Ideal Expectations, Real Life Results and Divine Grace

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We think and plan and harbour
expectations as if we are the

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sole arbiter of what happens in
our lives.

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We then judge the results from
the standpoint of our ideal

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expectations and express either
dismay or disappointment that

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what we hoped for has not come
to pass.

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What we frequently fail to take
into account is the interactive

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and complex nature of the world
within which we live and act.

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There is a play of forces that
adjusts, modifies and reacts to

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the energy we express, and in
many cases we find that those

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forces deflect our intention
into another direction entirely.

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We then bemoan our failure or
the catastrophe that has

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occurred, rather than looking
beyond for a higher intention or

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even recognizing that the idea
we had was right, but the field

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in which it was being sown was
not prepared to receive it at

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this time.
In many cases, our own situation

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is not perfect, and we are
trying to accomplish something

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before we are truly ready to
manifest it within ourselves.

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We thus are rebuffed and forced
to address the weaknesses and

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developmental needs that block
the full expression.

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These issues occur every day in
the daily life of people.

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A businessman reported that he
had a serious concern about the

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operations of the company under
his operations manager.

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He did not have all the facts
but had an inkling or sense of

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worry.
So he called a meeting with that

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operations manager.
The meeting was planned, but

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suddenly on the morning of the
meeting, the operations manager

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advised that he had to deal with
a family situation and would not

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be available.
Since the businessman felt a

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sense of urgency about the
situation, he was disappointed

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and decided to go ahead with the
planned meeting but call in the

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assistant to that operations
manager who was himself supposed

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to be an expert in certain areas
and was himself being

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compensated as a manager.
The meeting confirmed the deep

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concerns and at the end the
businessman chose to terminate

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the employment of this
assistant.

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Within hours, the operations
manager resigned by e-mail.

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Later, the businessman was able
to ascertain the reality of his

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fears in the matter, the life
and death consequences to the

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business and felt that there was
a saving grace that led to the

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termination of both individuals
from their employment.

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For a spiritual seeker, the
operation of what may be called

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divine grace is even more
palpable.

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Essentially, by definition, the
seeker has a strong aspiration

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and will to develop his
spiritual nature.

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Yet he is starting from the
basis of a normal, physical,

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vital and mental existence that
is built up and conditioned

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based on his upbringing, the
family, the society, the time

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spirit within which he lives,
and thus has many ideas,

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reactions, tendencies and
desires that need to be

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addressed to truly liberate
himself from the bondage these

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things cause in his external
ego, personality and nature.

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Spiritual seekers frequently
weep and decry the absence of

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the Divine, and they describe
the dark night of the soul when

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the Divine appears to have
withdrawn and left them to their

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own devices to deal with the
contradictions between their

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aspiration and the life they are
living.

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When they look back later, they
frequently find that their

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struggles had led to substantial
changes in the way they looked

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at life, their desires, and
their reactions.

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The ways of the divine grace are
thus inscrutable and for the

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most part cannot be understood
at the time, but only through

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the lens of present, looking
back at the past.

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Hermann Hesse, in his short
novel Siddhartha, illustrates

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the divine play.
The seeker and his friend go to

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meet the Buddha who is teaching
enlightenment.

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His friend joins the order, but
Siddhartha feels he must gain

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his own inner experience and
enlightenment.

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He returns to the city where he
is smitten by a courtesan who

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advises him that she will only
accept rich men.

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He had abandoned worldly
pursuits and seeking after

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wealth as a seeker, but he is so
smitten that he agrees to her

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proposal.
He gains a position, becomes

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wealthy and takes up a
relationship with this beautiful

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woman.
He has a midlife crisis and

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departs from the life he had
built, despairing and suicidal.

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He has an inward experience and
joins a ferryman on the river

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who has spiritual insights
gained during his simple life.

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What he was not ready to hear
earlier as a seeker now came

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instantly to him and he gained a
measure of enlightenment.

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His worldly life could be
considered a set back, but in

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reality it prepared him for a
more complete and wider form of

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enlightenment and spiritual
growth.

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The mother observes.
Quote when you are in a

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particular set of circumstances
and certain events take place.

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These events often oppose your
desire or what seems best to

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you, and often you happen to
regret this and say to yourself

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how good it would have been if
it were otherwise, if it had

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been like this or like that, for
little things and big things.

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Then years pass by, events are
unfolded, you progress, become

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more conscious, understand
better, and when you look back

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you notice first with
astonishment, then later with a

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smile, that those very
circumstances which seem to you

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quite disastrous or
unfavourable, were exactly the

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best thing that could have
happened to you to make you

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progress as you should have.
And if you are the least bit

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wise, you tell yourself truly,
the Divine Grace is infinite.

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So when this sort of thing has
happened to you a number of

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times, you begin to understand
that in spite of the blindness

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of man and deceptive
appearances, the grace is at

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work everywhere, so that at
every moment it is the best

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possible thing that happens in
the state the world is in at

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that moment.
It is because our vision is

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limited, or even because we are
blinded by our own preferences,

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that we cannot discern that
things are like this.

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But when one begins to see it,
one enters upon a state of

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wonder which nothing can
describe.

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For behind the appearances 1
perceives this grace, infinite,

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wonderful, all, powerful, which
knows all, organizes all,

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arranges all, and leads us,
whether we like it or not,

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whether we know it or not,
towards the supreme goal, that

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is, union with the Divine, the
awareness of the Godhead, and

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union with Him.
Then one lives in the action and

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presence of the grace, a life
full of joy, of wonder, with the

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feeling of a marvellous
strength, and at the same time

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with a trust so calm, so
complete, that nothing can shake

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it any longer.
And when 1 is in this state of

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perfect receptivity and perfect
adherence, 1 diminishes to that

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extent the resistance of the
world to the Divine action.

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Consequently, this is the best
collaboration one can bring to

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the action of the Divine.
One understands what he wants

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and with all one's consciousness
adheres to His will.

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End Quote.
Reference Srioro Bindu and the

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Mother, Looking from within,
Chapter 1.

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Looking at Life and
Circumstances, pages 26 to 27.