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Attitude of Gratitude

Yogi Bhajan Lecture: Make an Attitude to be in Gratitude

Excerpts from a lecture by Yogi Bhajan, 8/30/91

Now, there is a word called prosperity. We all want to be prosperous, because prosperity give us a status—conscious status, applied conscious status—that we are successful, we are good, we are comfortable, we are rich, we must be a genius or intelligent.

If you want to be prosperous, there are certain things you have to have; one is your genuinenessIf you are a genius and you are not genuine, it’s useless. Do you have patience? Being a genius is not enough, being genuine is equally required. You must have patience. Without patience you can’t achieve your purpose. Then you must have talent and you must walk tall with it, otherwise people will never obey you, never follow you, never understand you, never know you. If you have a talent, you must walk tall and if you walk tall, you must carry the wagon with you—teamwork; you must be talented enough to walk tall and take the teamwork in hand.

We work hard, we propose, we process, and we project it. These three things are essential. If we do these three right, prosperity shall be there. If there is prosperity, you have to show it—that’s human nature. Some show it for their own sake, some show it for their higher self’s sake, some show it for their lower self’s sake.

The tragedy of life is, when you reach a certain standard of prosperity, then it becomes a routine, and then it becomes boredom. There you have to learn something. To start with, you should have an attitude of gratitude. Without an attitude of gratitude, neither prosperity nor pleasure, joy nor happiness means anything, and it works this way. To those who have an attitude of gratitude and who do it with innocence, Mother Nature brings all the wealth, health, and happiness.

The only way a relationship between you and God can be established is if you become grateful and build up a standard of gratitude. Only then will fulfillment come in life. Only then can you be happy in life. Only then will you be fulfilled in life. Because in God we trust and in God we dwell.

The attitude of gratitude is the highest way of living, and is the biggest truth, the highest truth. You cannot live with applied consciousness until you understand that you have to be grateful for what you have. If you are grateful for what you have, then Mother Nature will give you more. Because this Universe is made by God by one universal rule, everybody has a standard of birth, growth, and death, except man. God is extremely forgiving, but if you do not acknowledge what you have, in gratitude, you will never have more, and if you care to get it, something will be lost.

The law of balance is a law of applied consciousness. You can never change it. You will get one thing, you lose the other, you get third thing, you lose the fourth. Always there will be a gap. The ‘law of gap’ is that there is no gap and how can that gap be filled? Be in gratitude. Make an attitude to be in gratitude, you will find the whole Universe will come to you.

What is a prayer? A talk to our higher self, asking our higher self, relating to our higher self. Why do we just pray at one time? Why don’t we praise in gratitude? Gratitude is a prayer and praise put together, because God is in all. We must pray and praise all the time and then you can see God in all, otherwise you cannot see God at all.

We are all broken. Why do we break? Because we don’t have gratitude. Our attitude is not of gratitude. Our manners are not of gratitude. That’s why our mission is to be prosperous, that all our prosperity is to share with others: Nam japo, vand chhako, dharma dee kirat karoThe purpose is to be in gratitude forever. Live with applied consciousness, prosperity will break through the walls, flood you with it. You do prayer when you are in difficulty. Pray when you are not in difficulty! That is the attitude of gratitude.

© The Teachings of Yogi Bhajan