As the first blog entry got exhausted. My second book |
Question: Does God's grace operate according to laws? Does He consider how much sadhana anyone has performed and accordingly bestow His grace? Or is grace without cause and reason? Is it lavished without strict relation to one's worthiness and entirely dependent on God's will? Mataji: In God's kingdom everything is possible. Listen to a story: Lord Narayana was having his meal. Suddenly he got up and hurried away, saying, " One of my devotees is being beaten. I have to go and rescue him." But after a little while he returned leisurely without having gone to the destination. On being asked why he had rushed away in the middle of his meal and then returned so quickly, the Lord replied, "My devotee was invoking me in dire distress. I hastened to his help. But when I saw that he had started defending himself there was no need for me to help him and so I returned." A lesson can be learned from this. One has to invoke Him and to the very end depend on Him alone. Remembrance of His name, forbearance, seeking His shelter and complete self-dedication are man's duty. Although grace has this motive, it still remains without cause and reason. When a devotee receives divine grace he realizes that it is infinitely greater than what he could have deserved by his devotion and the conscientious performance of his duties. Thus grace is unmerited divine favour - without motive, cause or reason. God's whole creation is such. But unless one has attained to a certain level of achievement one will not be able to understand the complete causelessness of grace. |