Blessing, rightly understood, is the invisible bloodstream pulsating through the universe—alive and life-giving.

David Steindl-Rast

Alive and Life Giving

Listening closely, we can hear how similar they sound, the words blessing and blood. Blessing, rightly understood, is the invisible bloodstream pulsating through the universe—alive and life-giving. “Just to live is holy,” says the great Jewish sage Abraham Joshua Heschel. “Just to be is a blessing.”

David Steindl-Rast

David Steindl-Rast, a 96-year-old Benedictine monk, author, and scholar, is globally celebrated for his enduring teachings on gratitude as the foundation of lasting happiness. Often referred to as the “grandfather of gratitude,” Steindl-Rast has been a beacon of inspiration and spiritual mentor to an array of international leaders and luminaries such as Desmond Tutu, the Dalai Lama, Thich Nhat Hanh, and Thomas Merton. His significant contribution to the modern interfaith dialogue movement is noteworthy, and his teachings have been shared alongside thought-leaders like Eckhart Tolle, Jack Kornfield, and Roshi Joan Halifax.

Steindl-Rast's wisdom and insights have been showcased in recent interviews with influential figures like Oprah Winfrey, Krista Tippett, and Tami Simon, extending his reach to a wider audience. His TED talk on the subject of gratefulness, which emphasizes its role as a transformative power in individual lives and broader societies, has been viewed almost 10,000,000 times, reflecting his substantial impact on global audiences.

He is also affiliated with Grateful.org, an organization dedicated to cultivating gratitude as a transformative and healing practice. Steindl-Rast's teachings continue to echo across generations, fostering a culture of gratitude and encouraging an interfaith dialogue centered on universal values and shared human experiences. His life's work is a testament to his unwavering commitment to the exploration and promotion of gratitude as the bedrock of holistic well-being and spiritual fulfillment.

(1926 - ) Christianity
Inner Peace Through Gratefulness

Steindl-Rast, Brother David. Stop-Look-Go: A Grateful Practice Workbook and Gratitude Journal. Edited by Gary Fiedel and Karie Jacobson, A Network for Grateful Living, 2016, p. 76 [in collaboration with The Greater Good Science Center].

David Steindl-Rast

Theme: Gratefulness

Brother David Steindl-Rast

Brother David Steindl-Rast—96 year-old author, scholar, and Benedictine monk currently living at the Gut Aich Priory monastery in St. Gilgen, Austria—is beloved the world over for his enduring message about gratefulness as the true source of lasting happiness. He speaks of mysticism as the birthright of every human being, and of the anatomy and practice of gratitude as full-blooded, reality-based, and redeeming.

Br. David has been a source of inspiration and spiritual friendship to countless leaders and luminaries around the world including Desmond Tutu, the Dalai Lama, Thich Nhat Hanh, Thomas Merton, and more. He has been one of the most important figures in the modern interfaith dialogue movement, and has taught with thought-leaders such as Eckhart Tolle, Jack Kornfield, and Roshi Joan Halifax. His wisdom has been featured in recent interviews with Oprah Winfrey, Krista Tippett, and Tami Simon and his TED talk has been viewed almost 10,000,000 times. —Grateful.org [For more click on “Show Bio.”]

Additional Br. David Steindl-Rast Quotes

“At any moment the fully present mind can shatter time and burst into Now.”

—Brother David Steindl-Rast.

“Gratefulness unlocks joy. Nothing that we take for granted gives us joy. Yet the smallest surprise, received gratefully, yields a harvest of delight.”

—Brother David Steindl-Rast.

A Network for Grateful Living

Br. David Steindl-Rast is the founder and senior advisor for A Network for Grateful Living. His books include Gratefulness: the Heart of Prayer, Belonging to the Universe, and A Listening Heart: The Spirituality of Sacred Sensuousness.

Inner Peace Through Gratefulness

Brother David often says that if more people were grateful, the world would actually begin to change for the better. You can’t be grateful and hateful; you can’t be grateful and selfish. Gratefulness confers a host of benefits for the individual and for the world.

Gary Fiedel, Peace of Heart.

A favorite practice of Gary Fidel’s comes directly from a quote by Brother David:

“We are never more than one grateful thought away from peace of heart.”

—Brother David Steindl-Rast [Inner Peace Through Gratefulness (Stop Look Go, The Art and Science of Grateful Living)] P. 76.

When I turn my attention to feeling grateful, I feel happy and blessed. My mind is at peace. The practices in this book were created to cultivate gratitude and the joy, kindness and well-being that gratitude brings. My wish for you is that your life is happier and better as you learn to practice living gratefully.

—Gary Fiedel [Co-Founder Gratefulness.org and A Network for Grateful Living].

The one most frequently repeated command in the Bible is not “love your neighbor,” but “fear not.” And if there is one thing that we need in our world, if there’s one thing that we should write on our mirror and see every morning when we look into the mirror, it’s “fear not.” If we went into the day with that command deeply tattooed on our heart, “fear not,” we’d be completely different people and create a completely different world—a world of faith.

So we participate in this tremendous dance in which the gift comes forth from the source and through thanksgiving returns to the source, where the word comes out of the silence and through understanding returns to the silence. Gratefulness is not just saying “thank you.” It’s acting. It is being your self. A mother is grateful, shows gratefulness by mothering, a scientist by doing science. That is what the Bible calls “in God we live and move and have our being.”

—Brother David Steindl-Rast [On Gratitude, Interview with Religion & Ethics NewsWeekly].

Alive and Life Giving

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