’tis the season of things falling away

of the great turning and looking within

all the while smiling thank you, thank you, thank you

~

with everyday being a day of gratitude on our earth mother, may we all be filled with Wopida Tanka, Great Thanksgiving, every day for the boundless gifts always being showered upon us…

 “Each day has a moment of eternity waiting for you. Each day has a portal, a threshold, a liminal moment in which everything could open up and reveal itself to the eye that can see.” ~William Blake ~

here’s a long moment of eternity for us to share and a onederful practice to begin and end the day with, a wonder-filled way to luxuriate in reverence and devocean in the river below the river, in the deep stillness of the running wave where the dance of life begins…

Haudenosaunee Thanksgiving Address Greetings to the Natural World

“The People

Today we have gathered and we see that the cycles of life continue. We have been given the duty to live in balance and harmony with each other and all living things. So now, we bring our minds together as one as we give greetings and thanks to each other as people.

Now our minds are one.

The Earth Mother

We are all thankful to our Mother, the Earth, for she gives us all that we need for life. She supports our feet as we walk about upon her. It gives us joy that she continues to care for us as she has from the beginning of time. To our mother, we send greetings and thanks.

Now our minds are one.

The Waters

We give thanks to all the waters of the world for quenching our thirst and providing us with strength. Water is life. We know its power in many forms- waterfalls and rain, mists and streams, rivers and oceans. With one mind, we send greetings and thanks to the spirit of Water.

Now our minds are one.

The Fish

We turn our minds to the all the Fish life in the water. They were instructed to cleanse and purify the water. They also give themselves to us as food. We are grateful that we can still find pure water. So, we turn now to the Fish and send our greetings and thanks.

Now our minds are one.

The Plants

Now we turn toward the vast fields of Plant life. As far as the eye can see, the Plants grow, working many wonders. They sustain many life forms. With our minds gathered together, we give thanks and look forward to seeing Plant life for many generations to come.

Now our minds are one.

The Food Plants

With one mind, we turn to honor and thank all the Food Plants we harvest from the garden. Since the beginning of time, the grains, vegetables, beans and berries have helped the people survive. Many other living things draw strength from them too. We gather all the Plant Foods together as one and send them a greeting of thanks.

Now our minds are one.

The Medicine Herbs

Now we turn to all the Medicine herbs of the world. From the beginning they were instructed to take away sickness. They are always waiting and ready to heal us. We are happy there are still among us those special few who remember how to use these plants for healing. With one mind, we send greetings and thanks to the Medicines and to the keepers of the Medicines.

Now our minds are one.

The Animals

We gather our minds together to send greetings and thanks to all the Animal life in the world. They have many things to teach us as people. We are honored by them when they give up their lives so we may use their bodies as food for our people. We see them near our homes and in the deep forests. We are glad they are still here and we hope that it will always be so.

 Now our minds are one

The Trees

We now turn our thoughts to the Trees. The Earth has many families of Trees who have their own instructions and uses. Some provide us with shelter and shade, others with fruit, beauty and other useful things. Many people of the world use a Tree as a symbol of peace and strength. With one mind, we greet and thank the Tree life.

Now our minds are one.

The Birds

We put our minds together as one and thank all the Birds who move and fly about over our heads. The Creator gave them beautiful songs. Each day they remind us to enjoy and appreciate life. The Eagle was chosen to be their leader. To all the Birds-from the smallest to the largest-we send our joyful greetings and thanks.

Now our minds are one.

 The Four Winds

We are all thankful to the powers we know as the Four Winds. We hear their voices in the moving air as they refresh us and purify the air we breathe. They help us to bring the change of seasons. From the four directions they come, bringing us messages and giving us strength. With one mind, we send our greetings and thanks to the Four Winds.

Now our minds are one.

 The Thunderers

Now we turn to the west where our grandfathers, the Thunder Beings, live. With lightning and thundering voices, they bring with them the water that renews life. We are thankful that they keep those evil things made by Okwiseres underground. We bring our minds together as one to send greetings and thanks to our Grandfathers, the Thunderers.

Now our minds are one.

 The Sun

We now send greetings and thanks to our eldest Brother, the Sun. Each day without fail he travels the sky from east to west, bringing the light of a new day. He is the source of all the fires of life. With one mind, we send greetings and thanks to our Brother, the Sun.

Now our minds are one.

 Grandmother Moon

We put our minds together to give thanks to our oldest Grandmother, the Moon, who lights the night-time sky. She is the leader of woman all over the world, and she governs the movement of the ocean tides. By her changing face we measure time, and it is the Moon who watches over the arrival of children here on Earth. With one mind, we send greetings and thanks to our Grandmother, the Moon.

 Now our minds are one.

The Stars

We give thanks to the Stars who are spread across the sky like jewelry. We see them in the night, helping the Moon to light the darkness and bringing dew to the gardens and growing things. When we travel at night, they guide us home. With our minds gathered together as one, we send greetings and thanks to the Stars.

Now our minds are one.

The Enlightened Teachers

We gather our minds to greet and thank the enlightened Teachers who have come to help throughout the ages. When we forget how to live in harmony, they remind us of the way we were instructed to live as people. With one mind, we send greetings and thanks to these caring teachers.

 Now our minds are one.

The Creator

Now we turn our thoughts to the Creator, or Great Spirit, and send greetings and thanks for all the gifts of Creation. Everything we need to live a good life is here on this Mother Earth. For all the love that is still around us, we gather our minds together as one and send our choicest words of greetings and thanks to the Creator.

 Now our minds are one.

Closing Words

We have now arrived at the place where we end our words. Of all the things we have named, it was not our intention to leave anything out. If something was forgotten, we leave it to each individual to send such greetings and thanks in their own way.

Now our minds are one.”

~

let us close this ceremony with the lotus of gratitude meditation by curling all fingers close to the heart and one by one uncurl a finger like a lotus petal rising from the mud and sound a gratitude for this moment continuing until all fingers are unfurled like a beautiful lotus in full bloom  with its roots grounded in the mud…. now, weave your fingers together and place them on your heart for all of the bounteous thanksgivings to enrich the core of being, our one great heart…

~

i love celebrating every breath with thanksgiving,,, breathing in… be thanks… breathing out… thanks be… a seamless circle of giving thanks i’ve been dwelling in for almost 9 years while occupying the abundance of infinite love and gratitude… today is also an important anniversary date for me of a pivotal event that happened 43 years ago of a wedding and a sacred vow of hieros gamos that has unfolded in such a different way bringing me in this moment to clean-sing, to water purification conducting me right into the heart of original blessing with a call to voice to all my relations thanksgiving for gracing this moment, this magical moment of devotion to a path with heart, a path of compassion, a path of practicing being ever more for (pro) giving… yes, in this moment, i open myself to being more and more for giving, first to myself and rippling out gifting with every breath to all that is, we co-create the most beautiful wave of rainbow light encircling the cosmos, an unbroken circle of peace and harmony, wedding the many into the one…

i pray that you received my telepathic messages of gratitude for you sent from the stillpoint of soulitude in deepest communion, common union with all that is… and, that you heard the echoes of our recitation at the fire ceremony of a Chinook blessing that has so graced this land and her beings forever…

~

We call upon the earth, our planet home, with its beautiful depths and soaring heights,

its vitality and abundance of life, and together we ask that it

Teach us, and show us the Way.

We call upon the mountains, Saddle mountain and Wahkiakum mountain, the Willapa Hills, the summits of intense silence, and we ask that they:

Teach us, and show us the Way.

We call upon the waters that rim the earth, the waters of

Our great river the I-a-gayte-imas, the waters of Willapa Bay,

And all of the waters the flowing [sic] our rivers and streams, the water that falls

Upon us, and we ask that they

Teach us, and show us the Way.

We call upon the land which grows our food, the nurturing

Soil that sustains our lives, we ask that they

Teach us, and show us the Way.

We call upon the forests, the great cedar trees reaching

Strongly to the sky  with earth in their roots and the heavens in their

Branches, cedar tree is the keeper of all

Knowledge, and we ask them to

Teach us, and show us the Way.

We call upon the creatures of the fields and forests and the

Seas, our brothers and sisters Lilu the Wolf, Emulak the elk,

And Mauich the Deer, Chak-cahk the Eagle, the great

Whales and the Sturgeon, and the Salmon people who share

Our Chinook waters

Teach us, and show us the Way.

We call upon all those who have lived on this earth, our

Ancestors and our friends, who dreamed the best for future

Generations, and upon whose lives our lives are built, and

With thanksgiving, we call upon them to

Teach us, and show us the Way.

And lastly, we call upon all that we hold most sacred, the

Presence and power of the Great Spirit

Which flows through all the Universe, to be with us to

Teach us, and show us the Way.

Delivered by Chinook Tribal Chief Gary Johnson in Chinook homelands, November 18, 2005.

Gratitude is not only the greatest of all virtues, but the parent of all others.

~ Cicero ~

“Cultivate the habit of being grateful for everything that comes to you, and to give thanks continuously. And because all things have contributed to your advancement, you should include all things in your gratitude.”

~Ralph Waldo Emerson~

YES!

on this day of thanksgiving, which is also the eve of the USA holiday by the same name and a mere moon away from the celebration of seven years of occupying the abundance of infinite love and gratitude, every moment is simply that, a moment of gratitude for whatever is,… a very early morning phone call from a dear friend emanating joy, a message from another in sync in great stillness, excitement from another, a wandering in wonder partner, bon voyage from a siSTAR , eyes that are having a hard time seeing while going through a clean-sing process joined by a digestive system in purifying, a spontaneous connection with the newest of  soul friends echoing the love we all are, daily love fix with a furry little buddha, sauntering in cold rain, gathering with fractal family in a space of not knowing, bearing witness, taking the action of being a lotus blooming out of the mud through the grace of gratitude…

did you know these flowers, when surrounded by fire or suffering or another adversity become even more fragrant just as our light, our beauty awakens  in such moments and our compassionate heart shines through… thanks be that our inner light can never be extinguished no matter how dark the times feel… so, gaze into lotus flower, breathe in the sweetness and connect even more deeply in this moment with the lotus lightness of being are evermore…

being thankfulness with every breath is panacea… it has been said that if we could bottle gratitude, it would be the best selling pharmaceutical, since so many health benefits derive from its application and use… i’ve had several spontaneous remissions since beginning the practice of saying thank you with every breath…

may we all awaken to being conscious witnesses to this be here now moment and grateful participants in our one heart’s liberation, the blossoming of beauty suffering, bearing under, inspires…

thank you, thank you, thank you

another day of now november, another day of gratitude, i am so grateful to share the journey with you, anam caras, soul friends…

now, some words dedicated to all our relatives, the  lights shining across the cosmos the ones who change the if to when by serving the whole as beautiful mirrors, serving the whole as great soul…. thank you, thank you, thank you again and again…

If

If you can keep your head when all about you

    Are losing theirs and blaming it on you,

If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,

    But make allowance for their doubting too;

If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,

    Or being lied about, don’t deal in lies,

Or being hated, don’t give way to hating,

    And yet don’t look too good, nor talk too wise:

If you can dream—and not make dreams your master;

    If you can think—and not make thoughts your aim;

If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster

    And treat those two impostors just the same;

If you can bear to hear the truth you’ve spoken

    Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,

Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,

    And stoop and build ’em up with worn-out tools:

If you can make one heap of all your winnings

    And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,

And lose, and start again at your beginnings

    And never breathe a word about your loss;

If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew

    To serve your turn long after they are gone,

And so hold on when there is nothing in you

    Except the Will which says to them: ‘Hold on!’

If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,

    Or walk with Kings—nor lose the common touch,

If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you,

    If all men count with you, but none too much;

If you can fill the unforgiving minute

    With sixty seconds’ worth of distance run,

Yours is the Earth and everything that’s in it…

[and, you must be an anam cara or a dog or both…]

~ Rudyard Kipling ~

( except for the last line in brackets )

thank you for shining brightly as we walk each other home…

Gratitude is not only the greatest of all virtues, but the parent of all others.

~ Cicero ~

as the celebration of Thanks giving approaches in the USA and i approach the 6th anniversary of living lucidly in the abundance of infinite love and gratitude, i’m contemplating thankfulness and being thankfulness with every breath… it has been said that if we could bottle gratitude, it would be the best selling pharmaceutical, since so many health benefits derive from its application and use… i’ve had several spontaneous remissions since beginning the practice of saying thank you with every breath…

may we all awaken to being conscious witnesses and grateful participants in the blossoming of beauty…