Securing His Grace – A Duty with Devotion
Breakout Session with Dr. Suresh Govind
Session Opening
Following a quick overview by Dr Suresh, the group was divided into two groups to discuss the following questions
- What is grace?
- How does one receive God’s grace and what challenges come in the way?
Challenges Faced
- Expectations
- Difficulty in finding inspiration during troublesome situations and interruptions in life
- Impatience leading to not realizing that even situations with unfulfilled desires is his grace
- Guilt due to wrong doings in the past
- Incomplete understanding on surrendering
- Unaware that good and bad is God’s grace
- Failing to hear the conscience
- Wavering faith
- Taking things for granted
- Complacence and pride over present achievements
- Ego and vanity
Pragmatic Solutions and Insights
- Unwavering belief in Swami and accepting that situations that one faces are according to His will.
- Mentally accepting pain and working through it
- Having pure intentions when doing seva
- Learning to have faith based on the experience of others / elders
- Envisioning Swami in others and seek divinity in one and all
- Realising that end of wisdom is freedom and each one has a separate journey
- Proactive involvement in spirituality
- Surrender the results of action and not the action
- Practising SAI: Sai, All and I in that order
- Regularly conversing with Swami
- Making it a habit to express gratitude, using kind words and wearing a smile
In Summary
What is Grace?
- Grace of God can come in many forms
- One must remember to thank God for His grace in every moment in life, not only in the form of miracles
How does one receive God’s grace?
- Faith and surrender are very important
- Expectations and attachment to results are obstacles to experiencing God’s grace
- See good in all that happens to us. God centered perspective can release us from our tight hold of our assumptions, expectations and comparisons and help us be open to receiving what God bestows on us.
- Always thank God for all that happens
- Youth must learn (but not compare) from the experiences of others and grow their faith in God’s will.
- Purity of intentions through probing into or reflecting on our reasons for our actions is essential.