SUPREME GRACE AND SELF-EFFORT: THE LIFE TRIUMPHANT

[Ms Tercy Lonan]

8. SUPREME GRACE AND SELF-EFFORT: THE LIFE TRIUMPHANT
Worshipful homage unto the supreme, all-pervading Universal Presence, our eternal
source, our present, invisible support and our ultimate goal, attaining which our lives become
fruitful! Worshipful homage unto that great Reality, that is our true abode now. It always has been
and always shall be at all times our nija dham (own abode), our svasthana (own place) and our asli
ratan (real wealth). May divine grace which constitutes Its very essence lead us day by day in all
that we do as the living of our life!
May divine grace guide your footsteps and lead you on, so that your life becomes a
meaningful and gainful process towards the ultimate attainment and experience of that ever-present
Divine Essence. It is for this alone that you have been endowed with this most covetable, most
invaluable human status. Great is the grace the Universal Spirit has bestowed upon the individual
soul by conferring upon it this status which is verily the portal to blessedness, the right royal
highway to liberation and divine perfection.
Similarly, great is the grace of the Cosmic Being in coming to us in this life as our
worshipful and beloved guru, for in the ultimate analysis, the guru is grace personified. It is divine
grace, it is that Cosmic Being who comes to the seeking soul as the guru, as the spiritual preceptor.
And thus manifesting grace, It guides us to the Goal. Therefore, it has been said: “Guru is Brahma,
guru is Vishnu, guru is Siva, guru is the ultimate, transcendental Being, the Absolute Being.” Such
is the grace indeed that infills each individual human life when the individual has been induced, one
way or another, to come into the spiritual path, has become a mumukshu. For mumukshutva is also a
manifestation of grace.
And bringing one into the spiritual path brings the seeking soul into direct spiritual contact
with a realised, enlightened, illumined saint and sage. That is the ultimate grace; all that is needful
has been done. Now, it is for the seeking soul, the sadhaka, the mumukshu, the jijnasu, the yogi, to
recognise this grace and to start utilising it. This is, therefore, the point where purushartha or
sadhana becomes the dominating overall factor in one’s life.
In various ways this truth has been revealed to us, but nowhere more aptly than in the
parable of the twenty golden talents. Before a master goes on a long journey he calls his three
servants and says: “I am going away for a long time. To each of you I give twenty golden talents.
Use them well.” And the master goes. What has to be given has been given. There is nothing
lacking; the grace is complete.
It is, therefore, the utilisation of this grace that constitutes the essence of spiritual life. It is
recognising the value of that which has been received and putting it to the highest and best use that
constitutes sadhana. Where grace, its recognition and self-effort coexist, then there is great
blessedness, all success, the wealth of wealths, the supreme attainment.


It is this truth that is the declaration of the closing, final verse of the Srimad Bhagavad Gita
wisdom teachings—the coexistence of fullest grace and its fullest application through sadhana or
self-effort. This is the ultimate good and this closing verse of the Gita needs to be pondered upon.
The first chapter of the Gita puts before us the inner situation of the individual soul before
the commencement of the spiritual life, a situation of a twofold pull within the heart of the
individual in two opposite directions—the divine and the undivine, the spiritual and the unspiritual,
the cosmic or supremely transcendental and the merely worldly. There are these two forces ranging
one against the other. That is the situation in the human heart before the spiritual life has
commenced, before sadhana has stepped into one’s life.
But when this situation is resolved in the best manner in a fortunate awakened human being,
in the manner most conducive for the highest welfare and blessedness of the individual, there
emerges this ultimate state of fullest grace and fullest, ready, willing and sustained
self-effort—param kripa and purushartha. That is the life triumphant.
The confluence, the combination and the dynamic presence of both these factors—divine
grace and an awakened and aware self-effort—grace accompanied by self-effort, grace enhanced
by self-effort, grace augmented by determined and purposeful effort to see that this grace is not in
vain—that grace will bear fruit in the form of highest blessedness.
This is to be reflected upon and to be deeply understood, for all of us are recipients of grace,
are beings possessing a great golden wealth. Our lives have been enriched, and the Being who has
thus endowed us watches and waits patiently for our response. This response, when it is there, is
called spiritual life; it is called sadhana, aspiration, abhyasa. Call it yoga.
Therefore, to all the blessednesses add your own genuine spiritual aspiration, your own
devotion and dedication to the ideal of the spiritual life. It is this bringing unto the grace and
blessings that we have received our earnestness, our sincerity, our effort, that brings about
enlightenment. This is the simple truth provided that it is done every day, provided it is persevered
in, provided it is continuous, as continuous as divine grace and the guru’s blessings.
This is the condition, this is the need from our side—this constant affirmation, confirming
our dedication to the spiritual life. It has to be daily and always there, constant and continuous. Then
we see the miracle. Then there is nothing that can stop you.
Thus it has been with all spiritual giants past and present, the globe over. They never gave
up. They again and again affirmed their devotion and firm abidance in their ideal. This is the one
thing needful: a genuine longing, a sincere, earnest yearning that is affirmed each day and that is
kept up, persevered in, continuously and ceaselessly. Then miracles can take place.
The call has come into your life. The hand has been stretched out towards you. Grasp it,
respond, and become blessed. This verily is the essence of your life here as a sadhaka, jijnasu and a
mumukshu. Your supreme blessedness lies in the extent to which and the manner in which you
answer the call, grasp His hand and rise to the occasion. Never cease, but always strive until this
supreme blessedness is attained, not in the hereafter, but here and now!

The simple truth is that you who come and pray for blessings and grace are already blessed
and graced. Faith in God, a desire to be blessed by Him and to be in His good books: “Let me live in
a way that I may not displease God or act against His divine will. Let me try to be what He wants me
to be. May He bless me”—such feelings arise only in a being who is already graced and who has
received blessings from God and His saints. This is the truth. Otherwise, there would be no
aspiration in your heart, no desire to come to Rishikesh, no desire to engage in sattvic activities like
attending spiritual programs. This, therefore, is the assurance that you now have to utilise the grace
and blessings which you already have.