Thank you for everything I have no complaints whatsoever
Every year, around Thanksgiving, I teach a class based on the mantra (attributed to the Zen master Sono): "Thank you for everything. I have no complaint(s) whatsoever." I have found that when things are amazing, it feels amazing to affirm my gratitude. I have also found that when things are less-than-amazing, it feels grounding and peaceful to say the same mantra. We cannot only be grateful when everything is peaches and cream. Anyway, who are we to say what is a blessing and what is a curse? I am sure we all have situations in our past that we lamented at the time, but can now see that they unfolded exactly as they should have. And vice versa.
This year, I added on to my usual class theme of gratitude and being thankful for everything, always, no matter what. A friend posted a lovely poem to Facebook and it fit so perfectly that, despite some of its darker themes, I read in all of my classes this week.
The poem is "Thanks" by WS Merwin.
Listen
with the night falling we are saying thank you
we are stopping on the bridges to bow from the railings
we are running out of the glass rooms
with our mouths full of food to look at the sky
and say thank you
we are standing by the water thanking it
smiling by the windows looking out
in our directions
back from a series of hospitals back from a mugging
after funerals we are saying thank you
after the news of the dead
whether or not we knew them we are saying thank you
over telephones we are saying thank you
in doorways and in the backs of cars and in elevators
remembering wars and the police at the door
and the beatings on stairs we are saying thank you
in the banks we are saying thank you
in the faces of the officials and the rich
and of all who will never change
we go on saying thank you thank you
with the animals dying around us
our lost feelings we are saying thank you
with the forests falling faster than the minutes
of our lives we are saying thank you
with the words going out like cells of a brain
with the cities growing over us
we are saying thank you faster and faster
with nobody listening we are saying thank you
we are saying thank you and waving
dark though it is.
This year, I added on to my usual class theme of gratitude and being thankful for everything, always, no matter what. A friend posted a lovely poem to Facebook and it fit so perfectly that, despite some of its darker themes, I read in all of my classes this week.
The poem is "Thanks" by WS Merwin.
Listen
with the night falling we are saying thank you
we are stopping on the bridges to bow from the railings
we are running out of the glass rooms
with our mouths full of food to look at the sky
and say thank you
we are standing by the water thanking it
smiling by the windows looking out
in our directions
back from a series of hospitals back from a mugging
after funerals we are saying thank you
after the news of the dead
whether or not we knew them we are saying thank you
over telephones we are saying thank you
in doorways and in the backs of cars and in elevators
remembering wars and the police at the door
and the beatings on stairs we are saying thank you
in the banks we are saying thank you
in the faces of the officials and the rich
and of all who will never change
we go on saying thank you thank you
with the animals dying around us
our lost feelings we are saying thank you
with the forests falling faster than the minutes
of our lives we are saying thank you
with the words going out like cells of a brain
with the cities growing over us
we are saying thank you faster and faster
with nobody listening we are saying thank you
we are saying thank you and waving
dark though it is.