One of the points that I had kept pondering over a long time was GRACE and other associated attributes of god (of course discussion on god without any attribute is out of scope here :-)) from a philosophical point of view. Before going into the explanations a few rhetorical questions that are typically asked on this aspect.
(1) Most (if not all) of the religions talk of god and peace, god and grace, god and love in one word. If this is the case, how do you explain all the negative things that one sees in day to day life. In fact the question is where does one see any good thing?
(2) If you explain the above using Karma and say that all the problems would go away once you get salvation (however you define this), the obvious question is why should that be so difficult considering god is love, peace, grace etc.
There are two events or explanations that I have heard that may be relevant here. There were a few tourists from the west in the temple town of Kanchipuram. They were visiting the Shankara Mutt. The senior Shankaracharya was the head of the mutt at that time (Sri Chandrasekharendra Saraswathi). The western tourists wanted to know how can we be sure about the concept of reincarnation. The Swami kept quiet for sometime and then gave them an assignment. The assignement was to go around all the hospitals there and record the details on all the babies born on that day. They were to collect all background information on the babies, the parents etc.
They returned back the next day and said that there were x number of babies, some poor and some rich, some with sickness and some with good health, basically a mixed bag. The Swami simply asked them the following: If there is no past or future in terms of births and the current is all that matters, then should we not have a same starting point? (baseline problem :-)). If so, how do you explain all the differences in their physical and environmental factors!
Leaving the topic on Karma for now, let us now move to the next objection. To get rid of all Karma, there are multiple paths. Again it is beyond scope here. But suffice to say that it is not easy. The objection now is that, why cant the god of love, grace and other nice things, simply decide to get rid of all Karma and take the entire universe to his abode. This is a classical issue discussed in philosophy (sarvamukthi prasangam).
A trivial comment is if every one gets salvation nothing exists. That seems to be a little lame. A deeper line defines this to include the individual soul wanting this. Advesha/Abhimukyam is another concept that is given here. In English it is approximately non hatred for god when he tries to help (not turning him away) and one step or even semblance of an attempt to reach him. At first thought, this seems to indicate that he needs something from the soul to shower his grace. That means his grace is not Nirhetuka (without expectation or reason). That is a let down. Is it so?
One swami informed me that this basically boils down to one not appreciating his gift if he gets it for free. We have tons of examples for this in real life!
The true meaning of grace comes out here. God wants to shower everything and is waiting. His love for everything and everyone is so profound that he does not want force his way!! Despite the individual soul not wanting to accept him, questioning even his ownership or in cases his existence, he patiently waits, prods, gives opportunities and then takes what is actually his.
I was happy with this in an academic way and let it pass. After some time, at home, we got a toy that needed significant assembly. Needless to say the kids cannot do it. My younger one (we named him parakala!!) was very sure that he could do it by himself. Despite my sincere attempts he refused to listen. In total frustration and some anger, I let it go and asked him to assemble it. He fumbled around for a while and then sheepishly asked me if I could help. I gladly jumped in. It struck me then. I could have forced myself into fixing the toy. It would have made my son unhappy and I also would not have been satisfied. But the end result with this approach made both of us happy!! Is there a pattern here?
Another episode in every ones life: When we visit a friend's or relative's place and if there is a small kid there, do we go force ourselves to play or do we wait patiently for kid to get used to us? The latter option always works.
If this is the status here, why are we even debating on the larger issue of salvation and why god cannot do it for everyone?
(1) Most (if not all) of the religions talk of god and peace, god and grace, god and love in one word. If this is the case, how do you explain all the negative things that one sees in day to day life. In fact the question is where does one see any good thing?
(2) If you explain the above using Karma and say that all the problems would go away once you get salvation (however you define this), the obvious question is why should that be so difficult considering god is love, peace, grace etc.
There are two events or explanations that I have heard that may be relevant here. There were a few tourists from the west in the temple town of Kanchipuram. They were visiting the Shankara Mutt. The senior Shankaracharya was the head of the mutt at that time (Sri Chandrasekharendra Saraswathi). The western tourists wanted to know how can we be sure about the concept of reincarnation. The Swami kept quiet for sometime and then gave them an assignment. The assignement was to go around all the hospitals there and record the details on all the babies born on that day. They were to collect all background information on the babies, the parents etc.
They returned back the next day and said that there were x number of babies, some poor and some rich, some with sickness and some with good health, basically a mixed bag. The Swami simply asked them the following: If there is no past or future in terms of births and the current is all that matters, then should we not have a same starting point? (baseline problem :-)). If so, how do you explain all the differences in their physical and environmental factors!
Leaving the topic on Karma for now, let us now move to the next objection. To get rid of all Karma, there are multiple paths. Again it is beyond scope here. But suffice to say that it is not easy. The objection now is that, why cant the god of love, grace and other nice things, simply decide to get rid of all Karma and take the entire universe to his abode. This is a classical issue discussed in philosophy (sarvamukthi prasangam).
A trivial comment is if every one gets salvation nothing exists. That seems to be a little lame. A deeper line defines this to include the individual soul wanting this. Advesha/Abhimukyam is another concept that is given here. In English it is approximately non hatred for god when he tries to help (not turning him away) and one step or even semblance of an attempt to reach him. At first thought, this seems to indicate that he needs something from the soul to shower his grace. That means his grace is not Nirhetuka (without expectation or reason). That is a let down. Is it so?
One swami informed me that this basically boils down to one not appreciating his gift if he gets it for free. We have tons of examples for this in real life!
The true meaning of grace comes out here. God wants to shower everything and is waiting. His love for everything and everyone is so profound that he does not want force his way!! Despite the individual soul not wanting to accept him, questioning even his ownership or in cases his existence, he patiently waits, prods, gives opportunities and then takes what is actually his.
I was happy with this in an academic way and let it pass. After some time, at home, we got a toy that needed significant assembly. Needless to say the kids cannot do it. My younger one (we named him parakala!!) was very sure that he could do it by himself. Despite my sincere attempts he refused to listen. In total frustration and some anger, I let it go and asked him to assemble it. He fumbled around for a while and then sheepishly asked me if I could help. I gladly jumped in. It struck me then. I could have forced myself into fixing the toy. It would have made my son unhappy and I also would not have been satisfied. But the end result with this approach made both of us happy!! Is there a pattern here?
Another episode in every ones life: When we visit a friend's or relative's place and if there is a small kid there, do we go force ourselves to play or do we wait patiently for kid to get used to us? The latter option always works.
If this is the status here, why are we even debating on the larger issue of salvation and why god cannot do it for everyone?
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