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    Sadhana Versus The Grace of God

    Uploaded by

    Shanker Iyer
    1) The visitor asks if spiritual attainment depends more on individual sadhana (spiritual practice) or God's grace. 2) The Swami responds that sadhana and God's grace are not separate - it is God doing sadhana through the individual. When grace flows through a person, they mistakenly feel it is their own effort. 3) True surrender means recognizing that you are a form taken by God's grace, and ceasing to see yourself as working independently. Spiritual practice is actually God's work through the individual.

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    Sadhana Versus The Grace of God

    Uploaded by

    Shanker Iyer
    22 views2 pages
    1) The visitor asks if spiritual attainment depends more on individual sadhana (spiritual practice) or God's grace. 2) The Swami responds that sadhana and God's grace are not separate - it is God doing sadhana through the individual. When grace flows through a person, they mistakenly feel it is their own effort. 3) True surrender means recognizing that you are a form taken by God's grace, and ceasing to see yourself as working independently. Spiritual practice is actually God's work through the individual.

    Original Description:

    How is sadhana different from Grace? or are they the same?

    Original Title

    Sadhana Versus the Grace of God

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    1) The visitor asks if spiritual attainment depends more on individual sadhana (spiritual practice) or God's grace. 2) The Swami responds that sadhana and God's grace are not separate - it is God doing sadhana through the individual. When grace flows through a person, they mistakenly feel it is their own effort. 3) True surrender means recognizing that you are a form taken by God's grace, and ceasing to see yourself as working independently. Spiritual practice is actually God's work through the individual.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as docx, pdf, or txt
    22 views2 pages

    Sadhana Versus The Grace of God

    Uploaded by

    Shanker Iyer
    1) The visitor asks if spiritual attainment depends more on individual sadhana (spiritual practice) or God's grace. 2) The Swami responds that sadhana and God's grace are not separate - it is God doing sadhana through the individual. When grace flows through a person, they mistakenly feel it is their own effort. 3) True surrender means recognizing that you are a form taken by God's grace, and ceasing to see yourself as working independently. Spiritual practice is actually God's work through the individual.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as docx, pdf, or txt
    of 2

    Sadhana versus the Grace of God

    by Swami Krishnananda

    Visitor: After so many years of practising sadhana, I wonder


    whether anything can be attained through practice alone, or does
    it all depend on the grace of God?
    Swamiji: You are asking me if there is a difference between the
    effort of the individual in practising sadhana, and the descent of
    God. You are asking me whether they are two different things.
    They are not two different things. God Himself is doing sadhana
    through you. There is a great book called Panchadasi written by
    Sage Vidyaranya. There he says īśaḥ puruṣa kārasya rūpeṇāpi
    vivartate (Pan 6.177): God can enter you and make you feel that
    you are doing sadhana. God Himself is doing sadhana through
    you, so why are you attributing it to yourself? Your individuality is
    wiped out completely. He is doing it. He has entered you, and is
    impelling you towards meditation. That is the grace of God
    entering into you, and wrongly you feel that you are doing it.
    In the Mahabharata war all the work was done by Lord Krishna,
    and yet the glory went to Arjuna only. Arjuna felt that he had done
    the work but it was done by the grace of Lord Krishna. Everything
    that we do is by the grace of God only, but when it enters through
    us, we feel that we are doing it. It is a mistake on our part. The
    sadhana that you are doing is the work of God only, so you must
    be grateful to Him. Be happy.
    Visitor: So the thing that prevents me from realising God is the
    feeling that I am doing it?
    Swamiji: That sense of I, that is the obstacle. You have not fully
    surrendered yourself. You are a shape taken by the grace of God.
    God Himself has created you for His purpose. This is actually
    surrender. You cease to be there independently working. We have
    no right even to lift a hand unless the centre of the cosmos
    operates.
    There is a very interesting book, beautifully written in very good
    English. The author is trying to bring about a rapprochement
    between relativity and quantum. I was reminded of the mantra tat
    tvam asi. Tat means That, tvam means you. How can the two be
    reconciled, That and thou? But it can be reconciled. Tat tvam asi:
    Thou art That. The relativity is the quantum. Tat tvam asi means
    that relativity is the quantum. Then asi is the unified field theory,
    from the Upanishadic point of view. It is a very well-written book. I
    liked it very much. It is a very pleasant style of writing.
    Yes, everything is done by God. We are only tools, instruments.
    God is playing this drama of the universe, making us dance to His
    tunes and play the part that we are expected to play. We have our
    exits and we have our entrances, as Shakespeare mentions.
    Everyone is playing different roles allotted to them in the drama
    of this universe. You come, and the curtain falls and there is an
    exit; another comes, and the curtain lifts. This is what is
    happening. It is all One Being, the Great Master of the universe
    working, for whose pleasure?
    The Brahma Sutra, the great text, says you cannot explain why
    God is doing like that. It is said lokavattu līlākaivalyam (B.S.
    2.1.33). It is a kind of play, that’s all. There is no logical reason
    behind it. No logic can be applied to God’s activity. It is a
    superabundance of the glory of God; that’s all they say. The world
    is a superabundance of the flooding of the glory of God. The
    whole world is the glory of God’s flooding, like a universal ocean
    rising in high waves. This universe is a high wave, a tidal wave of
    God’s blessing. Be happy. We have every reason to be happy, and
    there is no reason to be sorry. Ānandād hy eva khalv imāni bhūtāni
    jāyante (T.U. 3.6.1) says the Taittiriya Upanishad: From the bliss of
    God the universe has come, by the bliss of God we are sustained,
    and to the bliss of God we will enter. We have every reason to be
    happy, and we have no reason to be sorry. Be happy.

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