Buddhist Gratitude Journal
This Buddhist gratitude journal offers one short prompt each evening, drawn from what the texts say about gratitude, giving and rejoicing. Write a few lines if you like; they stay in your browser and nowhere else. You can close with a dedication of merit in your own tradition's words. There is no score and no streak.
This evening's prompt
Your evenings
The last four weeks; a filled square is an evening you wrote. Nothing here counts good deeds or keeps a streak: skip a night and simply come back.
Kept in this browser only. Nothing you write is sent to us or anyone else, and there is no account. Clearing your browser's data deletes it.
Where the prompts come from
The prompts are our own questions, and each names the text it rests on. Several rest on recollection: the Buddha teaches the lay follower Mahānāma to call to mind his own ethics and his own generosity, "while working, and while at home with your children" (AN 11.12), and says that recollecting them gladdens the mind (AN 6.10). Others rest on gratitude itself: one who takes the initiative and one who is "grateful and thankful", says AN 2.119, are two people rare in the world. Others rest on rejoicing in someone else's good, which one discourse says gives those who rejoice "a share in the merit" (AN 5.36). Writing it down is not an ancient Buddhist practice, and the journal does not claim it is; our guide to Buddhism and gratitude sets out what the texts do teach.
The dedication, tradition by tradition
After you save, you can close with a dedication in your own tradition's words: a Thai Forest chanting book's verses on sharing merit, the Sōtō Zen evening dedication, a Tibetan dedication prayer, Śāntideva's verse of rejoicing, or, for someone who has died, the line from the Pali discourse Outside the Walls. Jōdo Shinshū gets a note instead of a verse, because Shinran taught that the directing of virtue is Amida's, not the practitioner's. Our page on merit explains how the traditions differ.
If today was hard
A gratitude journal can turn into one more thing to fail at. This one asks for nothing: there is a "Today was hard" option that drops the prompt, and a blank evening breaks nothing. It is a reflection practice, not a treatment; research reviews find gratitude exercises have a small effect on symptoms of depression and anxiety. If what you write sounds like distress, the journal shows real support lines, on your own device, and offers no prompt or verse in reply. For a hard moment there is also The Second Arrow, and for loss the Grief Companion.
Review the day's ethics with the Five Precepts Check-In, build a daily routine with the Buddhist Practice Plan, or read the four heavenly abodes, where rejoicing (muditā) belongs. See all our free tools.
Frequently asked questions
What should I write in a Buddhist gratitude journal?
A few honest lines for one prompt. The prompts here rest on the texts: someone who did something for you first (AN 2.119 calls such people rare), your own giving remembered (AN 6.10), someone else's good you can be glad about (AN 5.36), or what was enough today (Snp 2.4). The texts teach recollection, not journaling; writing it down is our way of practising it.
What do Buddhists say when they dedicate merit?
It differs by tradition. A Thai Forest chanting book's verses ask that all beings 'partake of all the merit'; a popular Tibetan prayer begins 'Through this merit, may all beings attain the omniscient state of enlightenment'; the Soto evening service has a universal transference of merit. Jodo Shinshu offers no dedication of one's own merit, because Shinran taught that the directing of virtue is Amida's. The journal shows each in full after you save.
What if I can't think of anything to be grateful for today?
Then write nothing, or write what happened. The journal has a 'Today was hard' option that drops the prompt and asks for nothing. Gratitude that is forced is not the point, and a blank evening breaks nothing: there is no streak to lose.
Why doesn't this merit journal count good deeds or keep a streak?
That is our choice, not a rule the texts lay down. The texts teach recollecting your own good to gladden the mind (AN 6.10), and one discourse says those who rejoice in another's gift 'have a share in the merit' (AN 5.36). A tally, we think, would pull against that. The journal shows only the evenings you wrote.
Is a gratitude journal a treatment for low mood?
No. It is a reflection practice. A 2021 meta-analysis of 27 studies found gratitude exercises had a small effect on symptoms of depression and anxiety, and a 2016 meta-analysis found they did no better than other active exercises. If you are struggling, please talk to a doctor or someone you trust; the support lines are on this page.
Does anyone else see what I write here?
No. Entries are kept in your own browser, with no account, and are never sent to us or anyone else. The check that shows support if you write something that sounds like distress also runs on your device. You can download your entries or delete them at any time.
Sources
- The Chapter on Hopes That Are Hard to Give Up (AN 2.119), trans. Bhikkhu Sujato, SuttaCentral (CC0): 'one who takes the initiative, and one who is grateful and thankful' are rare
- The Chapter on the Peaceful Mind (AN 2.32–33), trans. Bhikkhu Sujato, SuttaCentral (CC0): the true person 'is grateful and thankful'; 'Parents are very helpful to their children' (AN 2.31–32 in Access to Insight's numbering)
- With Mahānāma (AN 6.10), trans. Bhikkhu Sujato, SuttaCentral (CC0): the recollection of one's own ethics and generosity
- With Mahānāma (2nd) (AN 11.12), trans. Bhikkhu Sujato, SuttaCentral (CC0): recollection 'while working, and while at home with your children'
- Blessings (Snp 2.4), trans. Bhikkhu Sujato, SuttaCentral (CC0): 'contentment and gratitude'
- The Simile of the Cloth (MN 7), trans. Bhikkhu Sujato, SuttaCentral (CC0): 'a heart full of rejoicing'
- Timely Gifts (AN 5.36), trans. Bhikkhu Sujato, SuttaCentral (CC0): those who rejoice in a gift 'have a share in the merit'
- Grounds for Making Merit (AN 8.36), trans. Bhikkhu Sujato, SuttaCentral (CC0): giving, ethical conduct and meditation
- Outside the Walls (Kp 7), trans. Bhikkhu Sujato, SuttaCentral (CC0): 'May this be for our relatives!'
- Verses on the Sharing of Merit, Chanting Book, Volume One (Amaravati Publications, 2021), p. 34 (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0; chanting marks omitted), hosted by Abhayagiri Buddhist Monastery
- Soto School Scriptures for Daily Services and Practice (Sōtōshū Shūmuchō), Evening Sutra Chanting, Universal Transference of Merit (Fuekō), p. 65
- The Lotus Sutra, trans. Kubo Tsugunari and Yuyama Akira, BDK English Tripiṭaka (2007), chapter VII, p. 126 (T 262, 24c21–22)
- The Dedication of Merit from the Jātakas, trans. Rigpa Translations, Lotsawa House (CC BY-NC 4.0)
- Lotsawa House, Dedication Series: 'The most popular four-line prayer for the dedication of merit, which is said to derive from the Jātaka tales'
- Śāntideva, Bodhicaryāvatāra, chapter 3, trans. Adam Pearcey, Lotsawa House (CC BY-NC 4.0)
- Tannishō, section 5, The Collected Works of Shinran (Jōdo Shinshū Hongwanji-ha, 1997)
- Shinran, Kyōgyōshinshō, Chapter on Teaching, The Collected Works of Shinran (Jōdo Shinshū Hongwanji-ha, 1997): 'Amida's directing of virtue to sentient beings has two aspects'
- Plum Village, Contemplations Before Eating (Plum Village app)
- David R. Cregg and Jennifer S. Cheavens, 'Gratitude Interventions: Effective Self-help? A Meta-analysis of the Impact on Symptoms of Depression and Anxiety', Journal of Happiness Studies 22 (2021): 413–445 (abstract, IDEAS/RePEc)
- Don E. Davis et al., 'Thankful for the little things: A meta-analysis of gratitude interventions', Journal of Counseling Psychology 63, no. 1 (2016): 20–31 (PubMed abstract)
- Buddhism and Gratitude, e-Buddhism.com: kataññutā, the grateful heart