Grace according to the Path

 

Grace according to the Path

Summary:

A Path practitioner experiences something difficult to explain: Grace. Christians say providence and there is a cousinage. Grace is a feeling, a certainty that God looks at us individually and takes care of our life in the best possible way, with the aim that we fulfill the raison d'être of our coming.

 

Grace in action is said to be: 'Guidance'. It is when circumstances, events seem to combine harmoniously to get us on the right track. When one feels in the right place to do what one is supposed to do, a sense of accomplishment comes to erase uncertainties, doubts and fear.

 

Grace is like a wind that blows all the time on the ocean. Our soul is embedded in the human body and desires to return to its haven of peace. In order for the ship, where we are embarked, to go towards this harbour we must hoist the sails. Then the wind of Grace can blow in, inflate them and move us forward. For the practitioner of La Voie, hoisting the sails means practicing the four pillars. That’s what this saying means: 'Help yourself and heaven will help you'.

 

 

In the existence of a practitioner of The Path

There is one essential thing: Grace.

 

As always, with regard to the subtleties of things relating to the spiritual realm, this notion of Grace is difficult to explain to those who are not familiar with it. For Christians this word has many meanings, the main one being that 'Grace is a supernatural aid granted by God to men to make their salvation, which is escaping eternal damnation. It can also correspond to forgiveness, affection, love and divine benevolence. '' (Wikipedia)

 

Do not confuse Grace and Providence, even if the word providence and the word providential have long since taken on a very similar meaning to that of the word "Grace". From a theological point of view providence is God’s plan, His will for the world, having an influence on events. Unwilling to speak in place of all practitioners, I give you my explanation of Grace from the point of view of The Path: Grace is the Holy-Name in action

 

This explanation is simple, but you have to be familiar with the notion of Holy-Name! Explanations are given in other texts of the blog. To sum up we can say that 'The Holy-Name is the force of God', his energy, his perceptible force also on the phenomenal plane. For the Taoists, I would say that God is the Tao while the Holy-Name is the "De", that of the word Dao-De-Jing also named "virtue of the Dao".

 

In the same vein, by comparing Christian mysticism and that of The Path, we can say that the Guidance would approach the notion of providence. Grace and guidance are done H24 but to experience it there are certain conditions to fulfill. Being aware of it is one of them. Acting in harmony is another. Karma is the result of thoughts, words and deeds, Guidance, Grace in action, is the result of deeds done in all conscience, in inaction (service).

 

 

Hoist the sails

 

 

The wind blows as it blows, no matter what the thought,

the opinion of men.

On the other hand, as regards the wind, what man can do

is to hoist the sails

allowing his ship to advance.

 

 

To continue with this metaphor, let us say that the ship of the human being is its incarnation, that the ocean is the life and the path to travel through its existence. The wind of Grace is constantly blowing towards the goal. Sails are the appropriate actions that human beings can take.

 

On The Path an appropriate action is an action to deepen one’s awareness of bliss. The Observance of the agya, the practice of its pillars are just actions, but the right action is one that is done in consciousness, without attaching itself to its fruits. It’s the best way to hoist your sails.

 

Grace always blows upon the world and the creatures who live there, working for divine guidance towards the fulfilment of His purposes. The difference between an individual who is aware of Grace and an individual who is not aware of it is the same as between a person who is drowning and who is being bullied by the rescuer and another who is struggling.

 

By allowing oneself to do so, one allows the rescue to succeed in harmony. By struggling we come out of harmony and, if in spite of all the successful rescue, it will have been in fear and suffering.

 

A adept observing the agya will find, over time, that Grace exists and has an influence not only on his state of mind, but also on the course of his existence. When one is in a harmonious dynamic or generates harmony and the Holy-Name, His Guidance is harmony.

 

This Grace will not always avoid the discomforts, the pains caused by the aberrant functioning of human society, but the purpose of existence is not to be happy in this society.

 

 

Grace does not always erase daily worries,

the rages of teeth

but the consciousness of it allows,

when the weather is stormy,

to wait for the good weather to return

without further ado.

 

 

The more a adept is attentive to the Holy-Name, in Observance and the more Grace, His guidance is evident to him. This evidence allows him to go in the direction of harmony.

 

 

"The initiate lives in the Grace of the world

among the beings who also live there.

Bhaktimàrga 163

 

 

 

 

 

Contact email: lavoie.eu@gmail.com