A few years ago, I discovered with wonder a new form of magic: expressing appreciation to others for something they had done. And modern life offers us a thousand different opportunities to manifest that magic. A small example: I live in a community that makes a special effort to decorate public places. Multicolored flowers are…
We live in an infinitely benevolent, ever loving, universe …. but a very, very strange humanly (dis)organized world! After all, a world where a tiny virus weighing a microgram can upset the world economy in a few weeks is either inhabited by a very, very clever virus…or then is really inhabited by an extremely strange group of people. So…
The great Irish poet and writer remains a rare master of the English language. His use of words is unique. This month we quote from the introduction to that magical book of blessings of his, To Bless the Space Between Us. PP “It would be infinitely lonely to live in a world without blessings. The word blessing invokes…
Pierre Pradervand If a small virus carried by a minuscule bat in the boondocks of China can send the whole world reeling, then apparently there is something in the system which urgently needs healing, and this includes the possibility of major surgery. Eliza Gilkyson wrote a prophetic song, which was performed by Joan Baez, called…
Guest blog ~ Joel S. Goldsmith Once more, Joel Goldsmith – one of a tiny handful of non-dual thinkers of Christian origin (but who very much formulated his own original and powerful vision of this teaching) – stresses that we are nothing of ourselves, any more than a wave could exist separate from the ocean…
There are many activities in our societies that seem of little significance or “unimportant,” but that is such a superficial view of things. It bears repeating that the humblest activity performed with love certainly uplifts the human race more than a high prestige or “important” job performed out of self-interest. Love is the key indispensable ingredient of true progress and the most powerful healing agent on the…
For one who has discovered the deep, nourishing satisfaction of life lived in a spirit of service, finding opportunities of service becomes one of the joys of life. And there are so, so many such opportunities. For those who may be wondering what kind of service they may render because they have not yet made…
This year we expect that sales will break all records! However, we cannot help but think that this anniversary celebrates the coming to earth of one of humanity’s greatest avatars – who, additionally, lived in total poverty according to his own words. But even this simple reminder makes us feel ill at ease in the…
“Blessings …serve not only those who emit them, and not only those to whom they are addressed, but all people in the human community.” From Dr. Laszlo’s Foreword to 365 Blessings to Heal Myself and the World. After a professional career spanning well over 50 years that took me to over 40 countries of the…
by guest Rabbi Rami Shapiro – July 07, 2019 Comment: I love what Rabbi Shapiro writes – it is a major step forward from the rigidified religious practices of the past (and for quite a few, still the present.) However, after having been most of my life as a member of traditional churches, it is my belief…
A dominant aspect of mystical experiences all round the world is that the mystics very often see the links of all things – not only between all humans, but between humans and nature, and sometimes they feel a total immersion with the Ground of Being that upholds the universe and every living being. And what…
Dr. David Hawkins was one of the best-known US psychiatrists in the last third of the past century, before becoming at the end of his career a great seer who influenced thousands via his workshops and his books such as The Power vs. Force. He once made the (to some people) provocative statement that the…
For over 60 years I belonged to forms of organized religion. These still play a useful role for some individuals who need to have verbal formulations of truths and liturgical and cultural forms that reassure and comfort. However, we live in a world where increasingly everything is challenged and each one is called to define…
As our guest blog for this month, we are sharing a Spiritual Teaching and Practice from Paul Ferrini’s online course Journey from Fear to Love. Ferrini is the author of over 40 books on love, healing and forgiveness. His unique blend of spirituality and psychology goes beyond self-help and recovery into the heart of…
We live in a world of growing complexity not to mention complications. If I did not have a few good friends to help me, I could easily become a Neolithic caveman in the computer field. In almost every single area, especially e.g., health and medicine, we are faced with contradictory information, most of them claiming to…
Blessing, in the meaning used on this site and in books* I have written on the practice of blessing, often results in healing. A perusal of the section on healing testimonies shows that numerous healings or resolutions of “impossible” situations have occurred through this practice: including a severe depression; very difficult relationships; being freed from…
Kristi Nelson – Guest blogger – is executive director of A Network for Grateful Living, a global organization offering online and community-based educational programs and practices which inspire and guide a commitment to grateful living, and catalyze the transformative power of personal and societal responsibility. We often feel gratitude when we get or experience something we…
It is most regrettable that most politicians, even at the highest level, ignore the very basics of demography! For instance, the average number of births per women needed to keep a stationary population is just above two in our countries. However, the birth rate in the USA and Great Britain is 1.8 (down from 2.12…
“I believe it is impossible to live a happy life if one nourishes resentment for some harm done to oneself, or guilt or repressed anger for an error of omission or commission we caused. On the other hand, we become incapable of resentment when we have understood that everyone is at every moment at their…
In a variety of teachings, unconditional love is the heart and soul of the spiritual life and the ultimate aim of the spiritual path – and by love is meant love in action of course (be it meditation or feeding the hungry), not discourses about love. “We bless ourselves in our desire to have a…
“PIerre, you must be losing your mind!” “Hey, man, you are going soft in the head!” “What, you expect me to not only put up with, or stop hating, but LOVE the present tenant of the White House?” No, in fact I don’t expect anything from anyone (when I am in a sane state of…
In her book The Healing Secrets of the Ages, Catherine Ponder writes: “Bless the world around you unselfishly with divine order. As you do so, you release the power of order into the atmosphere to do its perfect work. Look for, expect and give thanks for divine order, often. By doing so, you release…
Guest blog by Sandy Wilder One reason so many of us struggle with making progress and experiencing freedom, is that we are so identified with our minds that we often confuse our mind with our identity. Your mind is one of your faculties, but it is not who you are. It does not have the…
That so gifted, sensitive Irish writer John O’Donohue once wrote this moving statement: “Let there be gentleness in your gaze when you look within”. So many of us can sometimes be so tough with ourselves. Yet the incredible, divine, unconditionally loving Being which runs this amazing show called “the universe” of which we are in…
Guest blogger: Andrew Harvey Andrew Harvey is one of the great spiritual teachers of today who has inspired thousands all round the world to turn their spirituality into the real power behind their lives rather than icing on the cake. For instance, it is all too easy to make (create, utter, send out) a nice blessing…
More and more in the literature and on internet one encounters stories of such “mystical” experiences. I put the word between quotes because there is no universally accepted definition of the term. For me, it means a state of exceptional clarity where the understanding is no longer so much on the level of the mind…
“Grace is the completely unexpected goodness of divine Love manifesting itself in our lives, often at the most unexpected moment. Some people call it “miracle” which is a word we use when we do not understand the perfect laws governing the nonmaterial sphere of being. “I bless myself in my understanding that in a universe…
“We need a new consciousness, and we need to act differently. Instead of revenge we need to practice forgiveness, instead of all-out competition, we need embracing love, and in place of looking for our own advantage in every situation, we need to embrace everyone concerned – and do so unconditionally…. We need to embrace the…
The medieval thinker, writer and teacher Meister Eckhart is one of the very rare non-dual Christian theologians in 2000 years. He has inspired thousands over the years. He once made the amazing statement (to those who imagine that God is a kind of father Christmas up there on the top floor who grants their prayers…
In one of the most powerful passages on oneness in world spiritual literature, the prophet Isaiah describes service as the ultimate path to enlightenment and the source of real health (the words whole, holy and healthy stem from the same root): “Is not this the fast that I have chosen? To loose the bands of…
“A great teacher told us that ALL that the Divine Entity includes is already ours, i.e. that we are the very same essence as Infinite Love, just as the wave is of the exact same composition as the ocean. May I learn to see myself beyond the picayune limits of self-imposed fears and doubts and…
“Joy to the World” Major religious festivals like Christmas, Eid-el-Fitr for Muslims, Hanukkah for Jews, Diwali or Krishna Jyanti for Hindus and many others are simply the historically created cultural expressions pointing to a few eternal truths common to many major religious denominations and spiritual paths and seekers not attached to any religion. One of…
Reflections for Thanksgiving 2017 by Pierre Pradervand More and more, gratitude is being acknowledged as an amazing power for good and healing in many different areas of existence –from medicine and positive psychology to gardening and education. It is absolutely impossible, I repeat, impossible, to entertain a deep feeling of gratitude and the least trace…
Note from Pierre: This site has always stressed not only the interdenominational, but also the inter-religious dimension of blessing. Today, for our November blog, we wish to show that even atheists can practice it. So many of our misunderstandings in life are related to the use of words and, in the history of the Western…
There is such a need in the world today of the most tender and immense compassion and deeper, more unselfed caring and giving, and blessing is one simple and efficient way of doing it. It is also an amazing tool for learning instantaneous, unconditional forgiveness, a practice upon which, given our dramatic divisions in the world, our…
related by Pierre Pradervand Succeeding in a spiritual quest demands at least four basic qualities: a strong motivation, total sincerity, a lucid and firm intention and, as in most other endeavors in life, great (and sometimes immense) perseverance, as the seeker will almost invariably encounter important trials (which are necessary to test us). Grit will…
This month’s guest blog is from a reader of The Gentle Art of Blessing who shares how the practice of blessing helps him on the spiritual path. It is so well said, and also stresses that each one “invents” her or his own way of blessing, i.e., that blessing is a daily, even moment-by-moment creation,…
It has been said that Albert Einstein once asked the question: “Is the universe friendly?” Although this quote may well be erroneously attributed to him, the question is possibly the most fundamental one any thinking person can ask. Personally, not only do I believe we live in a very friendly – even exceptionally loving –…
Our guest blogger for the month of June is Pope Francis, with a powerful message for humanity. We have reprinted it from the blog on http://gratefulness.org/blog/the-future-you-pope-francis-ted-talk/ EDITOR’S NOTE: Below is the complete transcript (translated into English by Elena Montrasio) of Pope Francis’s recent TED Talk delivered directly from Vatican City. We offer our warm thanks to…
“To bless is to acknowledge the omnipresent, universal beauty hidden to material eyes” (The Gentle Art of Blessing) There are many reasons to bless. We bless to help heal society. We bless to get out of the shell or cave of our little egos and open up to the world. We bless as a wonderful…
