Gratitude is a quality of the heart in which we can spiritually grow, in every situation. But without gratitude, even in the most favourable situation, we cannot really progress.
Some people are ungrateful, no matter what. Even if you give them something wonderful, they want something more.
That is why while raising children, it’s not good to spoil them. When children are accustomed to getting whatever they want whenever they want, when they grow up, they are going to have the same conditioning. But the problem is, as an adult you do not get whatever you want whenever you want. And then there is anxiety; sometimes that is very difficult to overcome.
Without gratitude, you cannot be satisfied in the heart. Because whatever you get, you feel you deserve, and you want something more. And whatever you get, you feel it’s expected. “I should get this.” And when you don’t get what you want, you complain, and you blame others. “Why is the world agaist me?” Some people are never greatful.
And then there are those who are greatful when they get good things, but very much disturbed and bewildered when difficulties come in to their lives. But the universal principle of all spiritual paths and a very basic principle of the Sri Bhagavad Gita teaches that we should be greatful for whatever God gives us. The good things that come, we should feel, “I don’t deserve this. But I am so greatful.” Any little bit of kindness that a person shows us, we should be greatful. Any blessings we receive, we should be greatful. And the difficulties, the pains, the failures, if we can be greatful for those, we could learn, and we could grow through the experience; Otherwise we miss a precious chance. We could learn to come closer to god, we could learn to improve the quality of our own lives, to overcome the obstacles that are keeping me(us) back. But those lessons that the Lord is always speaking from within our own hearts can only be heard when there is gratitude.
- Radhanath Swami

AbC
The world would be such a nice place if each individual realises the importance of nurturing and expressing the noble quality of gratitude in one’ life.
First we show gratitude to GOD, and, as an after-effect, we end-up being grateful to all.
Thank you Swamiji for sharing such wonderful thoughts with all of us.
malathi santosh
Makes so much sense when Radhanath Swami describes on Gratitude. Hope they all remain etched in my heart and show in my actions.
priya aiyar
Maharaj,we are very fortunate to have a pure soul like you among us. We hope and pray or your blessings.
mohan
thank you maharaj .
anjanadri
Thanks to Radhanath swami for such wonderful thoughts on gratitude…
Rakesh
What a explaination here buy H.H. Radhanath Swami Maharaj, got a great lesson from this how and why to be greatful. Thanks Maharaj!
viren
thank you 4 sharing
Komal dalal
Maharaj please bless me with the quality of grstitude
AGd
Radhanath Swami brings home the point that all these GOD-ly qualities are not something lying out there. They all lie within… seek and thou shall find.
mona
Thank u for such a wonderful artlcle
Gautam
Radhanath Swami Maharaj explains the real import and importance of gratitude.
vibhu goel
It is so fulfilling at heart to be grateful otherwise without gratitude we feel so much frustration.Thank you Radhanath Swami Maharaj for this wonderful words.
sagar kumar behera
Thank you RADHANATH SWAMI for giving us the secret of satisfaction in life.I’ll try to practice it.
Vidya Patham
Thank you Radhanath Swami for making us really understand the value of gratefulness.
Sundar
Gratitude is a condition of the heart and doesn’t depend on whether I get what I want. Thank you Maharaj for teaching us the importance of gratitude
Milind M Churi
A very clear and nice explanation by Radhanath swamiji about Gratitude.One must try and develop this quality.Thank you very much.
shreeniwas Chaudhary
Very very simple and realistic quote.Thank you Maharaj. We have to be grateful to Lord and try to come closer to God and learn to overcome the obstacles of life.Thank you once again for your wonderful words.
Vinay K
Thank You Maharaj…
It was Crystal clear. I got new tool to face this life.
Anand Iyer (Gurgaon)
Because Maharaj remembers Prabhupada every moment out of his gratefulness he is able to inspire millions of fallen souls into Krishna Consciousness. Thank you Maharaj for everything!
surekha
Thank you HH Radhanath Swami maharaj for explaining us the importance of gratitude in our spirtual progress.
surekha
Thank you HH Radhanath swami for explaining us the importance of gratitude in our spirtual advancement.
abhijit b kamble
benefits of being grateful.jai…………
Guruprasad
Thank you Maharaj.
saurabh
Gratitude is really very important in every walk of life especially in spiritual life. it is one of the godly qualities. Thank you very much Radhanath Swami for bringing out the importance of Gratitude so wonderfully.
Sunny Hinduja
Wonderful!!
hulas jain
Because Maharaj remembers Prabhupada every moment out of his gratefulness he is able to inspire millions of fallen souls into Krishna Consciousness. Thank you Maharaj for everything!
Shilpi
Thank you Maharaj for the wonderful lecture. Gratitude is a divine quality. It is easier to feel gratitude when we feel happy. But at times, when we go through challenges, we forgot to exhibit this behavior, unfortunately. Actually, from your article, we can understand that one must exhibit this quality in every situation.!!!!
Abhinav Mutreja
With gratitude in every situation one can advance so much and be satisfied. It is depicted by Radhanath Swami when he was travelling in search of GOD and staying in Himalayas in most austere conditions.
Abhinav Mutreja
Very Nice Point – “But without gratitude, even in the most favourable situation, we cannot really progress”
anjan
Many thanks to Radhanath swami for these wonderful words of wisdom. We pray and hope to follow these instructing teachings
Saurabh
Wonderful article. Thank you very much
Jaydeep
Simply Amazing !
Achyuta Govinda
Thank you Radhanath swami for this wonderful article on gratitude.
Ramnikapahuja
Thank you very very much H.H. Maharaji for guiding in the secret of gratitude that will help us how to advance in spiritual life.
Kalpana Kulkarni
Very true! Gratitude is very important for us to grow spiritually. We should be always grateful to the Lord for whatever he has given us(though we don’t deserve it)and to people who do good to us.
Anil Timbe
Radhanath Swami is so nicely describing the importance of Gratitude.
Kalpana Kulkarni
Very true! We should show our gratitude first to the Lord and to all others who have helped us in any way. Without gratitude, we cannot progress in our spiritual lives.
Kalpana Kulkarni
Hope we can develop this attitude of gratitude without which our spiritual progress is very difficult.
Kalpana Kulkarni
It’s a little easier to be grateful to the Lord for the good things but very difficult to be grateful for the bad situations in our lives. On the contrary, we blame God and others for the miseries that we go through.Hope we can cultivate this attitude of being grateful for both the favorable and unfavorable situations.
Kalpana Kulkarni
Without gratitude, even in the most favourable situation, we cannot really progress – eye-opening words!