28th October, 1998
Chapter 1 - The You That You Want To Be
Day 44 - Gratitude
Which is better, to thank deeply or superficially? Everyone in unison, deeply. No, superficially. (Everyone is baffled). Thanking needs a
separation. Thanking means there are two. If you are deeply
thankful, it means you deeply feel the separation. Deep within there is no need to thank because there is oneness but you can thank one
superficially.
Thanks are like ripples on the surface of water. When you say “thank you”, you complete something. You are finishing a transaction, a relationship, a process. “Thank you” is like “goodbye”. You can complete all transactions at a surface level, but deeper inside there is only oneness.
Thankfulness always exists in relation to something else. You do not thank for nothing at all, you thank for something. But in this case, something is less than nothing. At the deepest level, thanking has no meaning. Does one hand thank the other hand? The deeper you go you see there is no “other” to be thanked.
Question - So we should thank superficially and feel deeply?
Gurudev - Feeling is also superficial. If you think the feeling is the depth, then you have not gone deep. Feeling is deeper than thinking. But feelings change. Whatever is the deepest doesn’t change. So thank superficially, not from the depth. Deep thanks indicate deep separation.
Today is a gift from God, that is why it is called the present. Are you grateful? If you are grateful, you do not belong to me. When someone gives you something, you are grateful, that means you feel separate. You do not feel grateful to yourself.
Gratefulness means you do not feel part of the Master. When you go beyond gratefulness, then union happens. No. “I” no “you” remains. You are part of the Master. You are just one being with a thousand heads and a thousand arms, but with one heart. Gratefulness is inevitable.
You have got to be grateful on the path, but you have to transcend gratefulness. Better stop being grateful. You are not grateful to your own hand that feeds you. It is better to stop being grateful.
When you are grateful then you become the centre of attention, you feel more important. When you are grateful to God for having received something beautiful, for example, eyesight, who is important? You or God? You. Your gratitude indicates ego.
Question - So you are not grateful?
Gurudev - I’m simply great and I am full. Don’t be grateful just be great and be full. This Knowledge could be dangerous without devotion.
