006_The Fifth of "7 Ways to Take a Deep Breath": An Open Hand

Have you ever noticed that we both give and receive with an open hand? 

This is the fifth of "7 Ways to Take a Deep Breath".

I'm Adela, and this is "Just Breathe.... You Are Enough".  Together we will deepen our connection with ourselves, strengthen our relations with others, and to re-think together how we connect with our world.

Thank you for joining us for the fifth of  “7 Ways to Take a Deep Breath” as we explore together the practice of gratitude.

In my role as a scholar, my area of research is the oldest Sanskrit text of the Indian subcontinent. It dates from 1500 "before the common era",  or 1500 BC. This begins the time period in Indian history, called Vedic India.  It spans the thousand years from 1500 BCE to 500 BCE, which is the lifetime of the Buddha.  

During this thousand years, India will go through its earliest phases of shaping their view of the  world.  The mindfulness practices of Buddhist and other Indian traditions, including yoga practice, develop as a consequence of that worldview. 

Perhaps the most basic plea in this ancient, mystical, visionary poetry is the wish of the human addressing the god saying, "Please receive what it is that I have to give, and then please give me that which I need to be able to continue to give." "Please receive from me the offering that I make at the ritual. Please receive from me my songs and hymns of praise.  Then please allow me to receive:   vitality, wealth, children, safety, shelter, long life, everything that I need to be able to continue to give.

It's a cyclical process of giving and receiving.  The place where these two meet is an open hand. Please receive what I have to give. Please allow me to receive what I need to be able to continue to give.

There is, for these old poets, the understanding that often what we are looking for we already have. We can notice that because we, as humans, participate in a cycle of a giving and receiving, of offering and having, a coming and going.

The open hand – which permits us to receive and to give – is trained through the practice of generosity. Generosity is the first of the Buddhist "paramitas", or transcendent actions.  The word in Tibetan is “jinpa”:  it is a common Tibetan Buddhist monastic name.

In the Vedic, or ancient Indian period, they would say that we as humans are born with debt, "I am born with: a debt to the gods to give offerings; a debt to ancient visionaries to learn sacred knowledge; a debt to the ancestors to have children; and a debt to my fellow humans to offer hospitality, or generosity.” The defining quality of our humanity, as described in many of these old stories, is that only humans are able to give and also to be that which is given.

So, we train in generosity.  In one old Buddhist practice, you put a stone in one hand, and you open the palm of the other hand. Then,  you gently toss the stone from one hand to the other, from one hand to the other. Can you receive? Can you let go? Can you receive? Can you let go?

Another the way to practice generosity - this opening of how to give and how to receive - is to increase our awareness for the gratitude we feel for what we already have.  This practice of gratitude increases our sense of delight, well-being, and prosperity. It can include gratitude for material things, and also for things that don't have a physical form.  I take great delight, for example, in beauty.

The fifth of “7 Ways to Take a Deep Breath” is to engage in the practice of gratitude.

Can we appreciate what we have that increases our sense of joyfulness? Can we notice what we have that makes us feel content and fulfilled?   It can include – but it doesn't have to be - the big stuff.  

So what am I grateful for today?   I just had a wonderful conversation with a work colleague. I'm so grateful to be working with her. I'm so happy for the flowers on my deck this summer. I am grateful for the amazing colors Canadian leaves as we turn the seasons towards fall.  I am grateful for the opportunity to connect with you by means of our conversations together.

I could make a longer list, but four is a very good place to start. 

That is the invitation here. 

If you wish, when you're ready, if you like, you could experiment. Is it an open note file on your cell phone. Maybe it’s sending an email to yourself.  Maybe you would like to pick a time in the day to do that:  before you break for lunch; while you drink your first coffee.   

Find some tremendously convenient way where you can write down 4 things that you are grateful for as a daily self-care practice.

Maybe it's on the back pages of the doodle pad that you have when you sit inside of meetings.  Maybe it's a page in the back of that school notebook where you can write something when your teachers are boring.

Write down four things that I'm grateful for today, and do the same thing tomorrow, and the same thing tomorrow, and the same thing tomorrow. Part of what happens when we create increase our ability to be grateful is that we begin to open more fully to participate in the recycle of receiving and giving.   We tune our antenna to the inherent abundance of life itself.

We can open even further – further relax that open palm - when we appreciate what it is that we have.  Only humans can give and also be that which is given.

The quality of the relationship that you have with the outside world directly relates to the quality of relationship you have with yourself.  For a free list of the full menu of “7 Ways to Take a Deep Breath”, come see us at “justbreatheyouareenough.com”.

I'm Adela, and you've been listening to Just Breathe....You Are Enough™.  You can follow us on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter. If you haven't yet, please subscribe, rate and review this podcast. Join us next time, and thank you for listening. 

Copyright © 2018, Adela Sandness