Grace provides the framework within which a meaningful life is lived. Love is the substance of it day to day. To live a spiritual life, then, is essentially to do things “for the love of it”—to do things without attachment to a result or reward. It is a matter of living in a simple way and having a practice that enables you to return again and again to the consciousness of life’s all-enfolding blessing.
Grace is the key to happiness. When bad things happen, if we have confidence in grace, then we can remain grounded in that and not be overwhelmed by the soap opera of life. And grace is a circular blessing. The more grace enters your life, the more grateful you are. The more grateful you are, the more easily grace seems to enter. You can do the following things in order to let grace enter your life:
• Remember grace as the epitome of love.
• Don’t claim the credit.
• Appreciate whatever comes and make the absolute most of it.
• If you meet with troublesome or adverse circumstances, remember to establish yourself in the realm of grace and unhook from the world of transient things—disappointments are part and parcel of life.
• Live fully with no “no-go” areas: sometimes we are joyful, sometimes sad, sometimes we rejoice, and sometimes we grieve.
• Have a regular practice of remembering and celebrating grace.
• Love.
• Count yourself as of no importance and return to childlike simplicity.
• Allow feelings to come and go, yet know a deep contentment that fills your days.
♦
Adapted from the blog of Dharmavidya David Brazier (amidatrust.typepad.com).
Thank you for subscribing to Tricycle! As a nonprofit, we depend on readers like you to keep Buddhist teachings and practices widely available.