Can you tell me what Grace is?
 

...I’m struggling to understand it.


Very simply, Grace is your essence, your true nature. Grace is what you really are, and Grace is all there is. Specifically and practically speaking, Grace is the intelligent, optimizing movement of life.

This optimizing force is what unfolds every moment in the direction of greater truth and love and greater functioning and fullness of life. Grace is the nourishing Presence that holds us and supports us in the unfolding of our life. You have experienced Grace directly many times, when things just fell into place or you were touched by a deeper understanding and awareness.

While Grace is obvious in moments when the seemingly miraculous occurs or when a profound opening into the depths of Being happens, Grace also knows when a difficulty or obstacle has the potential to lead to a greater depth of awareness and a fuller expression of our limitless potential. This means that Grace can show up as a flat tire on the way to work or a broken heart or any of the minor and major difficulties we face in everyday life.

In understanding and appreciating Grace, the challenge and the opportunity is to see that Grace is always here and always bringing us the exact experience that is most useful and helpful.

Sometimes only in hindsight can we see the Grace in our struggles and suffering, but Grace is always here. Recognizing the Grace in our challenges often allows a challenge to be resolved more naturally and effortlessly, or at least allows us to be at peace with it. The healing of our suffering comes when we see the bigger truth that even suffering is a part of the unfolding of Grace.

When you see that there is Grace even in your own problems, then it no longer matters if some difficulty occurs as the situation is no longer as much of an experience of suffering, but just what is happening.

Understanding Grace doesn’t require an intellectual grasp of what it is or even insight into how it works. Understanding Grace only requires that you be open and curious about your experience just as it is right now.

Are you willing to see Grace as she is appearing right now this very moment? Can you recognize her even if she is artfully disguised as pain or discomfort? Can you open your Heart to the gift she is offering you today?

The understanding doesn’t come as some final insight or as an answer to all your questions. The understanding comes as a felt sense of trust that life is safe and good and worthwhile. The understanding comes as the unfolding of life moment to moment. This is the miracle of Grace, touching you in every moment and always as close as your own breath.

Because you will never be done discovering all the infinite ways that life and Grace can unfold and express itself, the complete understanding of Grace will take forever. What an adventure and blessing it is to be shown the many dimensions and possibilities of your true nature as intelligent, loving, infinite Grace.


- Nirmala in "Meeting the Mystery"


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Nice Xan.

When we "understand"...... we "stand under" grace.

When you have seen grace as part of the unfolding of suffering.....in receiving this essence......you realize that it was always their waiting.

to me grace is beyond unconditional love.

Grace is your true SELF, its when it is nudging you, and you begin to take notice, when you are not under grace, your not taking notice of the nudging, your too dualistic to notice. Well that's my version anyways.

Beyond unconditional love?

Could you expound a bit on that theme?

Unconditional love seems to be the epitome of ...of....well, something - but
you say it is beyond - I will anxiously await this - it should be like poetry.

Yes I sense that too...not sure why...but I do.

The grace for me was like a blessing bestowed...that was how the experience towards the path of grace......immersed me as one with my surrender.

Yes this is truly grace, this is how I would describe it also in my life.

God is conscious about us and loves us, this world is a ocean of grace and completely made of grace. If we say, why here is so grief? It means we are not feeling this grace. Yogdarshan says, “iswarpranidhanadwa”, means Yogi can achieve Yoga also with the grace of God. To be continued

Grace is kindness, benevolence, generosity, unconstrained goodwill. It is an active action which has an aim and acts on the recipient of grace in an indirect way.
It is this quality which makes it more than even unconditional love.

That is beautiful.......:smile: Thank you..James

Yes that tough love space often times proves to awaken the greatest source of grace that we never forget...

We have the choice in life to create a life by force or experience a life by grace.
One creates and the other is the witness to what has been already created.

"Grace", well, its amazing, come on brothers and sisters lets sing, amazing grace how sweet thou are........................

Hi Guys .

I have noticed that grace becomes the selfless . Grace can be likened to one's soul essence that opens the door to self .

x daz x

Loving those who don't behave in ways that make them easy to love. Separating Being/Species from action. Forgiveness. Big picture perspective.

he he, i am a terrible poet,

to me the perception of grace is gods love, it is beyond me to explain. therefore, it is beyond the human conditions and unconditioned. unexplainable, but can be experienced and no words could ever describe it accurate. the closest word i could come to would be beauty. knowing beauty opens the door to grace.

Grace is what some people say before they eat their meal.

God, Guru, the true Self, and Grace are one and the same.


- Ramana Maharshi

I have never ever considered that
---'knowing beauty'... I have considered, fertile soil, humilty, sometimes pain and suffering, crying such as in grief, deep prayer, silence, asking and waiting,
and sometimes nothing at all to open the door to Grace.
I will open to 'knowing beauty'. :smile:

I like the potential of the word possibly used wrongly.... 'their' waiting.

Very gracious of them... don't you think?

I appreciate your words Mr I as always.........Can you expand for my absorbtion further.(sorry if its not going in, I always ask for clarity :)..You like the potential of the world possibly used wrongly?

Grace is gods blessing upon us

Miss H: I have considered fertile soil, humilty, sometimes pain and suffering, crying such as in grief, deep prayer, silence, asking and waiting,
and sometimes nothing at all to open the door to Grace.


Breathing, letting go, opening... now?


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A story I always remember from a sermon at church on grace is this.

Imagine a naughty kid puts a fireworks bomb in your new letterbox and blows it apart and later you find after he confesses it to you.

Justice demands he replace it at his expense as retribution for his actions.

Forgiveness accepts his apology and you negotiate how the letterbox is replaced.

Grace frees the child from responsibility for his actions because of his repentance and you pay for the letterbox to be repaired.

True forgiveness and grace sees the upset boy and and buys him an ice cream to try to cheer him up and you later replace the letterbox without holding a grrudge.

Grace extends beyond forgiveness as the next selfless step.

That is the model of grace from Jesus relating to salvation.

Grace extends beyond forgiveness as the next selfless step.


I like this. Grace takes us beyond ourselves.


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Sweet, beautiful.
I would say that is the wonderfulness of forgiveness.
Pure and simple.
A Christian might say ''mercy'' - I would not.
This the freeing upliftment of forgiveness.

Grace is manifested in many ways indeed.
This above is a sweet little drop of stardust that is Grace, yes.

One could say - it is grace to find a dime on the sidewalk when you need it for your meter.
Well, yes, it is a form of magical grace.... and oh, so wonderful when one perceives what is happening...
the Universe manifesting out of thin air exactly what you need.

And then there is a Grace that enters your brain and squirts chemicals into folds that have been asleep and
opens the 'Doors of Perception' to the Supernatural Reality not usually perceived with the ''average'' brain waves.
The world that the electron microscope has opened us to -
a living, breathing, conscious Universe interconnected eternally in a place of timelessness and everlasting bliss ever anew.

Ok, I'll stop. I get carried away...:smile:

No question mark...just now.
:smile:

And then there is a Grace that enters your brain and squirts chemicals into folds that have been asleep and
opens the 'Doors of Perception' to the Supernatural Reality not usually perceived with the ''average'' brain waves.
The world that the electron microscope has opened us to -
a living, breathing, conscious Universe interconnected eternally in a place of timelessness and everlasting bliss ever anew.


Oh... my favorite kind.


Xan

ROFL --- that was very funny.