Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: The Way of Grace

Deep inside somewhere, you feel a fine vibration that touches.
That is grace. And whenever grace flows, you will find gratitude.

When there is gratitude, complaints vanish. Discontent is the
lower journey; gratitude is the plateau, the middle. Rising above this is grace.

Grace manifests inside as prayerfulness, longing. Outwardly grace flows to you as blessings. Grace is not earned through actions. It is a gift from the Divine. Years of different practices cannot bring you the joy that a moment of grace can bestow on you.

Grace flows from gratefulness. Gratefulness is the glow of one’s life. A grateful person purifies his entire environment. In his presence all his family, friends, and the people around him are uplifted. Someone in anguish suddenly finds relief.

Life is worth living if even for a moment you have lived gratefully.

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Be grateful for whatever God has offered you today. And you will see that He goes on offering plenty. Never a lack. But if you go on seeing the lack, then that continues. Your attention on lack allows lack to continue in life.

The more you possess, the more you feel lack. But when you open your eyes and see that you are part of everything, a sense of belonging dawns. And in that belonging there is contentment.

You belong to this whole universe. You are like the cherry on the top of a cake. You complete this existence. You being here on this planet, at this time, brings the time into a fullness. You are here to crown this universe, to crown this existence. This very moment that you are observing in this
universe is so precious.

When this awareness dawns in you, where is sorrow? Where
is the problem? Where are you caught up? Where have you lost yourself? Some small happenings here or there, a few words from this person or that person? Your prestige or respect is tarnished? You feel you are lost?

What is this foolishness in you? Wake up and see this whole creation. Open your eyes and you will see the Divine in every particle of creation. You are here now today. You crown this creation.

In front of such infinite joy, all other joys here and there are nothing. Other joys are like dust in the ecstasy of your Being.
Spirituality is like a banana and religion is like the banana skin. People today have thrown away the fruit and are left holding tightly to the skin.

Jesus said, “Knock, and it shall be opened unto you.” Two thousand years ago the human mind was simple, natural, closer to the source. One needed only to knock on the door and grace would flow.

Today the mind has become more complex, more confused. Today the door to our innermost chamber is so tightly closed that we have to bang it down.

Bang on your inner door. See that there is no lack of love in you, there is no lack of anything whatsoever inside you.
You can experience God in the depth of your heart. Do not delay a moment. Bang on the door. All the wealth is within you.

— Sri Sri Ravi Shankar

When gratitude remains with you, grace arises.