One day I was listening to a very wonderful song by U2 group called “Sometimes you can’t make it on your own”. The song is really moving. That reminded me of the story wherein Arjuna when wandering around streets, sees a slaughterer carrying a cow along with him to dress her meat. Furious He, dares the slaughterer to rescue a cow. But interestingly He loses the fight! Defeated and dejected, He muses on the incident wondering how could a man, who was once the unstoppable warrior, who defeated the all powerful kauravas, lose a fight, and that too with a mere slaughterer! After giving it a deep thought, He realizes that it wasn’t because of Him that He won the battle of Kurukshetra. It was because of Lord Krishna’s grace!
Many times we say “nothing can be achieved without the grace of Divine”. As Madhwacharya says, “Grace is not a gift, but rather has to be earned”. What does to earn mean? It definitely connotes what Krishna says “Karmanyevadhikaraste maa phaleshu kadachana” that we have to take honest efforts towards whatever meaningful we may want to achieve. But at the same time we have to separate “false sense of I” from our honest efforts and separate “expectations” from the fruit of our efforts. This fruit (without expectations), thus obtained (with honest selfless efforts), is the Divine grace. And that is probably how we have to earn Divine Grace. Easier said than done! All of us know!
To earn grace is really a very difficult thing. But a simple step towards taking on that difficulty, lies in just acknowledging that grace. Everything that happens around us has got a meaningful message for us if observed carefully. What’s in just saying “yes, I got the nice message, thanks”? To observe and hence to acknowledge the message, one should live the present.
Sometimes I feel, I live for the future. That is for There and Then. But what I don’t realize is future is just a future. It is the next that never comes! Every thought and every action of mine is centered around “…….., There lies my happiness”, “…….., Then I will be happy”. In this living for future, I fail to recognize and hence appreciate finer nuances, a present has to offer me. In pursuit of insuring and securing for my superficial and pointless future, I waste the precious, priceless and meaningful present. That present is Here and Now. This living Here and Now is Divine Grace.
To sum up, there is a very simple yet powerful acknowledgment prayer in Marathi which goes:
dolyaane baghato (I can see with my eyes) dhwani parisato, kaani (I can hear with my ears) padi chaalato (I can walk on my feet)
jivhene rasa chaakhito madhurahi (I can taste sweet by my tongue) waache aamhi bolato (I can speak using my mouth)
haataane bahu saara kaama karito (I can work with my hands) vishraanti hi ghyaawaya
gheto zop sukhe fironi oothato (I can take sound sleep to relax and I get up the next day) hi ishwaraachi daya! (This is Divine Grace!)
Can an acknowledgment get better than this?
Reinvent The Self! 