I thought I would think out loud about what is said to be grace. Everybody uses the word. It is very common in India to say, ‘It is all His grace; it is your grace’. These are very common expressions. In the Western Culture also, I see the word being used often. The course of grace is always assumed to be the Lord, the one who is beyond  our empirical purview. Even though people really do not understand what this Lord, or God, or Isvara is, that person is accepted as the source of grace by those who recognise that there is grace in one’s life.  In the Indian tradition there  is a lot of thinking about this grace (anugraha, krpaa).  We don’t simply accept things without inquiry.

What is Grace

Suppose the grace comes from Isvara , the Lord. In that case, he has to choose. How is he going to choose to whom he is going to give grace today? Getting up in the morning he has to ask Lakshmi ’Today, to whom should I give’? He should use some method of choosing, a lucky-dip perhaps. How is he going to choose the person who deserves the grace? We always think that grace is something that comes to us from somewhere - sometimes asked and sometimes unasked, now and then. Really speaking grace is the result of action karma.

But how do we know when we did the karma to earn the grace? Nor do we know which karma is the cause for this particular grace. When I am not able to pinpoint which karma is responsible for this desirable thing which is with me now, I gracefully say that it is grace. It is the result of action (karma-phala) gracefully expressed.  The result of karma earned by me, either in this birth or in a prior birth, that produces grace, is definitely not a simple karma which is self-centered. It is not centered on a small self that is confined to myself the individual, or to my small family. That karma is not going to win grace.

But when I reach out to do something to help another person, to help the community, to help other living organisms in this world, when I do something which implies a self which accommodates more than the small unit called family, that karma called purta-karma earns grace. In the days gone by, people established things for public use like a well, a pond, even a temple of worship, a place where people can go and relax (vaapi-kuupa-tadaakaadi-devtaayatanaani ca). All these are called puurtakarma. Doing any of them wins grace. But we don’t know which karma produced which grace. Similarly, our daily prayers, rituals, and so on, also win grace.

 Source of Grace.

Grace is not something that the Lord distributes to some chosen people. It is something that we earn as a result of our actions (karma-phalla).  The Lord is very much present in it as the one who gives the results of actions (karma-phala-daataa). The laws produce the result of action, and those laws are not separate from Isvara the Lord, this universe being a manifestation of the Lord

So we earn grace by actions which are deliberate, not by our reactions. Actions that reach out, actions of prayer, earn grace.

Most of us are busy day after day, with our time consumed by our reactions and reactions and reactions. First we react with anger and say things which are inappropriate. Then we regret what we said. That is another reaction. It is through action alone that we can express ourselves.

What makes you really different from any other living being on this planet is your capacity to choose. That capacity to choose is what is called free-will. If a cow is a vegetarian, it is not by choice, but if you are one, it is by choice. that is will. You choose. And this freedom that our will seems to have is inhibited freedom. It is not total freedom because you are always in a position where you are called upon to do something appropriate in the situation. I may not like to do it, but I have to do it, because it is my duty. The concept of duty imposes a pressure on you unless you love to do what needs to be done. If you have to do it, whether you like it or not, then it is better to learn to like it.

Prayer is also like that. It is not easy to pray and it is very difficult to pray heartily. the ego will not let that happen. even though the person knows that he is helpless, still, there is something that makes him incapable of praying. Why? It is some kind of an authority problem. Those who cannot pray may have some real problem with their father. It is a psychological issue.
Grace is something you have to tap. It is not distributed by God. It is like underground water in that you have to tap it, and the tapping is done by action alone. Grace is always there. It is a possibility like any other possibility. There are many things that are manifest, surfaced, in this universe. There are also many potential possibilities lying there for you to tap. Every piece of software is a possibility. Every piece of hardware is a possibility. This grace is another possibility.

This grace is another possibility. Nobody prays simply because he or she is under pressure. People think that when you are in trouble you will pray. No. When you are in trouble you hit your head on the wall. You phone somebody and cry. Or you go on a buying spree and purchase a lot of things you cannot use. You need not pray.

Prayer is the only action where the will is totally free, because you need not pray. It is an action, a karma. It is physical, oral or mental action (kaayikam, vaacikam,  manasam karma). Mentally you pray, deliberately; orally you pray, or ritually you pray. Prayer is a deliberate action where the free-will is totally free - an uninhibited free-will. It is that kind of action that wins grace.

This is why we say ,’I perform this karma to win the Grace of Parameshvara’(sri parameshvara priityartham aham idam karishye). It is not to please Isvara. If Isvara has to be pleased , we’ve had it. Then we have keep him in good humour. No, we win the grace.

There are varieties of grace. We first identify grace from the original source as isvara’s  grace. There are subsets also. There is the guru’s grace, the elders grace which we earn by seva (service) etc.  Besides the Grace of   isvaraa(isavara-krpa) and of the guru (guru-krpaa), we require the grace of the sastra.  The guru may be there, but when you pick up the book, you go to sleep. The sastra has to reveal itself. That is also Ishvara’s  grace. Finally there is aatma-krpaa - you should be deserving of grace. You should be earning that grace. Sometimes we don’t recognise the grace. It is like the flowers that bloom in your own garden, after so much work by your wife. Yet you don’t even look at them because you are so busy; you mind is occupied completely by the problems that are to be solved. Naturally therefore, you have no eyes to see. Grace is available. Acknowledge it.  in the eyes of your child you can see grace. When you open your mouth and say a good word there is grace flowing. You have to be aware of it. You find that your life is one of grace. that is aatma-krpaa. You find that your life is one of Grace. That is atma-krpaa. You earn that grace by reaching out, by recognising a cause and doing what you have to do. Recognise a situation where you have got to do something. See whether the cause is worthwhile. Don’t fitter away your energy, your resources, the money you have earned. Identify a worthy cause, reach out and be bigger than you think you are. This is how we grow. this is how we earn grace.

Om tat sat