1. Gratitude - Collection

It is an unfulfilled action on your part that pulls you again and again to fulfill it.

In order to fulfill and exhaust all such karmas that we have accumulated, we take birth again and again on this planet. Just by being with the energy of gratitude, these karmas get burnt! All the karmas, anything which you carry on; which you brought, which you are accumulating, anything can be burnt

A simple remembrance of gratitude; not only to the Master, to every being, to everything, it brings so much of sensitivity. It brings so much of love and so much of settled feeling, so much of connected feeling. It can burn away all your karmas. Such is the power of gratitude.

Sahasrara chakra opens by gratitude. When you live with gratitude, when you feel that you have showered enough by the existence, God has given you more than your qualification, when you feel the deep satisfaction, and gratitude, this chakra opens.

Sahasrara chakra also known as the crown chakra is placed on the top of the head. This chakra

volume 1

THE SUPREME PONTIFF OF HINDUISM BHAGAWAN SRI NITHYANANDA PARAMASHIVAM

Make the children understand about the common perception of death

Gratitude is our response to recognizing the abundance of existence. When we recognize that we are lovingly taken care of by existence every minute, we are overcome with gratitude. If you ever feel that there is something missing in life, it is because you feel less gratitude. Gratitude should become the very breath of a person. Gratitude is an energy that harmonizes you with the energy of the universe and brings back tremendous prosperity to you.

So most of us live either in denial of death or in fear of it. We think, 'why should we think about it now? We will handle it when it arrives.' Some how we always want to escape from death, Our concern for unfulfillment is rooted in our fear of death. When you feel gratitude towards everything, it means you feel fulfilled, you feel blissful. So when you radiate gratitude, your energy of fulfillment attracts fulfillment back to you in the form of material gains, good relationships, good health and so on.

Gratitude makes you resonate with existence and transforms you into a beautiful human being. It increases the level of alertness, enthusiasm, determination, optimism and energy.

It increases the level of alertness, enthusiasm, determination, optimism and energy. Gratitude encourages a positive cycle when one act of gratitude encourages another.

Real gratitude can never have a reason. It happens as a causeless overflowing within you. This life itself is a gift that we have received.

Just for being, we should feel grateful. We ask for something or the other continuously in our minds. We have always been taught to thank only for what we receive that's all, we have been taught gratitude as social etiquette nothing more than that. We are only aware of the people who are directly responsible for providing and caring for us.

We always think, that whatever was given to us was either because we deserved it or because it was an accident. When you live with overwhelming gratitude in you, you have found a space where in nothing else is needed.

• What is gratitude?
• When do we feel something is missing in our life?
• Name the energy that would transform you into a beautiful human being.
• Does real gratitude have a reason?
• When can we easily connect to nature?
• Do you think life is a gift?
• Does a flower bloom for a reason?

Evaluate how well they understood the topic by asking them multiple questions.

Gratitude is the energy that makes your life intense and exciting every moment.

• 1. Paper
• 2. Pen or Sketch pen or Pencil

Encourage each child to draw a picture of their country. Ask them to depict their family in a pictorial format. Ask them to talk about how they feel grateful towards their country and family. In which way do they show their gratitude towards their country and family?

We must have real gratitude towards our country and family. When we take relationships for granted then we miss gratitude. For example when we think my mother takes care of me because I am her child, then we will not have gratitude towards our mother. We have to think what we have done for our country rather than thinking what our country has done for us.

Make a list of the people who help in your day to day activities. Go out of your way, and say 'Thank You to them at least once.

To make the children realize the fact that everything is a gift and that we have to show gratitude towards our body.

Receive every small thing in life as a gift, for example: When you take your plate to eat, see the plate as a gift. We never see things as gifts. Everything is taken for granted. We only look at those who have a diamond ring on their finger. We never look at those who don't have fingers that is the problem, which is why we don't feel anything in our life is a gift.

When we start feeling grateful for small things, our whole sensitivity will increase. We will become more refined. Our whole attitude towards life will move to a different plane. Remember the person who is not thankful for small things will never be thankful for big things either. Even big things, will be taken for granted.

Currently, we feel we have a right to everything that we receive because of this attitude, we miss seeing the benevolence of existence.

• How do we receive every small thing in life?
• When will our sensitivity increase?
• What happens when a person is not thankful for small things?
• Name a few people and a few things that you are grateful for?
• When do we get 'what next' attitude?
• What were the gifts you received in your life?

Evaluate their language skills by asking them to share their experiences.

• 1. Rock
• 2. Poster colours
• 3. Painting brush

Give each child a rock and encourage them to color the rock beautifully using different poster colors. They can appreciate the beauty of the cosmos and express their gratitude towards the cosmos and elements of cosmos.

Everything is beautiful. Even the simplest thing becomes valuable when we have gratitude. Even the most precious things become simple when we miss gratitude.

Part 2: Gratitude

Try to take the students to visually challenged and auditory challenged (differently able) School in your neighborhood and ask the children to come back to class and put down their thoughts.

Write a letter to your friend who you hate very much Write good points about them and give it to them.

Encourage each child to write a letter to their friend or any other person whom they hate a lot. They have to write only good points about them. Encourage each child to give the letter to whomever they wrote.

This work shop enables them to understand there is always good in bad and bad in good. There is always strength in weakness and weakness in strength. Have gratitude towards everything.

volume 2

THE SUPREME PONTIFF OF HINDUISM BHAGAWAN SRI NITHYANANDA PARAMASHIVAM

Welcome the children to the topic of 'Celebrating Everything', considering every moment to be auspicious

The whole of existence is an auspicious happening. Nothing that happens in existence is inauspicious. Everything is only a blessing. You are a part of existence, so everything happening around you is also auspicious. When we understand this we will not complain about life. When we realize this everything appears extra ordinary to us.

Everything appears as a miracle. Miracles are continuously happening in front of our eyes, but we continuously miss them because of this our lives becomes dull. You will never be able to realize or understand yourself until you accept yourself and celebrate what you are.

We carry two identities within ourselves. One is outer world identity, what we present to the world. The other is the inner world identity, what we believe we really are. The outer world identity will always be much more than who we really are.

The inner world identity will usually be much lesser that what we actually are. Our whole life is nothing but the struggle between these two identities If you celebrate whatever you are you can stop this struggle. If you continuously use your to logic to analyze and judge and try to bring things under control; you will miss the whole thing. Just accept and celebrate existence with all its different dimensions and paradoxes.

Don't judge anything. Every incident raises our intelligence, raises our frequency of consciousness. All we need to do is look at the world as a story, as an intelligent mystery. If we approach the suffering with acceptance and intelligence, suddenly you will see that the very suffering gives you enlightenment. It adds joy and experience to your life.

• What do you mean by auspiciousness?
• What would happen when you relent to suffering without acceptance?
• Is there anything that is considered inauspicious?
• How can we make every moment auspicious?
• When do miracles happen?
• When did we not complain about others?
• When do our lives become dull?
• What is outer world identity?
• What is inner world identity?

• 1. Paper
• 2. Sketch pen or Pencil

Give each child the materials needed. Ask each child to draw the universe including the solar system and other neighboring galaxies

Connect to the fact that we are a part of the universe. We must have gratitude towards the universe for providing an opportunity to be a part of it. We must save our universe. We must not waste nature's products. When we take the universe for granted and abuse the natural resources, it will lead to natural calamities like floods, tsunamis, and earth quakes.

Evaluate their knowledge on the topic by asking multiple questions. Ask them to share their experiences.

The main reason why we miss experiencing gratitude is that we take everything for granted. Others do things for us out of love, as a kind gesture; but we take these things for granted.

Each individual plays an equal part in our life; no one should be taken for granted. We take our parents, our friends as granted and we think whatever we receive from them is our birth right. This thought prevents us from expressing gratitude towards them. There are people who are born with deficiencies or are differently able, but we have everything. Yet we take it all for granted.

When we see things with gratitude we become one with the galaxy and our inner space expands like a galaxy. When we take things for granted, appreciation will never come spontaneously to us.

We always take relationships for granted. Learn to treat every individual as a part of the whole and feel gratitude towards him or her. Your response to recognize the abundance of existence is being thankful. It happens as causeless flowering within us.

Gratitude is the best service rendered to oneself. Our focus merges me to the oneness. When focus merges me to the oneness. When you are able to look at things with a wonder filled attitude and awe you will be simply resonating with your heart.

aware of the fact that we lose gratitude towards everything when we take things for granted.

• What would you mean by taking things for granted?
• What would happen when we take things for granted?
• What are the things that we usually take for granted?
• What would happen to our inner space if we take things for granted?

When we are in now and in the present, we are able to notice and observe things all around us. Every moment is wisdom. The way we see things is called perspective, and if we see things as is, life will be enjoyable.

• 1. Chart
• 2. Poster colors
• 3. Safety Scissors
• 4. Plain Sheet
• 5. Glue.

Give each child the materials needed and encourage each child to cut different structures using safety scissors towards building scenery. Children can stick the cut out in a plain sheet and using their creativity, color it beautifully.

This is a very simple activity to illustrate the difference in perspective and how we see things.

Glass and water

• Discuss with the class the different ways people see things. When we are happy or positive, everything looks bright and happy. When we are upset, or angry, everything seems to go wrong.
• Now take a glass and fill it with water to the half way mark
• Ask each child in turns: Is it half full? Or half empty? It is just a point of view about how we see things differently. When we see a rose with thorns, do we admire the beauty and fragrance? Or do we complain about the thorns? Explain how our positive outlook and gratitude is very important.

How do we understand each emotion in each person

Allow them to explain what they understand from each emotion in each person

Ask each child how they can express the gratitude emotion One Person will say thanks just for the sake of being polite. One Person will present a gift or write a letter. One Person will personally express thanks to the person. One Person expecting something in return. One Person present an appropriate gift. One Person will be in awareness while doing the presentation.

volume 3

THE SUPREME PONTIFF OF HINDUISM BHAGAWAN SRI NITHYANANDA PARAMASHIVAM

Make the children understand about the common perception of death

If we are asked to write a list of all the things that we have and a list of all the things that we don't have and If we write very sincerely without leaving out anything, we will not be able to complete the first list. That is the truth. When we think we are unable to finish the first list, it means gratitude has started happening in us. The problem is that there is continuous expectation in us all the time.

That is why gratitude does not happen easily. We continuously receive input from our eyes, nose, ears, tongue and touch. Based on this we continuously expect something or other to happen in a certain way example: When we see someone who has a better house or a better car, it registers in us. When we hear of some great achievement by someone, it registers in us. Our energy moves only outward, never inwards towards our self.

Gratitude is when this process reverses and you suddenly awaken to the abundance in you. With gratitude there is no expectation or greed. We will never feel fulfilled if our actions are rooted in expectation, we will on only tire our senses. With expectation there is a desire to possess things, you become the owner.

With gratitude, you become the enjoyer. When you are the owner you enjoy only the few things that you own. When you are enjoyer, you enjoy everything in existence.

When you look to own, nothing will seem enough. When you enjoy, everything seems to be overflowing that is the wonderful difference. When we believe that existence always gives us what we need, we will find everything within us all the time.

Make the children aware of the fact that having expectations prevents us from expressing gratitude.

• Why does gratitude not happen in us?
• Why do we never feel fulfilled?
• When can we become the enjoyer?
• Do you want to be the owner or the enjoyer?
• Can you let us know some of your desires?
• What are your expectations?
• Can you list what are the things you have?
• Can you list what are the things you do not have?
• When do we possess things?

• 1. Paper
• 2. Sketch pen or Pencil
• 3. Three dimensional objects.

Encourage each child to touch and feel a three dimensional object and draw the picture of that three dimensional object on a paper using a pencil or sketch pen.

Gratitude is the third dimension that we usually fail to appreciate, we take all things for granted, since everything is available to us easily we are unaware of the fact there are so many people who are deprived of many things that was given to us easily. We must have gratitude towards everything and understand that everything is auspicious.

To make the children understand about gratitude towards cosmos.

Ask the children to sit in a group.

Ask each child in the group to stand up and talk about different things in the cosmos that are very helpful to us. Explain to the children how we take the cosmos for granted. We think every thing is available only to serve us, since we get everything easily we do not realize the value of these things. Ask each child different methods of expressing gratitude towards the cosmos. Explain to them, how beautifully the cosmos takes care of us.

By doing this activity the child understands the value of showing gratitude towards different things and people in the cosmos.

Morality and Honesty is used to make sure you look good in society but integrity takes it one step further. You have to be in zero resistance for integrity to posses you. It makes the difference between the immediate solution versus the best possible solution. So think through your studying pattern/habits and find out if you are studying for results or to learn. Write down your recent homework and examine what your purpose was

Connect them to the fact. Honesty is not integrity. Integrity is also. honesty Integrity is absolute. Integrity does not change from time to time, era to era. Integrity is not morality it is a spiritual value.

In the whole world there are only two kinds of people. The first kind feels that whatever is happening in the world is against their will and things have to be slightly altered all the time.

Such people will try to alter, judge, criticize and develop the things happening in the world according to their ideas. The other group, is a rare group, that feels that whatever is happening is auspicious as Shiva!

Whoever feels what happens is auspicious, live in Shiva Consciousness, in eternal bliss, in celebration. The other group continuously suffers because it tries to change things all the time. Everything has a message for us including death and disease.

Everything has something to teach us. Every incident raises our intelligence, raises our frequency of consciousness. In the whole drama of the cosmos, anything that happens in our life brings auspiciousness to us. It adds to us. All we need to do is look at the world as a mystery, as an intelligent mystery.

Existence is not an accident. It is independent intelligence. When you understand that it is an independent intelligence, when you understand that it is a profound mystery to be experienced and not solved, everything in your life will open itself and reveal to you the lesson it has brought with it.

When suffering comes to you, if you approach it with non-acceptance, with resistance, it will create only pain in you. It will add only suffering to you. If you approach the same suffering with deep respect and gratitude, suddenly you will see that it reveals its mysteries to you.

It will show you the reason why it happened in your life and the lesson it brought to you in your life. If you approach the suffering with acceptance and intelligence, suddenly you will see that the very suffering gives you enlightenment! It adds joy and experience to your life.

Everything happening in the world is auspiciousness, including what you call natural calamities.

Part 3: Gratitude

There is no such thing as inauspiciousness. Natural calamities are nothing but nature's ways of adjusting itself to certain actions of human beings. So accept and celebrate the very existence of the world. In the third step, we come to celebrating god, the root and the source for the other two steps that are the self and the world. As long as you carry doubt or faith about the existence of god, you won't experience god. Just like doubt, faith is also an obstacle.

They continue to have faith but never experience god. So now, drop your doubt and your faith about god's existence or non-existence.

Even if you believe in god's existence, you will have only an idea about Him – that He will have ten hands or eighteen heads, that He is tall or short. Whatever idea you may have, even those ideas can be hindrances to finally experiencing god. So drop your faith and doubt. Just remember that if there is a creation, there should be a creato

To make the children understand existence is not an accident and that it is a conscious compassionate happening!

• Have you ever thanked your mother for taking care of you?
• Have you ever thanked your father for providing you with so many things?
• Have you ever thanked your mentor/teacher for helping you?
• Have you ever thanked your sisters or brothers for helping you?
• How will we look at our relationship with others when we have gratitude?
• What happens when we decide to respond with pure love and gratitude?

• 1. Paper
• 2. Pencil or Sketch pen.
• 3. Real vegetables, fruits or pictures of a few food items

Ask the children to see the real food items or pictures of the food items.

Explain to the children we need food to live. Connect to the fact of having gratitude towards food and not wasting food. There are many people in their world who are not getting enough food.

• 1. Paper
• 2. Pencil or Sketch pen.

Encourage the children to draw any picture or shape holding the pencil or sketch pen in their toes. Ask them to observe whether it is easy or difficult

Drawing with hand is very easy compared to drawing with our legs. Our hands are helping us so much to express what we think in drawing or words. We must have gratitude for our hands.

Children can do a presentation on the topic of How expectations prevents us from expressing gratitude.

volume 4

THE SUPREME PONTIFF OF HINDUISM BHAGAWAN SRI NITHYANANDA PARAMASHIVAM

An important thing we need to understand is that desire and gratitude can never co exist. When you feel one desire after another, it means that you not living with gratitude. When you live with gratitude, you can never have any desires. When you live with gratitude, whatever is given to you will simply fulfill whatever next you need at the moment, that all. Things are always perfect when you function with gratitude. Otherwise, things are always lacking

Our ego always swallows everything and asks for more, the ego that prevents us from enjoying what is being showered upon us. Whether you want to base your life on asking or on gratitude is entirely up to you.

Gratitude is not some kind of morality that can be imposed on you from outside. It is an attitude that has to flower from within. When real gratitude happens it can transform your whole perception of life and bring lasting peace and joy for you.

The only way to have a live connection with reality is by dropping our conditioning, our ego breaking the wall we have built around our self. When we love, and are flowing and filled with gratitude. We will always have a sense of fulfillment, not because of any gains but because it has become our very being.

This fulfillment is the ultimate fulfillment that every man is seeking. The best way to become grateful is to learn to enjoy without a reason. Enjoy everything that you see, everything that you hear and everything you do. When we have real gratitude our body language can convey the state of gratitude. Instead of celebrating, we are all the time searching for more, searching for miracles.

Miracles are never done, they simply happen continuously around us. When you express gratitude we feel happy, compassionate and peaceful. Love connected with gratitude is complete trust. Discontentment cannot come from the heart. It is purely a product of mind.

We have to remember life itself is a gift for us. Everything becomes small to us when it is easily available. There are so many millions of people in this world who can't see, who can't hear, who can't talk, or taste. We never think of all these things. We are always thinking of what's more? What's better? What's next?

Until something comes to us it seems very precious and we remain in anxiety but the moment it comes, it loses its value and we move on. We always live with a 'what's next?' attitude.

We are unable to relate to gratitude because of this, we always feel that something that we don't have is as big as a mountain, without which we cannot survive, but when we actually get it, somehow it becomes too small a thing. This is how we miss the wonderful attitude of gratitude in our live.

To inspire each child to live from the higher energy of gratitude

• What is desire?
• What is gratitude?
• Can desire and gratitude coexist?
• Why can't desire and gratitude co-exist?
• When we will have a sense of fulfillment?
• What prevents us from enjoying life?

Desire blocks gratitude from flowing.

• 1. Play dough
• 2. Moulds

Give each child play dough and different moulds. Encourage them to make different shapes with their hands with eyes open and with their eyes closed. Ask them to express how they felt while doing the activity? Which one was easier? They can also do this activity using moulds to make different structures

Eyes are very useful to us. It helps us to do many activities. There are some people who are visually challenged we must have the gratitude towards our eyes.

• ✓ Ice cubes
• ✓ glass of water bowl.

• ❖ Discuss about ego that is represented by ice. And gratitude is represented by water.
• ❖ When a person has ego, it is like holding ice in our palm. After sometime our palm feels uncomfortable and it hurts But when the ego ice is added to the water of gratitude it dissolves. Gratitude overcomes ego.
• ❖ Ego does not enter when we are happy and overflowing with love. When we have ego, we separate ourselves from others but gratitude unites us.

Ego is not worth holding on to. Gratitude overcomes ego bringing joy and happiness. Ego is not flexible; gratitude is the wonderful energy that takes care of us. The best thing to do when you have ego Let go!.

Learning contentment is a very plain and straight forward opening. There is no other way. Anything else leads to more and more complication. When you decide to be content, the carpet will seem good but then you will decide to pull the carpet a bit at the corner to make it better Don't think there is an army of enemies in your inner space. Your inner space is more intelligent. It will show only one enemy.

The moment you accept one enemy you are done. By the time you fight that enemy your great friendly mind is ready with another, by the time you fight that, your great friendly mind will make you finish all thoughts about contentment.

Decide, now you are going to practice, no question of allowing even one enemy. I am content. from now out of that content feeling I will work. Contentment is like a huge snow capped mountain, glide in it, ski in it, the moment you hit a rock go back to the space of contentment. Use your bio memory to get back to contentment.

Your bio memory is very responsible, when you withdraw from your day to day activities, the bio memory feels threatened. It will say, I can't be like this and get back to contentment. Say I am going to move my body only if I am contented, your mind will find some reason; so many people are in worse situations.

When you put your bio memory in a survival threat, it will support you. Do the self strike. Non co-operation movement with your life, let your bio memory bring you contentment, then it will become a system in you create chaos in you, that is the only way to find a solution.

• What happens when you pose problems?
• What brings contentment for our self?
• What is best way to achieve contentment?
• What happens when we have contentment?

Use your bio memory, achieve contentment and be happy

• 1. Carbon paper
• 2. Pencil
• 3. Plain sheet
• 4. Shapes or alphabet blocks

Give each child paper and carbon sheet Guide them to place carbon sheet in right position. Place the inked side on the paper. Ask children to choose their shapes or alphabets ask them to place it on the carbon sheet and ask them to trace it. Show them the impressions created on the white sheet.

Carbon paper gives the impression of what we trace, when we trace beautiful structures we get beautiful designs. Our mind is like carbon paper when we have gratitude we radiate grace and courtesy.

Encourage children to walk with eyes closed on the drawn line. They must walk on the line without moving away from the path. Now ask them to walk on the line with eyes open. Ask the children which is easier? Walking with eyes closed or walking with eyes open

Ask them if they have ever felt the importance of eyes before doing this activity. Since we get everything easily, we take everything for granted and we miss gratitude.

Conduct a quiz program on gratitude questions for the children.

volume 5

THE SUPREME PONTIFF OF HINDUISM BHAGAWAN SRI NITHYANANDA PARAMASHIVAM

When we work with expectations all the time, we will carry a subtle violence in our body language. It is not deliberate violence but inherent violence. If we become a little sensitive to our body language, we will be able to catch this. When you operate from your heart, you are always in gratitude. Gratitude is not any virtue. It has to be your very attitude.

It has to be your very attitude. Only when you feel gratitude you can tune yourself beautifully to existence and then existence will reveal to you its magical splendor.

With gratitude your entire body language changes. When you start experiencing deep gratitude, your responses to situations change. You start resonating with existence. Your body will flow with that resonance, with a cool grace and softness.

Each human being is a unique master piece. But we never feel that we are beautiful enough. We constantly compare ourselves with others and try to look like them. We never make our body feel it is beautiful. Our body is influenced by the thoughts we entertain about it. Every cell responds to our thoughts and feeling and about it.

If we feel gratitude towards our body, our body responds by improving our health. If we hate our body, the body responds by shrinking with disease. It is just like the effect of our thoughts on other human beings. There are people who are born blind.

There are people who are born without arms or legs. We have everything and yet we take it all for granted.

Sometimes people who have a physical handicap are more grateful than those who have a perfect body. The handicapped person knows what it is to miss a body part so he is automatically grateful to the other body parts

• What happens when we work with expectation?
• What happens when you operate from your heart?
• Is gratitude a virtue? '
• Can gratitude change our body language?
• What would be the effects of our thoughts on our own body?
• What would happen when we are not thankful to our body?
• When and why would we start comparing ourselves with others?

Part 4: Gratitude - Collection_English_part_4.md

• 1. Thread of varying length
• 2. Different poster colors
• 3. Uncolored art sheet or plain sheet.

Encourage children to dip the thread in the paint and keep it on the art sheet and fold the art sheet holding firmly on the table with one hand and pull the thread in various directions with the other hand. Ask them to observe the designs and patterns created on the paper.

Explain to the children that when they closely observe the patterns created by thread painting they can see so many figures in that; but when we just see it as colored paper we cannot observe anything. Similarly miracles are happening around us every moment but we will miss out on everything because we are not expressing gratitude

9 Kaleidoscope

Show how to hold the kaleidoscope and then by shutting one eye, how we have to view it. As we keep on turning the kaleidoscope we can see different designs that are formed with different colors. Inside the kaleidoscope there are small pieces of colored glass and the pieces are reflected in the mirror forming the designs as patterns.

When we change our view into a positive mode we can make life beautiful. When we start feeling grateful for small things, our whole sensitivity will increase we will become refined.