When we lose a loved one, for example, or when we experience rejection in an important relationship, the catastrophic severity of the wound to our heart is conveyed by the expression “my heart is broken.”
Is there a herb that can heal a severely wounded heart? There is indeed: the herb of gratitude.
Gratitude enables us to shift our focus from what we have lost to what we still have. The more we apply the healing herb of gratitude to our heart, the less our life feels empty and the more the wound in our heart starts healing. Even if that wound doesn’t decrease in size, our heart expands as we behold and hold the things that are still there to enrich our lives.
In contrast, when we obsess over what we have lost, we become blinded to the things that we still have. The inability or unwillingness to contemplate and appreciate the things we have is the essence of ingratitude. When a person is ungrateful, then even a small loss which has caused barely a wound to the heart can seem unbearable. Such people hyperventilate over small things, thereby stripping their life of peace and joy — and similarly stripping the lives of those around them. If we compare our heart to a garden, ingratitude is like a toxic weed that can ruin the entire garden.
Thankfully, the Bhagavad-gita’s wisdom enables us to shift from a state of ingratitude to a state of gratitude. Pertinently, it (17.16) recommends that we consciously cultivate contentment as an austerity of the mind. By thus disciplining the direction and focus of our thoughts, we can make our hearts more resilient so that they don’t get wounded by small losses and heal faster from big losses.
Think it over:
- How does our heart become wounded?
- How does gratitude and ingratitude affect our response whenever our heart is wounded?
- How can we strengthen our hearts to become more resilient?
Summary:
Gratitude is a herb that can heal even a severely wounded heart, whereas ingratitude is a weed that can poison even a barely wounded heart.
Audio explanation of the article is here: https://gitadaily.substack.com/p/the-healing-power-of-gratitude
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17.16: And satisfaction, simplicity, gravity, self-control and purification of one’s existence are the austerities of the mind.
To know more about this verse, please click on the image
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