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2011/11 多甜蜜的圣恩
 
1.圣恩是什么?
 
灵性的圣恩是神赐的益处。那是心态或事件的一种改造,协助我们更紧凑的体认我们的神圣本质。圣恩给予我们机会以避免我们在灵道上浪费时间和受到干扰。它可以彰显为智慧或激励或物质救援,而其结果可显现于任何形式。
 

圣恩会纠正一切。其主要结果是“自我证悟”,但也有其他附带的利益,如一个快乐而满足的生命于世间及一个冷静而无畏的气质,建立于不受到干扰的平静之中。。。此乃圣恩的本质。它满足各种需求。

《沙迪亚赛说》第6章184面
Sathya Sai Speaks 6, p.184
 
2.如何获得圣恩?
 
在新英格兰的偏远地带,到乡下的旅行者有时会被地方心态所困惑。问路时,他们可能得到的回答是,“你不能从这里到那里。” 幸运地,当我们寻找正确的方向时,通常都有一个门路。如果我们问的是正确的问题,使用的是正确的向导,朝向灵性圣恩的旅程也是可能的。

有些神圣利益,凡接受力敏锐者都可以得到。获得神的爱与帮助是我们与生俱来的权利。处于危机时我们对保护我们的光和爱就有特别的感悟。
 

神恩有如甘霖,有如阳光。你必须致力于灵性修习,始能得之:把水壶放正以便收集雨水,把心扉打开以便阳光照耀。

沙迪亚赛说》第6章184面
 
善加利用我们的礼物决定我们所获得的利益。我们随着我们自己的意愿而自由行事。我们可以利用我们的礼物去造福人群或导致他人的破灭。我们的动机素质影响我们成就的结果。
 

在湖中,坑中,井中及河中的水都是雨水,虽然其味,色,名和形式各有不同,胥视雨水下降在那儿及盛水容器而定。圣恩即如雨水,纯净,清澈,洒向每一个人。它如何被接收和利用则看人的心来决定了。

《沙迪亚赛说》第4章18面
 
如果我们过一个正直的生活,神恩自动降临,无需特别的祈求。神圣的能量自然流向那些爱他人和服务他人的人。如水之自然灌入湖和溪一样,圣恩也自然洒向依据灵性原则而生活的人。
 

如果一个人持有一颗纯净的心,并依据斯瓦米的教导去生活,斯瓦米的恩宠自然降临于他。没有羯摩(Karma,业)能阻止。

《会谈》109面
 
圣恩有两种:可被赢取的与不可被赢取的。神的恩典或基于我们过去的功德行为而在我们生命中的一个特别时候降临于我们。或者,它可能是一个不可被赢取的,是神基于我们灵性的进展和虔诚而恩赐的礼物。当然,如果我们确认我们已收到恩典,可我们却不知道我们收到的是哪一种恩典。
 

只有在你把钱存入银行,或抵押你的资产和取得贷款,或银行给予你透支,你才能兑现你所开的支票。你可以抵押的资产是“你前世善行所得的功德。”在紧急时的透支是神恩,是在你够虔诚与稳定的情况下,神才洒向你的。至于贷款,你必须有担保物或保证人:担保物是神恩;保证人是你稳定的信心,是你万变不渝的诚服。

《沙迪亚赛说》第7章175面
 
赢取圣恩的主要方法是靠虔诚和平稳的灵修。 热衷的修行可由人格的革新与博爱众生来成就。净化人格后,我们就变得更适宜来接受神恩。
 

尤其重要的,就是致力于改正你的习性,减少你的欲望,及精炼你崇高的本质去赢取神恩。每一步都为下一步铺路;那就是灵道的优点。你的力量和自信随着每一个步伐而提升,而你就得到一份比一份更大的神恩。

《沙迪亚赛说》第5章30面
 
如要掌握自我改造的技艺,我们必须提早起步。如果我们在灵道上有充分的时间,旅程就显得轻松愉快了。要赢得圣恩,我们应该从早年时就开始步上灵性的道路。如果我们在青少年时就追逐满足感官的欲望,那当我们步入老年时又有谁会聆听我们的呐喊?对死亡和疾病的恐惧引起人们想起神,但当处在欢乐和清新的生活时,有谁会想到神呢?灵道上的艰辛,使及早步上灵道成为极为必需的要素。
 

如步入老年始尝试控制你的欲望和感官,你可能得不到主的恩典。另一方面,如在年青时就致力于感官控制,毋庸置疑,你会获得神恩。

夏季浸濡1973》138面
 
然而,在我们要求神恩时,首先我们必须利用我们所有的能力去帮助自己。如果还未尽己所能而就请求神的帮助,这就显得我们太慵懒了。我们首先必须竭尽所能去解决我们自己的问题。
 

尽了你的能力而仍嫌不足,然后才请求我。我随时会以我的恩典增强你的努力。

《沙迪亚赛说》第2章123面
 
当我们依据神圣的内在声音行事时,旅程就变得较为容易了。灵性的进展使每一步更为肯定而目标显得更为接近。由于有益的习性得到强化,自然就不费心力了。就如我们品尝补药的甜美一样,我们的修行会变得更加愉悦。我们对自己的能力有自信,而神恩就如影随形了。
 

个人的努力与神圣的恩典是互相依靠的。缺乏努力,就得不到神恩。缺乏神恩,就得不到努力的成果。要得到那圣恩,信心与德行在所必需。

《沙迪亚赛说》第5章188面
 
借修习无私的爱,我们直接与神认同。为人和神去发挥爱和付出爱,是赢取神恩的最有力的法门。神是爱而会被爱所吸引。爱净化我们以便我们认知和接受神恩。
 

神恩不能通过理性的技巧,瑜伽的修习法,或者苦行的克制来赢得。赢得之者唯爱而已,那是不需报偿的爱,不知讨价还价的爱,乐于支付给博爱者的爱,不左右摇摆的爱。只有爱能克服障碍,不论障碍有多少,有多大威力。

《沙迪亚赛说》第7章459面

 
3.神恩如何出现?
 
神恩有时不以我们所认识的方式出现。它或悄悄地来,不为人所见,宛似凌晨的甘露。神恩可能像欢乐的汹涌浪涛涌向我们或以另一种装扮来敲我们的门 -- 隐藏于‘不幸’之服饰之中的一种祝福。

神恩以诸多方式彰显。其中最令人惊讶的是意外与灾难的保护。然而,当我们从灾难中被拯救出来时,我们却常常无所觉知。我们不知我们所遭受的损失或伤害有多少,倘若不是神的介入。

通过稳定的灵修,我们可以从至少过去行为的一些果报中赢得莫名的‘延期’。沙迪亚赛峇峇拯救信徒于显著而急迫的灾难中的诸多实例都被记录下来。那就是神恩的威力以及遵从其教诲的重要性。峇峇护佑和指引信徒沿循最肯定的道路安然前进。
 

最渴望的财富方式就是神的恩典。祂会保护你,有如眼睫毛之保护眼睛。切莫怀疑这一点。

《沙迪亚赛说》第4章190面
 
灵性进展的诸多障碍最好还是加以克服而不是避开。只有在一个障碍被克服之后,我们才进入下一个试炼。事情的过程就交给主好了。祂知道每一个求道者最安全的路程。如果依赖主,我们就不会受到伤害。
 

要依赖神恩;赢取它并保持它。那么,不论风暴多大,你都可以安然度过。

《沙迪亚赛说》第4章364面
 
圣恩往往不会在我们所愿或如我们所愿时出现。当我们致力于灵修时,我们必定会面对诸多障碍,阻止我们前进。最好的路线或许就是体验清涤我们的痛苦。过程或许痛苦但痛苦往往给我们带来最大的好处。
 

是的,那就是恩典。受苦者获得我的恩典。只有透过痛苦,他们才会被說服而向内探索。而不向内探索,他们决不能躲开苦恼。

《会谈》110面
 
当恩典提供我们一个机会以弥补过去的业时,我们或会体验到痛苦和损失。然而,神的恩典减轻我们的痛苦和损失。为了我们的成长,痛苦是必需的,所以我们必须体验之。主的恩典减轻我们的负担。
 

被剧痛折腾时,医生给你打吗啡针止痛。你不感到痛,虽然痛还在体内。恩典有如吗啡:使你不感到痛,但你挨过了!恩德带走你必须承受的恶毒。。。。

《沙迪亚赛说》第4章154面
 
虽然过去的业报非承受不可,但是神的恩典减轻痛苦或甚至解除之。业并非难以克服的障碍。当我们尽力而为时,主就减轻我们的障碍到我们可以忍受的程度。
 

你可以说,过去的业的负担及其不可避免的果报迟早会到来,但是主的恩典能把那负担化为灰烬。

《 沙迪亚赛说》第4章356面
 
神恩可以在信徒之内彰显为高尚或善良的人格。修成这样的人格是最重要的恩典。缺少它,一切好运难起作用。最大的恩典就是那使我们具有美德者 --- 并且付出无私的爱。
 

你的任何机能再也不会阻碍你的进步。祂会使你的机能适应最高的目标:感官,心念,潜意识,无意识,智能 --- 所有一切。神恩授予你一切所需。

沙迪亚赛说》第6章76面
 
4.神恩:缺乏之,既无始,亦无终
 
大多数的人多在做白日梦,迷失方向。他们犹豫不决,真假莫辨。就像戏剧中心不在焉的演员,他们忘了自己的身份而认其临时扮演的角色为真实身份。没有神恩,你连神戏剧的第一幕尚且无从开始,甭说最后一幕了。

就‘救赎’而言,神恩是不可或缺的。它帮助我们在多方面获得成长,赐予我们比我们所要求的更多。没有神恩,明心见性的驱策力亦不可得。方法,能力及目标的达致完全仰赖神恩。
 

只有通过主的恩典,人才能培育起向往不二论(advaita)的渴望。

《沙迪亚赛说》第6章170面
 
所有的努力应该导向赢取神的恩典。祂的恩典才是我们唯一真正的财富。它是我们这一生或来生的最宝贵的拥有物。没有那恩典,生命的甜美就少之又少了。
 

神的恩典是最大的财富。以为财富和社会地位的象征就看金钱,黄金或其他物质的囤积来决定,那是大错特错的。反之,人生的目标应该是追求神恩的神圣财富。

《夏季浸濡1979》152面
 
学习圈的问题:
 
  1. 神恩是什么?
  2. 神恩常使生命轻松愉快吗?
  3. 神恩能克服障碍吗?
  4. 如何赢得神恩?
  5. 神恩能成为不可赢得的礼物吗?
  6. 我们怎么知道我们收到了神恩?
  7. 神恩以什么方式降临?
  8. 神为什么赐予恩典?
  9. 神如何决定谁该获得恩典?
  10. 如可能,你该给你自己什么恩典?
摘自《归向神之道》第13章
 
Grace: How Sweet It Is
 
1. What is Grace?
 
Spiritual grace is a benefit bestowed by God. It is a transformation of attitude or events that helps us to draw closer to realizing our divine nature. Grace grants us opportunities to avoid wasted time and trouble while on the spiritual path. It may manifest as wisdom or inspiration or material aid. The result can appear in any form.
 

Grace will set everything right. Its main consequence is “self-realization,” but there are other incidental benefits, too, like a happy, contented life here below and a cool, courageous temper, established in unruffled equanimity…This is the nature of grace. It fulfills a variety of wants.

Sathya Sai Speaks 6, p.184
 
2. How Do We Get Grace?
 
In remote areas of New England, travelers to rustic lanes are sometimes bewildered by local attitudes. On asking directions to their destination, they have sometimes received the reply, “You can’t get there from here.” Fortunately, there is always a way when we search in the correct direction. The journey to spiritual grace is also possible if we ask the right questions and enlist the right guide.

Some divine benefits are available to all who are receptive. It is our birthright to receive God’s love and aid. When we walk the razor’s edge, we become particularly aware of the light and love which protect us.
 

God’s grace is as the shower of rain, as the sunlight. You have to do some sadhana (spiritual practice) to acquire it: the sadhana of keeping a pot upright to receive the rain, the sadhana of opening the door of your heart so that the sun may illumine it.

Sathya Sai Speaks 6, p.184
 
The use we make of our gifts determines the benefit we receive. We are free to act according to our own will. We can use our gifts for the benefit of others or toward their downfall. The quality of our motivation colors the results we achieve.
 

Water in lakes, pits, wells, and rivers is rain water, though the taste, color, name, and form are different, based on where the rain has fallen and how pure the container is. Divine grace is like rain, pure, pellucid, falling on all. How it is received and used depends on the heart of man.

Sathya Sai Speaks 4, p.18
 
When we live a good life, grace follows us automatically. No special request is required. The divine energy flows naturally to those who love and serve others. As water naturally fills lakes and streams, grace flows spontaneously to one living in accordance with spiritual principles.
 

If a person has a pure heart and is living Swami’s teachings, Swami’s grace is automatic. No karma can prevent that.

Conversations, p.109
 
There are two types of grace: that which is earned and that which is unearned. Grace from God may be bestowed at a particular time in our lives as a result of past meritorious actions. Or it may be an unearned gift from the Lord based on our spiritual progress and devotion. Of course, we do not know which type of grace we have received, if we realize we have received grace at all.
 

You can draw checks on a bank only when you have deposited therein, or you can mortgage your property and take a loan, or the bank may grant you an overdraft. The property on which you can take a loan is the “accumulated merit consequent on the good deeds of previous lives.” The overdraft on which you can draw in times of emergency is grace, which God showers when you are sincere and steady enough to deserve it. You must give some surety or someone as security to get a loan: the surety is divine grace; the security is the fixity of your faith, the solidarity of your surrender.

Sathya Sai Speaks 7, p.175
 
The principal means to earn grace is by dedicated and unruffled spiritual practice. Dedicated practice is achieved by reforming our character along the lines of right conduct and developing love for all. When we purify our character, we become increasingly fit to receive grace.
 

Above all, try to win grace by reforming your habits, reducing your desires, and refining your higher nature. One step makes the next one easier; that is the excellence of the spiritual journey. At each step, your strength and confidence increase and you get bigger and bigger installments of grace.

Sathya Sai Speaks 5, p.30
 
To master the art of self-transformation, we must start early. The journey is easier and more enjoyable when we plan sufficient time for the road. To win grace, we should begin, if possible, while still young. If we waste youth in pursuit of sensuous desires, who will listen to our cries when we reach old age? The fear of death and sickness causes many to think of God, but who thinks of God when life is pleasant and new? The difficulty of the path makes an early start highly desirable.
 

If at an advanced age you try to control your desires and senses, you may or may not win the Lord’s grace. On the other hand, if at this young age you control your sense organs, there is no doubt whatsoever that you will gain God’s grace.

Summer Showers 1973, p.138
 
But before we call for the grace of the Lord, we must first use all of our own abilities to help ourselves. If we call on the Lord before we have used the means already at our disposal, we are being lazy. We must first make our best effort to solve our own problems.
 

When you have done your best and that is found not enough, then call on me. I am ever ready to reinforce your exertions with my grace.

Sathya Sai Speaks 2, p.123
 
When we act in accordance with the call of the divine inner voice, the journey becomes easier. Spiritual development makes each step more certain and the goal appears closer. Less effort is required as beneficial habits are reinforced. As we taste the sweetness of the tonic, our practice of discipline becomes more pleasurable. We become confident of our own abilities and grace flows to us automatically.
 

Individual effort and divine grace are both interdependent. Without effort, there will be no conferment of grace. Without grace, there can be no gain from the effort. To win that grace, you need have only faith and virtue.

Sathya Sai Speaks 5, p.188
 
By practicing selfless love, we identify directly with God. Practicing love for man and God is the most potent means to earn grace. God is love and is drawn by love. Love purifies us so that we may recognize and receive grace.
 

The grace of God cannot be won through the gymnastics of reason, the contortions of yoga, or the denials of asceticism. Love alone can win it, love that needs no requital, love that knows no bargaining, love that is paid gladly as tribute to the All-Loving, love that is unwavering. Love alone can overcome obstacles, however many and mighty.

Sathya Sai Speaks 7, p.459
 
3. How Does Grace Appear?
 
Sometimes grace does not appear in a form that we may recognize. It may arrive unseen, like the sweet dew at dawn. Grace may burst upon us like waves in a torrent of joy, or it may knock at our door wearing a disguise – a blessing hidden in the clothes of misfortune.

Grace manifests in many ways. Protection from accidents or disasters is one of the most startling ways in which it might appear. But we may not always be aware when we have been saved from calamity. We do not know what losses or injuries we might have suffered but for divine intervention.

Through steady spiritual practice we may have earned unknown respite from at least some of the results of our past actions. Many instances are recorded of devotees who have been saved from obvious and imminent disaster by Sathya Sai Baba. Such is the power of the Lord’s grace and the importance of following his precepts. Baba protects and guides his devotees safely along the surest path.
 

The most desirable form of wealth is the grace of God. He will guard you, even as the lids guard the eye. Do not doubt this.

Sathya Sai Speaks 4, p.190
 
Many obstacles to our spiritual progress are better overcome than avoided. Only when an obstacle is surmounted may we pass to the next test. The course of events is best left to the Lord. He knows the safest course for each aspirant. If we rely on the Lord, we will come to no harm.
 

Rely on the grace of God; earn it and keep it. Then whatever the strength of the storm, you can survive it without harm.

Sathya Sai Speaks 4, p.364
 
Divine grace does not always appear when or as we might wish. When we strive to advance spiritually, we must confront the obstacles which block our way. The best course may be to experience the pain or suffering, which cleanses us. The process may be painful, but sometimes pain benefits us the most.
 

It is grace. Those who suffer have my grace. Only through suffering will they be persuaded to turn inward and make the inquiry. And without turning inward and making inquiry, they can never escape misery.

Conversations, p.110
 
When grace affords us an opportunity to atone for past actions, we may experience pain and loss. However, the grace of God lessens the pain and reduces the loss. The suffering may be essential for our growth and so we must experience it. The Lord’s grace reduces our burden.
 

When a severe pain torments you, the doctor gives you a morphine injection and you do not feel the pain, though it is there in the body. Grace is like the morphine: the pain is not felt, though you go through it! Grace takes away the malignity of the karma which you have to undergo…

Sathya Sai Speaks 4, p.154
 
Although the burden of past actions may have to be endured, the grace of God minimizes the pain, or may even eliminate it. Karma is not an insurmountable obstacle. When we exert our best efforts, the Lord reduces the obstacle to a size that we can bear.
 

You may say that the burden of past acts and their inevitable consequences have to be borne, but the grace of the Lord can burn that burden in a flash…

Sathya Sai Speaks 4, p.356
 
Grace may manifest in the devotee as noble or virtuous character. Such character is the most important grace to obtain. Without it all good fortune would yield little benefit. The greatest grace is that which makes us virtuous – and selflessly loving.

No more can any faculty of yours hinder your progress. He will orient all of your faculties towards the highest goal: the senses, the mind, the subconscious, the unconscious, the intelligence – all. Grace will confer all you need.

Sathya Sai Speaks 6, p.76
 
4. Grace: Without It There Is Neither Start Nor Finish
 
Most people are lost in a waking dream. They wander about believing the real to be false and the false to be real. Like absent-minded actors in a play, they have forgotten their lines and they take their haphazardly improvised role to be reality. Without grace, one cannot even start the Lord’s play, much less bow at the finale.

The grace of God is essential for “salvation.” It helps us to grow in many ways, granting more than we could ask for. Not even the urge to realize divinity can be obtained without God’s grace. The means, the ability, and our achievement of the goal are all dependent upon grace.
 

Through the grace of the Lord alone can man develop a desire for advaita, or nonduality of the universe, one without second.

Sathya Sai Speaks 6, p.170
 
All our efforts should be directed toward winning God’s grace. His grace is our only true wealth. It is our greatest possession in this life and the next. Without that grace, there can be little sweetness in our lives.
 

God’s grace is the greatest wealth. To consider the amassing of money, gold, or other material objects as symbols of wealth and social prestige is incorrect. The goal of life, instead, should be the acquisition of the divine wealth of God’s grace.

Summer Showers 1979, p.152
 
Questions for Study Circle:
 
  1. What is grace?
  2. Does grace always make life easier?
  3. Can grace overcome any obstacle?
  4. How is grace earned?
  5. Can grace be an unearned gift?
  6. How do we know if we have received grace?
  7. In what form may grace arrive?
  8. Why does God grant grace?
  9. How does God decide who should receive grace?
  10. If you could, what grace would you grant yourself?
 
References for Further Study:
 
  1. An Eastern View of Jesus, pp.18-19.
  2. Conversations, pp.111-112.
  3. Jnana Vahini, p.67 (With grace, one can have a vision of the atma, however deficient one is in other areas).
  4. Sanathana Sarathi, Jan. 1985, p.12.
  5. Sathya Sai Speaks 4, p.128 (The man who called for the Lord’s help, but did not make his own effort).
  6. Sathya Sai Speaks 6, p.184.
  7. Sathya Sai Speaks 7, p.26 (Grace is won by effort).
  8. Sathya Sai Speaks 7, p.162-163 (Good deeds may be drawn on like bank credit).
  9. Sathya Sai Speaks 7, pp.196 (Earn grace by doing the Lord’s will).
  10. Sathya Sai Speaks 7, pp.470-471.
  11. Sathya Sai Speaks 9, p.226 (Four stages of acquiring grace).
  12. Sathya Sai Speaks 10, pp.228 (Win grace by purity of heart and mastery of senses).
  13. Summer Showers 1974, p.183 (Grace depends on nearness to God).
  14. Summer Showers 1974, p.255 (Without love, God’s grace cannot flow).
  15. We devotees, p.54.
 
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