Don't Thank Me, Thank God!
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Dear Friends, Those words still ring in my brain even though it was more than 30 years ago that our beloved teacher Yogi Bhajan shouted them at me after a yoga course in New York. That weekend he had worked hard on me, teaching and pushing me to new levels of self-awareness. I had rushed to thank him for all his efforts with me and he turned, reached out with a large hand on my shoulder, and left me with this command in answer to my "Thank you sir." I thought I got the point then, but it was only over time that it really sank in. After I had arrived in Phoenix and had been teaching and counseling and healing for a couple of years, a number of grateful folks threw a surprise party for me in a local park under a giant banner that read "Thank God for Sangeet." Such adulation was embarrassing at first, and then I realized they wanted God to know and get the credit for making me the resource I had become. Then there was the time when a sweet little girl came up to me to thank me for something she thought I had said that touched her heart and I told her that I was not that person. She looked perplexed, unable to remember who the proper person was to thank. So she asked me if I would accept her thanks anyway and somehow pass it on. I told her she could do something better and thank God for whoever that person was and God would pass the blessings on to them. She liked that idea, and did just that, and God did the rest. God has a marvelous way of giving credit where credit is due, even when we don't know who to thank. God delivers the blessings to that person, the parents who raised them, friends who supported them, in fact all those who should share in the credit and blessings. That's even more fair than just thanking the person directly. The great records on high miss nothing and all good deeds are rewarded at some time in some way that is appropriate. So a few weeks ago, when it came my time to thank all of you, standing before some 220 folks at my 70th birthday party, instead of reciting names I just simply said that I thank God for all of you. Of course I am still happy to accept your thanks but I will always respond with thanks to you, and thanks to God, for giving me the opportunity to serve you, and for putting me in so many right places at the right time to be of help. I thank God for all of you who have trusted me as a teacher, a counselor, a guide and a healer. All of you who have served on the Womanheart retreat staff and all who have attended and grown at those retreats. All of you who ever took a yoga class with me, or meditated in a healing circle in the full moon, or came to a Reiki Open House, or poured your interest into learning my numerology system so you could understand more about people you love. And I thank God for all of you who have joined me at events in my home, leaving a lasting contribution of warmth and peace there. My thanks goes to God for all who helped support my 70th birthday party and who made contributions to the upcoming publication of my new book "The Blessings Code." I am forever grateful to God for those special couples who asked me to lead them in their marriage vows, and I am humbled by those who asked for me to be present when it was their time to pass from this world into God's arms. And there is such gratitude to God for all the children who have taught me much, with their curiosity and their laughter, and gratitude also for all of you who are ageless because you still have within you a child's laughter and curiosity. Now I have entered Year One of my new 10-year plan. I have much to accomplish –books to write, videos and CDs to record and produce, classes and retreats to teach, and countless new teachers to inspire. Of course if you wish to express gratitude to me, tell it to God as well. I will continue to thank God for you. Grace comes with gratitude and gratitude comes with giving, and giving is the only living. Bless you in all ways always!
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