural proceed of the sense of gratitude. When we are blissful, not only we diffuse our bliss all around us making others blissful but also attract blissful people towards us. Prosperity and fortune too, are attracted in a natural way inevitably. On the contrary, if we are oppressed, anguished, grumbling and complaining uninterruptedly, we attract misfortunes, accidents and agonised ones seeking either vicarious pleasure or consolation of the morbid variety. 

Isvara is ever blissful. Indeed, He is Bliss-Incarnate. He too is, attracted towards blissed ones, the grateful ones, as a measure of a natural cosmic phenomenon. To those who are ever grateful to Him for whatever they have, He showers His benedictions more and more. So much so that often is it transformed into an avalanche. Gratitude and bliss constitute our instincts. Be ever grateful to Him for whatever you have and whatever comes to you from Him. Bliss shall be then, attracted rather driven towards you without any additional efforts.