Divine Grace...

“God’s grace is of many kinds; out of these which is the greatest?”

There are three kinds of divine grace: (1) samanya or general, (2) vishesh or special, and (3) adbhut or extraordinary. General grace is bestowed equally on all the souls by God. It includes such gracious acts as creating the universe, taking the souls out of their state of pending after the dissolution period (mahapralaya), granting a particular form to a soul based on the calculation of his good and bad actions, and eternally remaining seated in the heart of every living being. God omnipresent resides in this material creation and also seats Himself in the heart of all the souls noting and evaluating their actions and then giving the consequences of their previous lives’ actions. We don’t have to exert any effort for God to do this for us.

For those of you who resides here at the ashram in Mangarh, this is not an accident or coincidence. This is vishesh kripa, special grace. If you had not received this grace of God, you would have gone to an ordinary guru who would have prescribed all the common devotional practices given to the public, “Repeat this mantra,” “Renounce this or that,” “Go to this pilgrimage place,” and you would have wasted time and failed to practice true devotion.

The devotional feelings that you attained up to this point you haven’t acquired on your own. For example, if you are traveling on the train and you hear somebody nearby say, “Radhey!” You will immediately look around to see who it was because you have started to feel so much love for Radhey name. You immediately assume this person is good, even though in reality he may be a seasoned criminal. This feeling of affinity is also a great grace of God, which you received after so many births of practicing devotion. You don’t realize how great this is. God internally keeps an accounting of the consequences of your devotional actions and in due course causes you to meet a true Saint. We can’t use our own logic or intellect to search for the Saint because we will only evaluate someone on the basis of their external behavior.

We evaluate who is a true Saint and think someone to be holy because he sits under a tree, lives with nothing, and externally gives the impression of complete renunciation. If these were the determining factors for saintliness then all the animals in the jungle would be great renunciates and we should go there and start worshiping them. We can see they have little or no shelter, sleep on the ground, eat whatever presents itself to them, have no conveniences, have to endure the elements, own no possessions, have no clothing and so on. But just as the external reality of a jungle animal doesn’t relate to an inner devotional state, so we should not judge who is a true Saint by his external behavior or appearances. To meet a true Saint is thus only God’s grace.

To have received a human birth out of the 8.4 million species of life is also God’s special grace. We didn’t receive this through our actions, because both good and bad actions are lifeless. It is only when God gives the result of these actions that we undergo them. To take a human birth in India is also God’s special grace. It is only in India where even at the time of death you hear uttered, “Ram nam satya hai,” only God’s name is the ultimate truth.

 

What is the most special or extraordinary grace? Shri Krishna said to Arjuna, “I am completely unbiased towards all. I impartially calculate the good and bad consequences a soul must undergo based on his past actions. However, if instead of performing good and bad actions a soul turns to Me and completely surrenders to Me, then I bestow upon him my adbhut kripa, extraordinary grace, and he will come to Me.”

What is extraordinary grace? We practice devotion, but what can we actually do? How will we meditate on God with a material mind? We haven’t seen God. If we were to see God with our material eyes, and even if a true Saint were to confirm it was God, we would criticize Him. The state and quality of our mind determines how we would perceive God. A material mind can only conceive and perceive the material. But through grace, our mayic devotion is accepted as if it were a true meditation on the divine. Through God’s swaroop shakti that devotional remembrance is made divine, and then through this devotion, our mind becomes purified.

This extraordinary grace forces two other forms of extraordinary grace to occur. The moment our mind becomes completely purified through our devotion, then as Shri Krishna describes in the Gita (18/66) all the uncountable consequences of our actions from uncountable births are completely absolved. The karmic file recording all our past actions is burned totally. It is all forgiven. After this we are forever freed from Maya and remain with God and experience His supreme divine bliss forever.

Remember, that whenever any finally believes that Radha Krishn and Their name are one and the same and both have exactly the same Divine virtues and powers, at the very moment the soul becomes God realized; write it down in golden words.

God is so Gracious, He says, “I am omnipresent everywhere, but (O souls) you don’t recognize Me; I am in Golok, but there you cannot come; I am in your heart, but you don’t realize it; for your convenience I have thus kept ‘Myself’ in My ‘name’ and have revealed it in the world.”

Whenever your mind will fully conceive this Divine reality that I am truly and totally in My name, your voice will be choked while taking My name and even once when you will say “Radhey” your whole being will be thrilled with the excessive love; your mind will be drowned and your heart will be unceasingly overwhelmed with the felicity of the exhilarating Bliss of the name. Thus there is no delay in God realization and receiving the Divine Grace of your Master (Guru). Trust in these words,and see what your Master and krishn do for you...