What Matters In Spirituality - Your Effort Or Grace?

[SAadmin]

Good video

[harsharan000]

Brother,

it is His Grace, His hukum which makes us put the effort; or say it the other round, it is His alone Grace which gives sense to our efforts.

To summarize in few words the reality of existence, is possible in the following two points:

1) Sat : Wahiguru Akal Purukh and His Naam. There where He is, it is all harmony, permanent, and blissfull.

2) Asat:Maya and all the paraphernalia due to it, or let us say, everything apart from Him. Here nothing is permanent, everything is transient, full of faults, pain and sorrow, birth & death....

And our sole purpose is, to cross from darkness of agyanta, towards Him, the source and origin of True Light.

But how to achieve this? Is it by chance? By our efforts?

Well, the answer to these questions, is given to us by Sachay Patshah Guru Arjun Dev Maharaj in Raag Aasaa, in the following words:

ਪ੍ਰਭੁ ਹੋਇ ਕ੍ਰਿਪਾਲੁ ਤ ਇਹੁ ਮਨੁ ਲਾਈ

Prabh Hoe Kirapaal Th Eihu Man Laaee

प्रभु होइ क्रिपालु त इहु मनु लाई

When God shows His Mercy, then this mind is focused on Him.

I think, having these words of Guru Jee full of wisdom and Truth in front of us, we do not need any more debates nor elaborations ....

You see, having eyes and keeping them open widely, even then, in utter darkness we shall see nothing .....

But with Light, we shall see everything around us.

It is the presence or absence of Light, which makes the difference.

In a similar way, it is because of His Grace alone, for which we can move(our efforts) towrads Him.

It is by His Hukum, His pyar, His Daya Meher, that we can ever even think of Him, and long for His darshan.

As First Patshahee has stated also: Sochay soch na hovaee, jeh sochay lakh vaar.

All our efforts, our thinking, even a hundreds of thousands of times is in vain, if His Hukum is not menat for us....yugas upon yugas may pass away, but without His Glance of Daya Meher, we have absolutely nothing to do....

We are all blind, not only that, but heavily filthy(karmically) also ....

So unless, He with sight, catches us by our arm, and pulls us along with Him, all our efforts are useless.

Sat Sree Akal.

[Lucky]

We should get into the habit with both actions and thought processes that "HE is the DOER"

He does, he commands, we exist only because of his doing and it's all his play.

As soon as we start assuming or calculating some efforts we think that are our own doing then immediately we step towards further boundaries of Duality.

ਪ੍ਰਭ ਕੈ ਸਿਮਰਨਿ ਬਿਨਸੈ ਦੂਜਾ ॥
Parabẖ kai simran binsai ḏūjā.

What is DUJA ??

It is the duality...or the other side of EK-Onkaar.

On one side there is 'EK Parabh, the One almighty,... and on the other side of the duality fence there is the Ego filled existence.

This ego is the one that claims credit for all good efforts but tries to deny, even to itself ,...it's own shortcomings !

I know we are all in different situations as per karmic relationships and social/economic/work status. Therefore we may have to make different amends or dealings with fulfilling karmas that can quite easily make us feel like we have put in more effort that our neighbor let's say.... But in my opinion, I think it's wiser and safer to start treading this path with the 'it's not me' ego attitude. This should make the journey more positive in our own spiritual development.

We have to learn to crawl before we can learn to walk this path. So what better way to start, in knowing that it is God who is leading all the crawling.

Edited April 2, 2015 by Lucky

[PAL 07]

ASA KI VAR - eh kinehiee daat, apas te jo paieheh, nanak sa karamaat sahib tutheh jo paieheh

[harsharan000]

We should get into the habit with both actions and thought processes that "HE is the DOER"

ਪ੍ਰਭ ਕੈ ਸਿਮਰਨਿ ਬਿਨਸੈ ਦੂਜਾ ॥

Parabẖ kai simran binsai ḏūjā.

Brother Lucky Jee,

verily true your quotation above.

But let us ask ourselves, who does His Simran?

Because simran everyone does, of one type or the other. Big big rishis, munis, tapasvees of the heights of Ravan for example, did the simran of mantras related to the deities of higher planes.

These higher planes, like devlok, Swarg, Baikunth, relams of Brahma, Shiva, etc .... can be achieved by one´s karmas or efforts, however hard they maybe....

But, to start with, even His Simran, can only be performed by us, with His grace alone, if He so wishes.

That is His Mauj. Nobody can copy it, demand it, or negotiate it.

That is why the Bani very clearly says: Se simreh, jisnoo Aap simrae.

Then, as per this His grace, once He makes us meditate on Him, then everything falls at its own place.... then only the mind gets tuned into His Simran, and all the good qualities like: sense of discrimination, humility, forbearnce, gratefulness, contentment, truthfulness, come up like cream on the milk.

When He wants you back, He just arranges everything for that jeeva, that soul.

The pull from within for Him, is that, He is pulling our rope towards Him, and we may feel we are moving towards Him.

But the fact is, without His pull we would not even think about Him.

And this pull at all steps of the devotee, is nothing but His unbounded grace .....

Haven´t we ever heard: Deena bandhu deena Nath, meree doree Tere haath.

Dhan Dhan Satguru Nanak Dev Maharaj, tells us in Japji Sahib something very beautiful on this topic:

Karmee aavae kapra, nadree mokh duaar.

He says; by your good actions, karmas, you may get health, wealth, possesions, you may become even the ruler of the three worlds.

But, to get emancipation from the cycle of births and deaths, and acceptance at His court´s door, is only possible with His grace, which follows realization of His Omnipresence and Omnipotence.

Dhan Dhan Guru Ram Das Maharaj tells us in Raag Kalyan, that, when Wahiguru gracefully writes on our forehead, to do His Bhakti, then only due to this His Hukum, our life walks on the path chalked already by Him.

ਸੋ ਹਰਿ ਹਰਿ ਨਾਮੁ ਧਿਆਵੈ ਹਰਿ ਜਨੁ ਜਿਸੁ ਬਡਭਾਗ ਮਥਈ

So Har Har Naam Dhhiaavai Har Jan Jis Baddabhaag Mathhee

सो हरि हरि नामु धिआवै हरि जनु जिसु बडभाग मथई

That humble servant of the Lord who has such good fortune written on his forehead meditates on the Name of the Lord, Har, Har

He has already supplied with all that we may need to walk in His direction, not only that, but He actually walks with us, holding our hand and make us walk with Him, otherwise we are so stupid, that we may get lost in the inmensity of His creation.

So then, what is our role in this divine play?

Our whole job is nothing as our own merits, but just being receptive to His grace, which is the driving force in all our interaction with Him.

Sat Sree Akal.

Edited April 3, 2015 by harsharan000

[harsharan000]

Following are some beautiful words of beloved Fifth Patshahee in Raag Sorath, which throw some more light on the topic of this thread :

Satgur pura bhaana
when it so pleased the True Guru

Ta japiya Nam ramana
then I repeated the pervading God´s Name.

Further on He clearly says, that one can merge in Him, if only He catches us by our hand.

kar geh leenay sarbas deenay aapeh aap milaa-i-aa.

Taking me by the hand, He has given me everything, and blended me with Himself.

So the question is, if He does everything, what is there to be proud of ourselves?

Nothing, but we can only baram baar sing His unlimited magnificent glory ....

Sat Sree Akal.

Edited April 5, 2015 by harsharan000

[chzS1ngh]

What is most important? i would Say Love...

the yearning that develops within...a sign of our love towards Him...or is it His love activating our heart and thus all His doing?

without love how can one wake up in the early hours to contemplate Him? when it is so much easier just to lay in a cosy bed and enjoy your sleep.

who makes all this happen? even the effort...is it all Him...when the time is right for us to awaken to the Truth is it Him that makes it all happen

[Koi]

ਕਰਉ ਜਤਨ ਜੇ ਹੋਇ ਮਿਹਰਵਾਨਾ ॥

Karo Jathan Jae Hoe Miharavaanaa ||

करउ जतन जे होइ मिहरवाना ॥

I can only make the effort, if the Lord is merciful to me.

24829 ਵਡਹੰਸ (ਮ: ੫) ਗੁਰੂ ਗ੍ਰੰਥ ਸਾਹਿਬ : ਅੰਗ ੫੬੨ ਪੰ. ੧੨

Raag Vadhans Guru Arjan Dev