Receiving the Gift of Blood

If we cannot be happy in spite of our difficulties, what good is our spiritual practice?
—Maha Ghosananda

When people receive blood transfusions, the circumstances are almost never happy. Whether blood loss is due to a car accident, postpartum hemorrhage, or the on-going treatment of a disease, transfusions arrive in our lives in the midst of hardship—physical and emotional. But rather than seeing the transfusion itself as a sign of this suffering, we can choose to see the offering of blood as a gift.

In an essay on gratitude, American Buddhist, Jack Kornfield, notes that Tibetan monks begin each day with prayers of gratitude—for life, for food, for breath. They even offer gratitude for suffering:

“Grant that I might have enough suffering to awaken in me the deepest possible compassion and wisdom.”

If you have received or are currently receiving blood, there is much to be grateful for, even amidst the suffering that occasions transfusions. Consider all that sustains you—the earth and all that lives, the air you breathe, doctors and nurses who spent years acquiring skills that now benefit your healing, the people who have passed along the Buddha’s teachings to you, your ancestors, and finally, the anonymous person who gave their blood without knowing who it would benefit.

Suffering itself can be isolating. It often draws people in on themselves and narrows their view to the body and mind in pain. This is, of course, natural. But it also increases suffering. A simple practice of gratitude meditation can profoundly affect the experience of suffering by expanding awareness of the many, many blessings that attend and arise out of even our bleakest moments.

May your suffering bring you new compassion.
May your suffering bring wisdom.
May your suffering end.
May you experience deep gratitude and joy.