Step 4: The Attitude of Gratitude

"When you speak positive there is no negative left to express and then there is a gap. In that gap comes then the super positive and that's what in English we call God. Therefore it is an attitude of gratitude. Attitude of gratitude is when you are grateful for every breath of life. Now people say, "What should we do when we feel something is wrong?" When there is something wrong, feel that thank God it is not you. When you feel there is something good, thank God that you have learnt to be something. And this way you can process your life and progress your life. What will happen? You will get high spirited. You would rise and to fill the vacuum from nature will come the wealth and prosperity. Otherwise your poverty is proportionate to your emotionalism."

Yogi Bhajan - 6/26/98
© YB Teachings, LLC

"If you just feel happy for what you have, have an attitude of gratitude, and be grateful, then it will come true, you will be great and you will be full."

Yogi Bhajan - 3/15/98
© YB Teachings, LLC

About the Attitude of Gratitude

It's in every religion, every spiritual path, it's written in books by scholars and philosophers, you'll find it in The Secret  - and you'll find it almost anywhere there is wisdom recorded or shared in some way - the attitude of gratitude is the essence of prosperity, happiness and presence in life. As we saw in Addressing the Messaging, our thoughts create the vibratory frequency of what we draw to ourselves. Understanding our own personal message is important, vibrating the essence of gratitude is the most positive, uplifting, and encouraging message we can use to replace the old. 

"As many times in life you fall apart, then it becomes your sad story, it becomes permanent depression, it becomes permanent expression, "Oh nobody cares," "Oh I don't care," those kind of statements which I call negativity. And when you start expressing yourself negatively, that only particularly means that you are ungrateful to God. The happiness in life lies in gratitude, and the way to prosperity, to happiness, to life, to love, to all items in life, is in gratitude, not in being great. Doesn't matter how much you try, you can never be great if you do not have an attitude of gratitude, it is basic."

Yogi Bhajan - 9/01/91
© YB Teachings, LLC

Locking Poverty Out

Poverty cannot touch a person who lives in gratitude. Whatever their circumstance may look like from the outside, they live harmoniously and beautifully and good things will always come their way. Yes, and whatever they define prosperity to be, that will be true for them. They will always have enough. And perhaps most importantly, it will flow to them easily - without stress, worry, frustration, doubt, anger or any of the other negative emotions which drain our life force. 

"If you have not developed the attitude of gratitude you have lost whatever spiritual and worldly thing with you. Because it is gratitude, your own gratitude, your own breath of life, your own gratitude to your own consciousness, this is what nurtures the Garden of the self of the man." 

Yogi Bhajan - 10/31/93
© YB Teachings, LLC

Presence

The attitude of gratitude is an exercise in presence. Being here now, breathing deeply in and out, feeling the moment, and being in it are a big part of feeling gratitude - you are focusing, even reveling, in the gloriousness of Now, of what you have and experience right here now, rather than what you don't have and aren't experiencing. It is a total shift of consciousness to focus on what you have rather than focusing on what you don't have. You begin to shift from a negative ("I don't have...") to the positive ("I am blessed to have..."), and this shift of consciousness is what allows everything to flow to you. Negative = no, no, no, positive = yes, yes, yes - where is the abundance going to flow to? 

"Your greatest mantra is, ‘I don't know,' ‘I can't say it,' ‘I can't do it,' can't, can't, can't and when you can't, can't, can't all the time and you want yes, yes, yes, happen, happen, happen, miracle, miracle, miracle, what are you talking about? Just test it out, have gratitude, attitude of gratitude, and see how many things come to you." 

Yogi Bhajan - 9/2/91
© YB Teachings, LLC

When we focus our attention on our blessings, it shifts the energy around us, and our auras change to allow more positive things to flow through. We begin to vibrate the frequency of abundance, because we are meditating on our personal abundance, and thus allowing more abundance in.

Gratitude Exercises 

"You have to learn only one thing. This planet belongs to God. God rotates this planet. 
Let God take care of your routine. Do not interfere. Spare yourself from pain, tragedy, desperation and desolation."

Yogi Bhajan- 9/2/91
© YB Teachings, LLC

# 1 - Honoring

Sit down with pen and paper and make a list of everything you are grateful for. Each day do this again. And again. And again. This is an honoring process, it will open your eyes to everything you have in your life to be grateful for. This is very important. You may think, "Yeah, yeah, I already know I have a lot to be grateful for." But this exercise will take you in deeper and deeper detail into every facet of your life that is good, positive, great. It will show you how blessed you are. And it will shift your focus from the negative to the positive. 

"Live with applied consciousness, prosperity will break through the walls, you will be flooded with it. You do prayer when you are in difficulty; pray when you are not in difficulty, that's the attitude of gratitude!"

Yogi Bhajan - 8/30/91
© YB Teachings, LLC

# 2 - Blessing

Money comes into your life, money goes out; it's a constant cycle. It is very important to focus our awareness on this cycle so that we can infuse it with blessings. Learn to bless your every interaction with money. A simple way to do this is to add a small mark to any transaction that involves money or finances. This process reminds you to bless where the money came from and where it is going. Any symbol can work, as long as it is conscious, it can even be a part of your signature as long as it is dedicated to the cause of blessing. Every time you sign a credit card slip, a check or a deposit slip, and even any time you make a cash contribution, you are reminding yourself of the blessings of the money you have received, the money you have available to spend, and the money that will come again. Ideally, every interaction should be accompanied by a blessing: "I bless where this came from, I bless where it goes, and I bless what comes in its place." 

"The attitude of gratitude is the highest way of living, and is the biggest truth, highest truth." 

Yogi Bhajan - 8/30/91
© YB Teachings, LLC

#3 - Giving back

An important part of every spiritual and religious tradition is giving back, and traditionally this is a "tithe," or tenth. Many spiritual paths recommend this practice strongly because it is such a powerful tool in learning to trust the Infinite to provide. 

Tithing is a tool given to teach us the truth about gratitude, abundance and fulfillment in our lives - the fundaments of prosperity consciousness. It is given to us in terms of a "law," a "mandate," a "command," and yet we are at liberty to choose to obey or not, and we are equally at liberty to reap the vast rewards of tithing as well. John Roger writes, "The tithing law is to give 10 percent of one's increase back to God, with God being represented on the physical level by the source of one's spiritual teaching - often a church, synagogue, mosque or spiritual teacher." Yet tithing is so much more than just giving, for the scriptures not only write of what one must do, but what one may reap from it. Tithing is not something that depletes our resources, but multiplies, increases them. 

The law of tithing is that you give 10% and you will receive ten-fold in return. And often this can come in varied and unexpected ways - a discount on a bill, a monetary gift, or a raise, are just a few ways those unexpected gifts can flow through. Again, the practice of tithing helps us be aware of the inflow and outflow of money in our lives and gives us more opportunity to bless that cycle. If you do not have an existing tithing program, consider starting one today with whatever institution represents your personal spiritual path. Whether you are giving $10 a month or $1000, the consciousness of tithing is vastly important to deeply experience gratitude.

Resources:
- More about Tithing, As you Tithe 1, As you Tithe 2

- Start a Dasvandh Tithing Program

"Attitude of gratitude brings you opportunities beyond your concept. And when the prayer becomes the vibration of the soul, mind and self, we can create a miracle."

Yogi Bhajan - 12/8/89
© YB Teachings, LLC

# 4 - Meditating

Try the beautiful meditation from Yogi Bhajan called, "Trigger the Positive Mind."