God is the creator of the universe. We,
too, are a part and parcel of the universe. So both, the universe
and we were created because
of God. All events in the universe followed thereafter. These include
me, my happiness and unhappiness, intellect, actions, my family,
country, religion, spiritual practice, etc. Thus whenever one thinks
about the self and / or the world, unconsciously harbouring awareness
of God or one of His forms and offering the credit for even this
awareness to God, is termed as gratitude. Prayer is actually a synonym
for surrender. This act of surrender is completed only after the
expression of gratitude. The Guru Himself is God for a seeker who
has been blessed by the grace of a Guru or for one who is practicing
Spirituality according to the Path of the Guru’s Grace (Gurukrupayoga).
Hence, it is but natural for him to harbor more gratitude towards
the Guru.
Gratitude about the Guru
being one’s everything : A seeker in South India expresses
his gratitude unto the Guru thus,
O Gurudev, I am grateful to You
For endowing me with
a human birth,
For granting me the desire to be liberated,
For drawing
me towards spiritual practice.
O Gurudev, I am grateful to You
For gifting me with holy texts for
the study of Spirituality,
For giving me appropriate guidance in repeating
(chanting) The Lord’s Name,
For giving me the opportunity of
being in Your holy company (satsang),
For endowing me with the opportunity
to render service unto the Absolute Truth,
For impressing on my mind
that propagation of Spirituality is the supreme service unto the Absolute
Truth (satseva),
For convincing me about the importance of sacrifice
and for getting it done from me,
For explaining to me what spiritual
love (priti) is,
For endowing me with such a beautiful society to undertake
my spiritual practice.
O Gurudev, I am grateful to You,
For pointing out what qualities I lack
in,
For creating situations conducive for my spiritual practice,
For
giving me the opportunity to learn from fellow seekers and warrior
seekers,
For granting me guidance from senior seekers,
And for the holy
company (satsang) of saints.
O Gurudev, I offer obeisance at Your feet,
For alleviating my worldly
problems,
For reducing my attachment for the Great Illusion (Maya),
For
eliminating my doubts about spiritual practice,
And for steadying me
in spiritual practice.
O Gurudev, I am grateful to You
For driving away distressing energies
which was impossible for us to do,
For endowing me with the spiritual
experience that You alone are the doer and that You alone can get
things done from me,
And for granting me the assurance that I can attain
the Final Liberation (Moksha) in this birth itself.
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