Unearned and undeserved grace – Kripa

A Saint was visiting the US and a wealthy man came to meet him – Sir, I came to this country empty handed 20 years ago. In last 20 years, I worked very hard, and I have earned millions. Not only that I helped many of my employees to become successful. Even this temple where you are residing is founded by me only. I am the biggest donor of this temple. But, still it seems His grace is missing on me – I am suffering from diabetes, my wife is not happy with me and very often complains about getting divorce. My son is in the influence of bad social circle. I need some help.”

The saint  started smiling and called another gentleman who was serving in the temple. He asked, “Hey Madhav, when did you come to US?”

“20 years ago, Sir.”

"Tell me what you accomplished in 20 years."

“Sir, I didn’t accomplish anything. I don’t deserve anything. But by the virtue of His grace, I am very happy. I have a secured job, a happy family, a small home and I get a lot of time to serve in this temple.”

Then he uttered a few lines from a famous bhajan-

“Mera aap ki kripa se sab kaam ho raha hai

Karte he mere bhagwan, mera kaam ho raha hai II”

“By his grace, all my works are getting accomplished

He is the one who is doing everything and I am earning the name II”

 “Dear son, this is applied spirituality. You have exchanged your time for the worldly accomplishments and didn’t save any time for yourself. One attitude is that I am doing everything and I have accomplished everything. Whereas another perspective can be that everyone puts in a lot of efforts for worldly accomplishments. But only because of the grace of that Supreme Kripalu all-pervading bliss-embodied (anand Swaroop) Parmatma, I accomplished the results. Everyone prays to the God and ask for his Kripa (grace), but a true seeker is always in the mode of gratitude – keeps on thanking the Parmatma for all the undeserved and unearned grace (kripa in hindi) being showered upon him consistently just like sunlight. Such an attitude helps in maintaining the peaceful, calm and humble frame of mind, which in turns help in the manifestation of the true qualities of being – the Sat-Chit-Anand. You do not become spiritual by building temples, but with the right frame of mind you can apply spirituality in practical life.”