Chapter 10: Very Good!🔗

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Beloved Master,

I have heard You speak to us a lot about grace. It seems to be such a beautiful word with a beautiful meaning although I find that I know very little about it. Can You please speak a little about it?

One of the greatest mysteries of life is grace. It can never be created. Be clear; if it is created grace, it is false, not real. Grace must come by itself. It will come as a flowering of your being.

You see: when your meditation rises to its peak, many things come with it: silence, compassion, bliss. The effect of silence, compassion and bliss is grace. So when these things happen in you, their effect on your physical body is grace which will radiate from every cell of your being.

Even if the person is not physically beautiful, a different kind of beauty will be radiated from within. This beauty is what we call grace. It is like a lamp. The flame is inside. Until the flame is lit, you will only be bothered about the glass. You pass comments on people, ‘She is beautiful and he is ugly.’ What nonsense! This is only the glass which you are seeing. Only when the inner flame is lit will the beauty actually be seen. This is what I mean by grace: your inner beauty, your inner flame. This inner flame is much greater than the body. This light will radiate throughout the body and then the body will not matter anymore. There will be a different light, a beautiful aura, surrounding you.

And grace is such a beautiful thing which has been misunderstood. Grace is not outward beauty as you think; it is from within. Every cell of your body radiates this beauty. Your eyes will simply radiate this new silence, this new ecstasy. When you speak, it will not sound like any spoken language, but like music; a tremendous and vibrant silence will radiate from your words. In fact, even when you shout with anger, it will sound like poetry! Actually, in the ashram, there are some three or four ashramites continuously doing only this. When I shout at someone, they will sit and laugh. When I laugh, then they will simply stare at me. What am I to do? Anyhow, ordinary words will start sounding like great scriptures because your inner experience is what gives the authority.

It is like a container filled with chocolates. With the chocolates or without the chocolates, the container is the same. When the chocolates are inside, the container seems very interesting and juicy. Without the chocolates, the container seems like nothing.

You are like this. Physically, you may be the same, but before and after grace has happened in you, there will be a big difference. Once you attain bliss, the same words that you utter will have a new meaning altogether. The container is the same, but the content has changed. The new content will not be in the words, but in the body language. Everything that you do will have a certain beauty to it, which is what is called grace. And this grace will not be external; it will be internal.

What is inside will radiate outside. Just see: if a person is restless and talkative internally, what will they radiate? Their whole body language will always look as if they are in a hurry. They will never be able to relax. But if a person is blissful and silent within, they will radiate grace. They will always look calm no matter what.

If a man has a graceful aura, it will be so radiant and filled with what he is experiencing, that you will forget about his physical beauty. He will look beautiful from a completely different plane.

Actually, the only reason that you are not radiating this grace is because of your restlessness, your impatience. Impatience is the only thing that makes you ugly. You must learn to wait. You must learn to trust Existence. Existence will take care, so why do you worry? Worrying is just one more dimension of impatience.

Simply trust Existence. There should be no thoughts, no moods, only a deep awareness. Grace is bound to come. But do not expect grace to come and announce to you that it has come! It will come like a whisper. You will suddenly begin to feel it within. You will feel it in your movements. You will feel it in your speech. It will simply surround you; it will be with you everywhere you go.

Simply wait. It will come.

Beloved Master,

I don't know why, but all of a sudden, I am starting to doubt my reality. How can I trust what I know about myself, because what I know about myself doesn't feel like me. Please tell me: what am I?

You are just beginning to understand! You are right: what you know about yourself is false. In fact, it is completely the opposite of what you are. And you are asking me to tell you what you are. You see: I have been trying to show you, to give you the experience. It is only you who is holding back!

A small story:

There was once a lioness. She was pregnant and was about to give birth. One day she was hunting for food, when she saw a flock of sheep. She jumped to attack. At the very moment of jumping, she delivered. But the effort was just too much for her and because of this, she died. The flock of sheep felt bad for the new born cub because now he had no mother. They decided to bring up the cub. The cub grew up eating grass, bleating like a sheep, and even acquired a fear of lions! He didn’t even realize that he himself was a lion!

One day, a lion spotted the flock of sheep while they were grazing and decided to attack. In amongst the sheep, he saw the cub. He was surprised. He caught hold of the cub and took him into the forest. The whole time, the cub was crying, ‘Put me down. Don’t eat me. Please take me back!’

Then finally the lion became disgusted and said, ‘Fool! I will not eat you. You yourself are a lion.’

The cub was not able to believe what he heard. So the lion, having no choice took the cub back to the flock of sheep.

Everyday, the same scene would happen. Each time, the cub trusted the lion a little more. He slowly began to enjoy the lion’s company.

One day, the cub was waiting for the lion with a hand full of the best grass which he had collected as a gift to the lion. As usual the lion came, but when the cub offered the grass, the lion said, 'Come with me.'

He took the cub to a pond and told him to look at both of their reflections. 'What do you see? Look, here is me and here is you.'

The cub still denied what he saw. 'No, no they are both you. I am a sheep!'

At that moment the lion stuffed a piece of meat into the cub's mouth. Slowly, the cub started tasting the blood, and started enjoying it. Suddenly, it realized that it was a lion and let out a roar.

The lion said, 'So now you realize what you are! You see: you and I are one and the same.'

Now do you understand?

I am again and again telling you to look at who you are. But consciously or unconsciously, you run away from the truth. Whether you know it or not, accept it or not, you and I are one and the same.

Now I am telling you: look at your reflection. It is what you are. It is your reality. Now you will ask, 'How do I look at myself?'

Meditation creates the inner mirror. It gives you the capacity to look at yourself. I am not talking about the self which you think you are. I am talking about your inner self; the real you.

So, look within - at yourself. Understand what you are. Experience what you are. Only when you experience what you are, will you understand that it has been with you all the time. It has only been covered by your falsity.

Now uncover it.

Now look.

You will understand.

Thank you.

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