Spirituality: In what way do we enjoy grace of īśvara?

By Swami Viditatmananda Saraswati* 

Attribute everything to the grace of īśvara

In what way do we enjoy īśvara’s grace? How do we recognize his grace? In the context of the pursuit of knowledge, Śrī Śaṅkarācārya says in Vivekacūḍāmaṇi that these three things are rare: manuṣyatvam, mumukṣutvam, and mahā-puruṣasaṁśrayaḥ.

To have manuṣyatvam, a human embodiment, is very rare. Some people ask how the human population can keep growing. Where are they all coming from? There are countless jīvas, countless creatures in the whole universe. When asked where these human beings keep coming from, Swamiji would say, “Maybe the number of mosquitos is reducing!” One jīva takes embodiment as something else. The point is that, out of the countless creatures that are born, being born as a human being is a great privilege. Even to have a human embodiment is a great favour from īśvara. Mumukṣutvam means desiring mokṣa. Of the billions of human beings, only a few rare entities have awareness of some goal of life, that īśvara is important in life, and that self-growth should happen. The value for spiritual growth and trust in īśvara is very rare. Lord Krishna also says, “manuṣyāṇāṁ sahasreṣu kaścidyatati siddhaye, among thousands of people, the rare one makes an effort for self-knowledge.” It is a big thing to have a value for self-knowledge, to have value for devotion, to have faith in īśvara. That also is a great blessing.

Also read: Spirituality: Everything is Īśvara’s Grace

Different people have different perceptions about the universe. Some conquerors went and shot everybody in the native population because they thought they all deserved it. That is a perception. Other people went and helped because they thought the people needed saving or civilizing. That is also a perception. What we do is all out of our perception. That I am blessed and my life is full of the grace of īśvara is a perception, a way of looking at things.

What we need to do is keep on tapping the grace of īśvara and invoking the grace of īśvara. The best way to do that is by offering ourselves; surrendering to īśvara.

See everyone as a manifestation of īśvara

As Ramana Maharshi says, look upon the jagat, the world, as a manifestation of īśvara. Any act is worship of īśvara if you look upon any person and everything as a manifestation of īśvara. Nārāyaṇa, īśvara, is the indwelling self of all living beings. He dwells as the self of all, the good and bad.

The Bhagavad Gita says that “vidyāvinayasampanne brāhmaṇe gavi hastini; śuni caiva śvapāke ca, whether it is the pure, pious brāhmaṇ, a cow, an elephant, a dog, or a pariah— whoever it is, whether it is a saint or a sinner—nirdoṣaṁ hi samaṁ brahma, taintless brahman, the paramātmā, abides equally in all of them as their self.”

In that case, should we give importance to the outer appearance of one who is a criminal, or to the one inside, who is Nārāyaṇa?

Lord Krishna answers: “Suhṛd-mitra-ari-udāsīna-madhyasthadveṣya-bandhuṣu, the outer person may be a benefactor, a friend, or a foe; he may be neutral or an arbiter, hateful or a relative; sādhuṣvapi ca pāpeṣu, in people who do good and those who do harm; samabuddhiḥ viśiṣyate, the one who has the sameness of view excels.”

The devotee seeks to see the presence of the Lord in all types of people. The devotee has this attitude that whatever I am doing is for pleasing the Lord in the form of the people I am interacting with. Bhakti becomes very easy with this attitude. You cook food for your own family with this bhāvanā or attitude that Nārāyaṇa is in the form of my spouse and my children; may that Nārāyaṇa be pleased. The attitude is not “may my husband be pleased;” that is attachment. That is also OK, but better than that is “May Nārāyaṇa in this form be pleased.”

That attitude of samatva-dṛṣṭi, seeing the sameness, requires me to overlook all the differences. In all the dissimilar, Nārāyaṇa is the same. As the Gita says, “samaṁ sarveṣu bhūteṣu tiṣṭhantaṁ parameśvaram,  īśvara remains the same in all beings.” The Lord, who abides equally in all beings, is the same in all that is dissimilar. He is one in many. He is the changeless in the changing. He is the imperishable in the perishable.

The idea is that we give less and less importance to what is perishable, what is changing, what is many, and what is dissimilar; and give more and more importance to that which is imperishable, what is similar, what is common, what is one, and what is connecting. Recognize that one harmony connects everything. Īśvara manifests as the very order and harmony. Therefore, with humility align yourself with harmony. Appreciate that it is by the grace of īśvara that you can align with the harmony. Appreciate that by the grace of īśvara you are what you are.

*Swami Viditatmananda Saraswati has been teaching Vedānta Prasthānatrayī and Prakaraṇagranthas for the last 40 years in Ahmedabad, Gujarat. Throughout the year, he conducts daily Vedānta discourses, accompanied by retreats, and Jñāna Yajñas on Vedānta in different cities in India and foreign countries.