16

Enlightenment Journal | Winter 2012-2013

3. What has opened for me today? What has deepened or fallen into place? 

4. What’s calling to be strengthened, softened, opened, or deepened? 
Each of these questions is a tracking tool for blessings, learnings, mercies, and 

protections—the four universal portals to gratitude. 
Rev. O’Brian:

 Tell us about the first portal, blessings. 

Angeles Arrien:

 Blessings is the portal we all recognize. The blessings in our life 

are often considered unexpected gifts, and the capacity to bless others is a gift of 

extending generosity to another human being by asking that they be blessed in 

some way. Sometimes we call this a state of grace and sometimes we call it possi-

bility or opportunity. 
Rev. O’Brian:

  So by blessings you mean openings, or avenues that show us how 

to become more aware of gratitude. I like to say, “Life conspires to support us.” 

This attitude opens our consciousness to blessings everyday. Yoga recognizes 

life as one Reality that is supportive. We can learn how to cooperate with this 

supportive influence. 
Angeles Arrien: 

 Within each human being there is an inherent drive toward 

wholeness or learning—to grow, to stretch, to explore, to discover. We are here 

to learn about and to express love, and to create, manifest, contribute, and serve. 

Relationships are teachers of the heart. And the portal of learnings is how we 

meet challenges to grow, stretch, and move beyond the knowable and familiar. 

We are always in a constant state of growth or unfoldment, discovering who we 

are and who we are not, and what our destiny or life calling is. We serve each 

other through our relationships and learnings because they allow us to express 

love, grow and create, contribute and serve. 
Rev. O’Brian: 

When we bring an attitude of receptivity to learning, particularly 

in times of challenge, we have the opportunity to learn whether we are experi-

encing something positively or negatively. What happens in our relationships 

when we hold challenge as a blessing, as a call toward growth? 
Angeles Arrien:

 The next portal, the mercies, is the aspect of the heart that is 

willing to make amends or atonement or to extend forgiveness. Forgiving is 

giving ahead of what is anticipated. If I am a person with a highly critical nature, 

whether internally or externally, I project that outwardly; I have compassion 

work to do. I may have done a lot of work to shift my criticality toward under-

standing that on the other side of being judgmental and critical, I have a gift of 

discernment. However, I am misusing that gift because discernment doesn’t carry 

judgment, scrutiny or assessment, but is more of a “fair witness.” Discernment