The Grace of the Guru.........

The Scriptures, God and the Saints unanimously state that when God bestows his Grace, He takes away our material possessions.

Yasyahamanugrahnami harisye tadhanam sanaih

(Bhagawat 8-22-24)

But we do not accept this truth. We think, “This cannot be. The one whom God graces becomes a billionaire. If he is childless, God gives him a child. If he doesn’t have a mother, God provides him with a mother. If he is fatherless, God gives him a legal guardian.” In other words, our personal philosophy is that when God or the Saints grace us they give us worldly possessions. But the statement of God and the Saints is the opposite of this. So a fight ensues between our intellect and God’s words. The intellect says, “I don’t accept this point.” “But the Vedas are saying it, and so does the Bhagavatam.” “They may be saying it, but I cannot agree.” I ask you, how many people are there in India who accept the philosophy that when God graces a soul, he snatches the world away from him. I ask you all, how many of you agree to this philosophy? I don’t see a single person who really does. There is not one amongst you who would say on receiving an insult, “this is good for me”, ho on becoming ill, losing wealth or on the death of loved one would say, “this is the grace of God.”Does anyone of you have the courage to say this? So your faulty intellect does not allow you to associate with the Saint. It clashes with the principles of the Scriptures, God and the Saints. It says, “I don’t accept this.” We may not explicitly say it in words, but in our heart of hearts we think, “this doesn’t sound right.” So then how are we associating with the Saints? Association means accepting their words fully from within. If the Guru scolds you, how many of you feel, “look at the grace I have received today? My Guru has personally scolded me.” Sit by yourself and reflect on this. What is the state of your intellect? You do not feel fortunate on being scolded by your Guru, on the contrary, your mood is spoilt. You may not abuse Him on His face, but within your heart you become extremely annoyed. “He scolded me in front of everyone. I would not have minded if He had scolded me in private.” How much you love self respect! You desire respect despite the fact that you are a slave of lust, anger, greed, attachment and ignorance. Yet, you are not prepared to be reprimanded for these even by your Guru. This is the condition of your intellect!

This means your intellect is not associating with the Saint. Once it surrenders, the mind will follow automatically. So you must attach the intellect to the instructions of the Guru, and upon receiving them, be overwhelmed with gratitude. You should realize His grace in His each and every instruction....