The Grace Of The Teacher, Developing True Devotion

Swami Chinmayananda

oi-Staff

By Staff

Monday, August 31, 2009, 17:28

Nevertheless, by the grace of God alone, great souls are attained.

(Sutra 40)

Though the cultivation of devotion in the human heart is very difficult, through continuous contact with great souls and by the consequent grace of the Lord, an individual can attain supreme devotion. The verse, as it stands, can also he interpreted as follows.

Even obtaining the company of the great souls is itself gained by His grace alone. No doubt, this is in line with the scriptural declaration and the words of Sri Shankaracharya and other great teachers.

The Kathopanisad thunders, "He who chooses Him, to him alone He reveals." Shankara in his Vivekacudamani says, "a human birth, aspiration for spiritual unfoldment, and the loving protection of a wise man are only caused by the blessings of the Lord".

It is divine power that makes an aspirant restless and drives him in search of guru. And again, it is the same divine power that makes the saint generally more restless to rush forth to serve the world and help others to liberation. When the time is ripe, the Lord, in a mysterious way, brings about first the communication and ultimately the communion between the teacher and the taught.

Why and how? Narada declares:

Because between the Lord and His devotees.
there is no sense of difference.

(Sutra 41)

This means that the true devotee of the Lord and of the saint is Lord Narayana Himself. It can also be interpreted as follows: There is no sense of distinction between the Lord and His true devotees.

The realized person is one who has transcended the pluralistic world of distinction and variety. To that person. all are but the one single divine glory expressing itself through different equipments.
From the Vedantic standpoint, the one infinite truth plays as the world of objects. "For in Him, there is no sense of distinction among His creatures".

This is to reassure a hesitant sinner, who might feel an inherent lack of self-confidence to come to the path of spirituality. He will naturally always be conscious of his past misdeeds and sins. Here the verse assures him that to the Lord there is no sense of difference between one devotee and another. A sinner is none other than one who has moved away from the real Self to identify himself with the flesh, and he therefore lives a life of endless sense gratifications. The moment he decides to turn towards the Self, the Real, he comes to peace, tranquility and joy

To be continued

About the author

Swami Chinmayananda

Swami Chinmayananda the great master's lectures were an outpour of wisdom. He introduced the Geetha Gnana Yagna. He wrote a lot of books on spirituality, commentaries to Vedantic texts, children books etc. He then started spreading His teachings globally.....