Miscellaneous - Religion   

Descent of grace

CHENNAI: : It is not possible to comprehend the grandeur and greatness of the Supreme Being merely with one's knowledge, reason or intellect. It is only through His Divine Grace that one becomes aware of His transcending, omnipresent and omnipotent Reality. This awareness brings about a spiritual evolution leading to total surrender to the Almighty. Saints and the devout have experienced this in unique ways.

The central message of Thiruvachakam is surrender to God, and Saint Manickavachagar repeatedly prays to the Almighty to give him the mind to seek His feet, said Sri T.V. Venkatraman in a lecture. Manickavachagar's strong belief is that even this aspiration can happen only with God's grace. He decries his own helplessness, inadequacy and undeserving status in this spiritual effort. To sustain this desire towards God awareness is very difficult and calls for great effort to escape the tendency to act according to the dictates of the senses and overcome the powerful pulls of the world.

It is only with God's grace, true devotion blooms. Then one firmly understands that the individual is not at the centre of affairs, but at the periphery. The perception of God's presence in oneself and in each and every object of the universe is the beginning of spiritual growth.

When one starts to believe that whatever human faculties one possesses function not because of oneself, but derive their respective powers from a superior power, there can be no room for ego. The harmful effects of ego must be comprehended fully before one can defeat it. Its prime role lies in easily alluring us towards matters that are not at all beneficial, and to positions where one starts to decline. It leads people to act in ways that only perpetrate the cycle of life and allow them to wallow in ignorance.

To grasp the significance of God's pervasiveness and perceive the individual as a part of it is the only way to develop an unselfish outlook that derives happiness in merely being a part of it. This inner awareness of one's relationship to God can happen only with His grace.

Evolved souls aspiring for nothing short of God realisation have prayed to Him for the ultimate knowledge of Him. Any other kind of knowledge that may be useful and pertinent for human and worldly affairs, is not only limited but is bound to hinder spiritual growth.

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