Self Effort vs. God’s Grace- VUSG

Self Effort vs. God’s Grace- VUSG

Class material covered in Vedanta US Study Group on Sept 17, 2018

This class was a geared upon exchange of ideas upon the central theme of Self effort vs. God’s Grace. Points discussed were what if God’s grace, what is the relationship between the two, how do we realize God’s grace etc.

A small synopsis of each member’s ideas, whatever I could capture is presented here. Needless to say, most of my understanding (if correct) is from Swami Dayatmanandaji’s teachings.

Nandini: - As long as we have body consciousness, the sense of doer-ship, it is Self-effort. This self-effort creates Chitta shuddhi. As the good samskaras override the bad samskaras, mind gets purified i.e., clear understanding dawns and then the soul ultimately realizes it has already been only God’s Grace. Only thorugh God’s Grace the Jivatma, could do the “self-effort”.  Since Everything is God, what else there is? But due to our ignorance, the identity with body and mind, we do NOT perceive God everywhere. Hence the search for God. Brihadaranyaka Upanishad states that whomsoever the Self chooses (God’s grace descends on that particular Jivatman), that very chosen self, embarks on the quest to find Itself.

In the Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, the parable of the bird sleeping on the mast pf the boat while the boat sailed off into the sea is of great pertinence here. When the bird woke up, it saw only water everywhere. So, it went on the search for land. Went north, saw no sign of land; came back. Flew south, same situation. Tried east and west and finally it got very tired and settled itself down on the mast and fell asleep. Similar is our case. We have to put our sincere self-effort to the utmost and when we can do more, we give up.. that is when God’s grace manifests and we realize it was all God.

Maharaj stated that:

·        Self-effort is always in a limited sphere.

·        Self-effort is governed by Law of Karma.

·        The devotee’s desire is to put forth 100% sincere effort.

·        The devotees should engage whatever energy they have without self-deception i.e., without making ANY excuses. Then this is called sincere Self-effort.

·        However, what they can really do is determined by their purba-janma (previous lives’) samskaras.

·        These old samskaras put obstacles in the path of austerity. Hence tremendous will power is required.

·        100% sincere effort is the goal

·        100% self-effort is achieved only through God’s Grace… no purba-janma samskara causes hindrance.   

Neelam: -

·        Everything is Grace. However, depending on our understanding (limited) our response and implementation gets varied. Over time as understanding increases to the full we understand that everything indeed is God’s grace.

·        Knowing what to ask (of Guru/God) is a blessing (right intelligence guided by divine)

·        When tuned to Divine no wrong can happen.

Note: In Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, Thakur says: “ One who takes refuge in Divine, his step will never be out of line.” Also negative things may happen in life (nature’s course) but the devotee is never swept away in its course and derailed from spirituality.

Bhama: -

·        Free will is until God realization; until once ascends to tigunatita (beyond 3 gunas) state

·        According to Swami Vivekananda, free will is determined by karma.

·        Compare life to Ferris wheel (per Swami V). Our karma determines the carriage we are in, how much space, comfortable or cramped. The rider enjoys the rise or gets scared according if the wheel is going up or coming down respectively. Once the rider had enough and wants to get out, (starts intense spiritual practice- self effort, thereby increasing will power) the controller gets annoyed and throws out the rider (attain moksha) and another soul takes the place in the empty carriage. The Ferris wheel controller wants everyone to enjoy the ride.

Priti: -

·        Since God knows our past present and future, how can there be any free will? If there was free will then the future would be undetermined.

·        Logically self-effort is limited but self-realization (when we realize its’ all God’s grace) is unlimited.

·        Ultimately all is grace.

Chandra: -

Q: Are all karmas exhausted when I am tuned into divinity, all karmas are exhausted, have total control over all ripus (6 vices: kaam, krodh, lobha, moha, madah, matsarya aka lust, anger, greed, delusion, arrogance, jealousy)?

A: Yes, moksha = all samskaras burnt off, no more karma phala remains to be of fruition, the 6 vices cannot assail; merged with the divinity.

Nban: -

In Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, Thakur talks about a man having a cow. It was a good cow. The cow was tethered with some length of rope to a wooden post. Since it was a good cow and grazed dutifully, the owner was pleased and next day increased the length of the rope. Now the cow has a bigger pasture governed by the circumference of the circle. Similarly, if we exert sincere self-effort like the good cow, then God out of His grace, increases the length of rope i.e., gives us more strength, knowledge and will power.

At the end the cow realizes, that it was God only who manifested as the cow, did self-effort, gave grace and enacted out the whole drama. There was no individual called cow.

ATTENDEES: Nandini, Neelam, Priti, Tara, Bhama, Chandra

© Nandini Mitra Banerjee Sept 17, 2018