Grace

In Nirvikalpa, the agency of all experiences, Maya, the Great Mother, the Shakti, the Supreme Goddess, the Inherent Power of the Self, Whose Nature is That of Grace takes the mind and merges it in the Heart and Reveals HerSelf to Be the Heart. The ancients called it "Entering the Cave of the Heart." For lack of better words, this state of Being may be called "Deep Awake". It has no reference point as It Is Self. Only You. Only Self - Awake - Sat Chit Ananda, devoid of the mind and all suffering.

God's grace consists in the act that He shines in the heart of every one as the Self; that power of grace does not exclude any one, whether good or otherwise.

Bhagavan: It is difficult indeed, but not impossible once you are earnest about it. That is why they say you must have the touch of Grace. The influence of a Jnani (one who is enlightened) steals into you in silence. He need not talk.

Bhagavan: What to do? Pictures, names of God and pujas have been formed for this purpose. Only those who have attained the grace of Iswara will get the grace of the Guru. Only through the grace of the Guru can one attain the grace of the Self which is within. That alone is môksha or liberation.

Kindly bestow your grace on me.

Bhagavan: The attainment of mukti is not some new achievement. We are all in the form of mukti. Because we forget this and instead wrongly think, "I am this body," many thousands of thoughts arise in wave after wave and conceal what we really are. Mukti will only shine when this thought ["I am the body"] is destroyed.

If you seek God with your whole heart, then you may be assured that the Grace of God is also seeking you.

Bhagavan: What is this talk of guru's grace? Does the guru hold you by the hand and whisper something in your ear? You imagine him to be what you are yourself. Because you are identified with the body, you think that he is also a body, and will do something tangible to you. But his work lies within. How is a guru found? If a devotee prays to God unselfishly, God who is immanent, in his grace takes pity on the loving devotee and manifests Himself as a being according to the devotee's standard. The devotee thinks that it is a person and expects a relationship between them as bodies, but the guru, who is God or Self incarnate, works from within, helps the person to see the error of his ways, and guides him along the right path until he realizes the Self within. After such a realization, he feels, "I was so worried before, I am after all the Self, the same as before but not affected by anything. Where is he now who was so miserable? He is nowhere to be found." What should we do now? Only live up to the words of the master.

Bhagavan: We are Iswara. By seeing ourselves as Him we are having his grace. His nature is grace. Leave it to Him. Surrender unreservedly, either because you admit your inability and require a higher power to help you, or investigate, go into the source and merge in the Self. God never forsakes one who has surrendered. A higher power is leading you; let it. It knows what to do and how to do it. Trust it.

Question: I pray for your grace as human effort is futile without it.

Bhagavan: Both are necessary. The sun is shining, but you must turn and look at it in order to catch a glimpse. Similarly, individual effort is necessary as well as grace.

Grace is within you; if it were external it would be useless. Grace is the Self; you are never out of its reach. If you remember the guru, it is because you have been prompted by the Self. Isn't grace already there? Is there a moment when grace is not operating in you? Your remembrance of the guru is the forerunner of grace. Grace is both the response and the stimulus. That is the Self and that is grace. There is no cause for anxiety.

The "Vichara" or Inquiry which you are making (that is, its presence in the life of those who practice it regularly) is itself the guru's or God's grace.

It is like the elephant, which wakes up on seeing a lion in its dream. Even as an elephant wakes up at the mere sight of the lion, so too it is certain that the disciple wakes up from the deep sleep of ignorance into wakefulness of true knowledge through the guru's benevolent look of grace.

Grace is there all along. Grace is the Self. It is not something to be acquired. All that is necessary is to know its existence. In the same way, the sun is pure brightness. It is ever there and shines and you are surrounded by sunlight; still, if you want to know the sun, you must turn your eyes in its direction and look at it. Similarly, grace is only to be found by effort, although it is here and now.

We cannot attain realization of the Self by our mind, unaided by God's grace.