The Gratitude Thread

[Kevin_B]

Dear Sifu and Sidai Peter,

Thank you both for your kind words.

Taking pictures of the Irish landscape is easy: the scenery is so stunning in places all one has to do is point, and shoot, and voilà: lovely photos in an instant.

Sidai Peter, you made a wonderful little movie. Stunning music and composition and a lovely, lovely touch to invoke a blessing in it. Thank you!

Kevin, perhaps you could give a list of where the photos were taken, they are really nice.

Three places: Achill Island in Co Mayo, The Iveragh Peninsula in Co Kerry and Lough Hyne in West Cork.

Killarney is of course situated on The Iveragh Peninsula so those of you coming to the Valentine's festival of Chi Kung next February now have another reason to be very excited!

Best wishes,

Kevin

[Zach]

My special gratitude to Sifu

I began thinking tonight after practice about what life would look like for me without the Shaolin Arts.

I give my deepest gratitude to Sifu for his generosity, for his kindness, for his diligence, and for his exceptional teaching skills.

My life, and my family's life as a whole, are forever better.

Shaolin is accessible, and easy (provided we practice) to continue to go to greater heights and to greater depths. I couldn't wish to be a part of better tradition. And I cannot imagine a more generous Sifu.

I am forever thankful and eternally grateful.

Sincerely yours,

Zach

[veenie]

Thank you Sije Joan for starting this thread and it really is inspiring to read posts written from brothers and sisters.

I am truly grateful to be born a human, the chance to come accross the teachings of 'Buddha nature', the chance to live in the present moment and to forgive. I am grateful to be able to forgive my step-father and love all my family members and let go of hurt from the past. I am grateful to my parents and my grandparents for all the love they have shared even in difficult times. I am grateful to my loving partner Joel and his family. I am grateful to be able to open my heart, allow my spirit to expand and be compassionate to all and share. I am grateful to feel how wonderful it is to be alive and experience the universal gifts. I am grateful to every being that has crossed my path who has shown me a reflection of my nature. I am grateful to all the teachers who have come here to guide us- and most of all I am grateful to our Shaolin Wahnam family and our dear Sifu for all your teachings, through the Shaolin Wahnam Arts I have had the chance to live, to be healthy, be happy, feel the universal flow and be guided by Guan Shi Yin Boddhisattva, Amitabha Buddha and 'One'.

I express deep gratitude and send blessings to the beautiful loving hearts of Shaolin Wahnam family.

Shaolin Salute

Parveen

[vab0914]

I am grateful to have the ability to use my body and enjoy it.
I am grateful for everyone who has ever helped me.
I am grateful for strangers who don't act like strangers.

I am grateful for the amazing forum, where anyone can talk about their problems and receive wonderful advice from the hearts of knowledgeable people, and where everyone can learn from each other's experiences.

I am grateful for lessons I have learned and the fact that I am still learning so much every day.

I am grateful for all my opportunities.

I am grateful for my senses.

I am grateful for art.

For those whose lives I have the ability to touch and everyone who has and will touch mine.

I am grateful for so many things I can't think of them all right now.
:]

[AndrewFromCT]

Truly grateful

To Sigung and Sifu Mark for showing me and teaching me these arts with no reservation nor discrimination.
To my wife for supporting me.
To My children who motivate me.
To my family for loving me.
To Shaolin Wahnam,students and masters,for being a ready and willing source of treasures usually hidden and hard to find and even harder to learn(usually).
To all my 2011 Penang Course brothers,for welcoming me,encouraging me,teaching me and inspiring me,and expressing the true spirit of camaraderie as well as showing me glimpses of "the marvelous"!


To all past and present great masters,inside and outside Shaolin Wahnam for making the arts thrive,and doing all the hard and smart work and for being such inspirations to us all.

To God,Supreme,Cosmos,the One...who or whatever is in charge for giving me the opportunity and the persistence to learn and practice these arts.

Thank you very much.

[Joan]

Dear Shaolin Wahnam Family and Virtual Kwoon readers,

I am genuinely so grateful today for everything in my life that I want to hug the world

Here is a nice quote which I found some time ago:

To permit your mind to dwell upon the inferior is to become inferior and to surround yourself with inferior things.
On the other hand, to fix your attention on the best is to surround yourself with the best, and to become the best. (Wallace D Wattles)

Smile from the Heart,
Joan

[Binia]

The Chiflow is ...

I am grateful for the Chiflow that we may enjoy with each and every training. And the song "Tiger in the Night" of Katie Melua inspired me to write a "poem" about it and I thought here might be a nice place to share it :-)


The Chiflow is ...

The Chiflow is the strength of the sun
The Chiflow is the power of the moon

The Chiflow is the tides of the ocean
The Chiflow is the changing of the season

The Chiflow is the purifying rain
The Chiflow is the vivid raindrop

The Chiflow is the floating river
The Chiflow is the calmness of the lake

The Chiflow is the sleeping seed in the ground
The Chiflow is the flourishing flower in the meadow

The Chiflow is the solid roots of the tree
The Chiflow is the dancing leaves of the branch

The Chiflow is the singing bird in the morning
The Chiflow is the guardian elephant in the night

The Chiflow is the mother who wants you to be
The Chiflow is the father who wants you to become

The Chiflow is the friend who shows you the mirror
The Chiflow is the friend who comforts you

The Chiflow is the one who sees you
The Chiflow is the one who loves you as you are

The Chiflow is the wisdom of the grandparent
The Chiflow is the innocence of the child

The Chiflow is the demons of the past
The Chiflow is the goodness of the presence

The Chiflow is the intimacy of the nearness
The Chiflow is the freedom of the horizon

The Chiflow is the unspoken language
The Chiflow is the story of the face

The Chiflow is the beauty of the smile
The Chiflow is the relief of the tear

The Chiflow is the force of the emotion
The Chiflow is the gift of forgiveness

The Chiflow is the humility
The Chiflow is the courage

The Chiflow is the trust
The Chiflow is the faith

The Chiflow is the hunger
The Chiflow is the food

The Chiflow is the hope
The Chiflow is the chance

The Chiflow is real
The Chiflow is you


Happy Chiflow, Binia

[joko]

Thanks, Binia.
The song "Tiger in the Night" is lovely.
So is your poem.

Joko

[Joan]

My Dear Shaolin Wahnam Family and Friends,

Did you know that Albert Einstein gave thanks at least one hundred times each day?

Here is a quote from him

A hundred times each day I remind myself that my inner and outer life depend on the labors of other men, living and dead and that I must exert myself in order to give in the same measure as I have received and am still receiving.
Albert Einstein (1879-1955) Nobel prize winning Physicist

Today just Smile from the Heart with love and appreciation

Joan

[Joan]

When the heart is set right!

My Dear Shaolin Wahnam Family and Virtual Kwoon readers,

When the heart is set right, then the personal life is cultivated. When the personal life is cultivated then the home life is regulated. When the home life is regulated then the national life is orderly: And when the national life is orderly, then the world is at peace.- Confucius (551-479BC)

In deepest appreciataion for our Shaolin arts,

Smile from the Heart
Joan

[Martin Do]

Dear Joan Siguma,

Thank you for the beautiful quotes . I enjoyed reading them.

Smiling from the heart

Martin

[Fabienne]

Dear family

There are so many things to be grateful for that it feels like a neverending, never-faltering flow of genuinely happy sentiments, accompanied by big smiles from the heart and deep, enjoyable breaths. If that flow is interrupted by a negative sentiment, the change is immediately noticeable, which helps on getting back on track.

So, the things I am exceptionally grateful for today?

-Having the opportunity to pamper my family, to see them laugh at my crazyness; to see them well-nourished, safe and now sleeping peacefully.

-Knowing that I, today, have great friends who accept me for the "Kung Fu Panda" I am and who are always there for me, no matter in how crazy of a Kung Fu mood I might be .

-Walking through the beautiful village I have the blessing to live in, breathing in the deliciously cold winter air.

-Knowing that I can go to work tomorrow.

-To experience the blessings of genuine Shaolin Arts who gave me the capability and mindset to enjoy the tiniest things, ever day, with a big, big smile on my face.

The list is endless.

How do you call a feeling that seems to soak you in a warm, fuzzy feeling from head to toe? That fills you up with warmth and love until it spills over and makes you laugh out loud or belt out a tune at the top of your lungs? An energy that fills your being with peace and a calm confidence?
This is what gratitude feels like to me.

Singing you a tune with a smile from the heart
Fabienne

[namaste]

lovely short film on gratitude

I thought this was beautiful. Apologies if its a repeat post.

Love to all

Rich

http://www.youtube.com/watch_popup?v...kyuQ&vq=medium

[Fabienne]

Dear namaste

Thank you so much for this incredible video! I just watched the whole 10 minutes of it and now feel deeply happy and relaxed .

[bonuscap]

Dear family,,

This seems a play on words but it hit me while thinking of how I could post a reply to this thread when there are some many things that I'm grateful for !!

That I'm grateful that I can be grateful as this in the past has not always been the case

Simply but life changing


Kind regards Chris