The Hindu : Miscellaneous / Religion : Transforming experience

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Thursday, Sep 09, 2004

Miscellaneous

Miscellaneous - Religion

Transforming experience

CHENNAI, SEPT.9 . The descent of divine grace in an individual's life is the turning point in his spiritual evolution over countless lives. Till this happens the person is unaware of the guiding hand of God directing his destiny which is the reason that this first spiritual experience has some typical features as can be seen in the hymns of mystics. This is first of all a transformative experience since after this there is no more doubt about man's spiritual nature and that he belongs to God. It is a fleeting experience but its effect is lasting and hence the immediate response is one of despair of having lost it. Christian mystics refer to the phase of spiritual evolution after this experience as the "dark night of the soul." It is as a result of this experience that the devotee gets the certainty that God is not beyond human reach. This makes the devotee yearn for the experience again and hence the spiritual evolution becomes a conscious striving from this stage.

In his discourse, Sri T.V.Venkataraman said Saint Tirujnanasambandar received gnosis directly from the Divine Mother as a child of three when She fed him milk. Sekkhizhar in the Periya Puranam says that Sambandar experienced "Siva jnanam" at that moment with his whole being— a matchless knowledge of the Reality. This child understood the facts of life acknowledging God's grace in shaping his destiny as can be seen from the incidents in his life. There was total submission to the will of God and gratitude that He had even without his knowledge enabled him to ascend the ladder of spirituality through the travails of life. Each mystic's expression of this is unique but these distinctive features are evident in this transforming experience.

Manikkavasagar in his Tiruvachakam expresses his despair thus, "You appeared before me Your servitor even as You truly are; I beheld you. Yet, I do not behold You. What ocular witchery is this?" Along with this sentiment there is an overwhelming feeling of gratitude that God has taken charge of his life; that he is irretrievably related to Him and He has enslaved him eternally. But the fact that the devotee has been singled out for divine grace must not be taken lightly as Manikkavasagar in another verse says without mincing words that even the denizens of heaven do not have knowledge of the Supreme Being. The Tiruvachakam is thus a song of grace; a soulful expression of gratitude to the Almighty for the experience bequeathed by Him.

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