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God’s infinite grace

CHENNAI: Spiritual awareness signifies a state of mind which is centred in God, regardless of the situation in which one is placed. An individual’s spiritual nature is determined only in terms of one’s sincere relationship with God and does not depend on whether one is a householder or a Sanyasi, pointed out Swami Gautamananda in a lecture. Sri Ramakrishna repeatedly stressed this basic feature of spiritual quotient in each individual, and instructed his disciples who were drawn from different walks of life into this truth. Our heart and mind has to be in God.

This is also the essence of Bhakti. The Bhagavad Gita speaks of Bhakti as the sincerity in one’s thought, word and deed in respect of one’s personal and intimate relationship with God, and discounts any show of ostentation in the offerings to the Almighty. The emphasis is on the devotional and not the material component of the offering. Moreover when one understands that all of us belong to Him and that we exist because of Him, we also realise that what we think we own is all God given and what we can offer Him is our true devotion alone. To the question whether Sadhanas (spiritual effort) would help us to reach God, Sri Ramakrishna would reiterate that it all depends on God’s grace.

The entire universe is sustained by God who dwells inside every being dispensing the fruits of Karma. Human beings can strive to seek His feet, but God has to grace the effort. All our efforts are limited and fall within the bounds of limitations. But God is described as Satyam (Truth), Jnanam (Consciousness), Anantham(Endless) signifying His boundless nature that cannot be evaluated or measured. Brahma Jnana is hence not possible through Sadhana alone which is bound by many limitations. This is not to belittle the effort of sadhana.

The overpowering and enigmatic effect of God’s grace is seen in the transformation of Sage Valmiki. From a life of a dacoit he gained true realisation when he understood the truth of life by God’s grace. He attained the spirit of Vairagya (dispassion) and was blessed by God to write the story of Lord Rama in the form of the most captivating epic.

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