A Modern Look at the Four Gratitudes

My little girl goes to “Dharma School” almost every Sunday, which is the Buddhist version of “Sunday School”, here at the Buddhist temple in Seattle. She’s almost four years old, and this past weekend for Bodhi Day, they made these little signs:

This is a modern, easy to understand look at the Buddhist notion of the Four Gratitudes, which I’ve mentioned in the past here and here. Humility is a deep virtue in Buddhism. Not in the hokey, fake-modesty sense, but through a great deal of self-reflection one learns to face oneself and see themselves, warts and all. But that is how you learn! And through this, we learn to appreciate the efforts of those around us, and deflate our own self-infatuation.¹

As a Buddhist and parent, it’s very nice to see such teachings passed on to children. If everyone learned to be humble like this, I think the world would be a better place.

Regarding the last stanza about the Three Treasures of Buddhism, these are the Buddha, the Buddha’s Teachings and the Buddhist community. These form a crucial foundation of the Pure Land Buddhist path as they do all other schools, but we happen to go to a Pure Land temple hence it is mentioned here.

Namu Amida Butsu

¹ Ironically, even when criticizing oneself or comparing ourselves to others, it is still another form of self-infatuation. Bear that in mind.