Grace is the only way to self-realisation. There are two major aspects in you – one is the instinct of survival which is always holding you down, another is your longing to become boundless. That which keeps this longing going is Grace. That which is constantly telling you, “It is not safe. Let us do the safe thing” is survival.
Whether it is your body, the planet, the solar system or the whole cosmos, the physical is always a limited entity. Physicality always has a defined boundary, but what holds the physical is boundless non-existence, boundless nothingness. That which is, is creation. This boundless nothingness, that which is not, is Shiva.
When we say ‘Shiva,’ we are referring to that aspect which is constantly trying to suck you into that nothingness. The aspect of you which wants to exist is on as well, but your existence is only for a limited span of time. Whether it is you, the planet, the solar system or the whole galaxy, the existence is for a limited span of time. Everything springs from that Grace and falls back into that Grace. So what you are referring to as nothingness is Grace. What you are referring to as Shiva is Grace.
How do you touch it? You have to realize the smallness of who you are. You are a minuscule element in this cosmos. You are pretending to be big. If you stop all your pretension, you are available to Grace.
A simple device is that you do not judge or discriminate against anyone or anything. Jesus said, “If thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light.” The two physical eyes are discriminatory. They tell you what is high, what is low, what is man, what is woman, what is this, what is that. These two eyes are instruments of survival. “If thine eye be single,” does not mean you close one eye, it means that you are no longer discriminatory. You see everything as one, as the same. If you become like this, your body shall be filled with light, and that is Grace.
Grace means that the source of your existence, that which is larger than creation, is no longer outside of you, it is within you. You are no longer looking for an outside source of light – you have become the source of light. Once you become that even for a moment, your life will never be the same.
