Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving! It is such a beautiful opportunity to re-remember to give thanks, to be full of gratitude. This year it’s so easy to focus on what we have lost, what we are having to do without. Thanksgiving is a special time to remember to give thanks for all the blessings we HAVE. Gratitude brings joy and peace to our lives. Many people think first I’ll get what I want, then I’ll be happy, then I’ll be grateful. But the truth is that the gratitude is what brings us joy. If you can take a breath easily, if you have water coming out of a tap, if you have food on your table, if you are able to practice your religion (or to choose not to practice) freely, if you have access to medical care, education, sanitary products, be thankful…. find any reason and give thanks. Gratitude is the quickest path to joy, expansion and love.

And, for my sisters and brothers of the United States, let us look deeply at this holiday and what it stands for. How can real gratitude and celebration stem from harming another? As we stole and pillaged the land of the Native Americans, we then slaughter an innocent Turkey and perpetuate and entire system and cycle of oppression, exploitation and violence. Let us have the clarity, courage and compassion to look at that and to say YES to gratitude, YES to thanksgiving, YES to celebration and NO to condoning theft, exploitation, slaugther and violence…. Let our Thanksgiving celebration be something that brings healing to others and the planet as well.

Sending so much love and gratitude to our global family from the holy banks of Mother Ganga.