LESSER GRATITUDE, GREATER GRATITUDE
Path to God-realization
THE Prophet Muhammad is reported to have said, “One who does not show gratitude for lesser things, will not express gratitude for greater things as well.” (Musnad Ahmed, Hadith No. 18449) This saying illustrates a law of nature. This law is: By recalling minor incidents, a person brings alive the memories of major events.
Studies in psychology indicate that the human brain contains many different files. For example, love file, hate file, acknowledgement file, oppression file, etc. The mind keeps on putting separately all the experiences and observations of the human being. When a person is affected by a particular incident, this triggers his mind, and then it is as if the file of this type opens up and all the events of this type come to the fore.
A small event of gratitude becomes a cause of greater gratitude. This feeling is increased to such an extent that the person feels that a fountain of gratitude has started flowing in his heart.
This law of nature plays an important role in matters of gratitude and acknowledgement. For example, you received a mobile phone today. You spoke to a distant person. Then, you thought about the difficulty of contacting another person just a couple of decades ago.
This realization produced a deep sense of gratitude and you expressed the bounties of God. This process will immediately trigger your mind. At this time, the file of the brain will open all the items of gratitude under this system of nature. Your brain will refresh all such incidences from your life. Thus, a small event of gratitude becomes a cause of greater gratitude. This feeling is increased to such an extent that the person feels that a fountain of gratitude has started flowing in his heart. The feeling of gratitude continues to enhance a person’s relationship with God, till he reaches the highest level of God-realization.