Dedicated to Sri Sarada Devi

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"Holy Mother" painted by Swami Tadatmananda

Used courtesy of the Vedanta Society of Southern California

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Dedicated to Sri Sarada Devi
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When will God come to you? Is there an answer ?

Dear Vriju,
I believe you should have absolute shraddha that you will realise god eventually. Can anyone set any time limit for reaching god ? I don't believe so. What we need is unwavering focus and shradda(I just love this word, it has no synonym in English, sorry Rosemary.)

Unni

Re: When will God come to you? Is there an answer ?

While there may be no exact English translation for Shraddha, it is generally translated as "faith". That is, "faith", as trust or whole-souled convinction.

Shraddha is what enables us to put our whole being into our spiritual practice. And in this sense Unni speaks truly. Until we have absolute shraddha that we will realize God -- until we have complete conviction that this can and will happen -- our practice is tinged with doubt.

Yet, we need not despair because we begin at a place of unknowing. Thus spiritual practice is also about increasing our shraddha. We begin with some. Without some faith that we might be able to realize God through the means of spiritual practice one would never take these practices up! Why would we? Even if we begin out of curiosity, we would soon lose interest with out some measure of shraddha.

As our shraddha motivates us in the beginning, so does it grow in time. And as our convinction becomes stronger, so does our spiritual practice intensify ... until that time when all doubt and all sense of separation vanish.

Location: san Diego, California, USA

Re: Re: When will God come to you? Is there an answer ?

Jayanti,
Does pain increase Shraddha??

Re: Re: Re: When will God come to you? Is there an answer ?

Does pain alone increase Shraddha? Can we answer this? I don't know. I think not, however...unless one is a spiritual seeker or devotee.

For if we ask whether devotees are ever drawn closer to God through pain, then the answer becomes yes, without a doubt. Devotees repeatedly tell how pain and struggle brings them closer to God.

Location: san Diego, California, USA

Re: When will God come to you? Is there an answer ?

Dear Unni,
Shraddha is a beautiful word with no equivalent one-word in English. It is unwavering faith, deep devotion, and profound respect --- all blended together.

Yes, we do need shraddha along with continual effort to purify our mind and then wait for the grace! How can one set any time limit indeed, to reach God?

Location: Wilmslow, U.K.

Re: When will God come to you?

give me time and I will understand this word. i think i get the gist.

Location: North Carolina

Re: Re: When will God come to you?

Shraddha IS Divine Grace.