Grace is the benevolent, female aspect of the Transcendent

The eternal, ageless Divine Feminine "Gyan Khand is the second stage of one’s spiritual journey; it is the region of knowledge. At this stage one realizes the vastness of creation. In contrast to this vastness one also experiences his/her infinitesimalness. As a result of this, one realizes one’s “nothingness,” recognizing the transcendent as the sole and entire reality. The third stage of the spiritual journey is Saram Khand. It is the region of beauty, where one develops aesthetic sensivity. From this stage one moves on to Karam Khand. This is the region of Grace. It is a stage that is very essential in order to reach the final stage, namely, Sach Khand, for without Grace the journey could not even be undertaken. Grace is the benevolent, female aspect of the Transcendent that sustains the seeker throughout his/her spiritual quest." - Hindu Spirituality (Vol.II): Post Classical and Modern

>
> The underlying unity and sacred knowledge of all Holy Scriptures is
> that salvation is only attainable from within ourselves, where God
> resides! That is why it must be again repeated that if you have to
> take even a single step in any direction to seek the Divine you are
> going the wrong way. God's home is within us on this physical plane.
> Only in the afterlife will liberated souls experience it without as
> Sach Khand (the Sphere of Eternity).
>

Hindu Spirituality (Vol.II): Post Classical and Modern
“In the chapter on Sikh spirituality, Nikky-Gurinder Kaur Singh discusses the focus of Sikh spirituality, noting its similarities to other religious traditions of India as well as its unique contribution to the spiritual soil of India. Highlighting the Weltanshauung of the Sikh traditions, Nikky Singh points out that, unlike some of the Indian traditions, the Sikh tradition recognizes the importance of the natural world, and of our social contexts. From the theological dimension of Sikhism, the statement Ikk oan Kar, with which Jap begins, expresses the central aspect of the Sikh faith. In the spiritual nexus of Sikhism, the Ultimate is an inner, subjective experience rather than an objective knowledge of God out there. The five Khands, namely, Dharam Khand, Gyan Khand, Saram Khand, Karam Khand, and Sach Khand, reinforce the centrality of the Transcendent in one’s spiritual journey. Dharam Khand is the sphere of duty. Here the Sikh tradition stresses the social and spiritual equality of all. The human body is not an impediment to one’s spiritual journey; the body indeed houses the divine reality. The body and the earth are celebrated as the starting point in one’s spiritual odyssey. Gyan Khand is the second stage of one’s spiritual journey; it is the region of knowledge. At this stage one realizes the vastness of creation. In contrast to this vastness one also experiences his/her infinitesimalness. As a result of this, one realizes one’s “nothingness,”recognizing the transcendent as the sole and entire reality. The third stage of the spiritual journey is Saram Khand. It is the region of beauty, where one develops aesthetic sensivity. From this stage one moves on to Karam Khand. This is the region of Grace. It is a stage that is very essential in order to reach the final stage, namely, Sach Khand, for without Grace the journey could not even be undertaken. Grace is the benevolent, female aspect of the Transcendent that sustains the seeker throughout his/her spiritual quest. For Guru Nanak, Karam Khand is the abode of “warriors and heroes of mighty power.” For Guru Nanak, the true hero is one “who kills the evil of egoity within.” The real might and strength lie in one’s conquering his/her own self… Hence the spiritual journey involves movement from the stage of aesthetic appreciation to a stage of heroism, since valor is an essential aspect of one’s religious life. Finally, one reaches the stage of Sach Khand, which is the realm of Truth. “Sikhism fully celebrates the existence of the Transcendent as Truth.” This is the realm of the Nirankar, the Formless One. “The subject does not view the transcendent object; the subject-object dualism dissolves and the individual partakes of the infinite. At this point of the spiritual journey, the origin and destination have become one.”

Hindu Spirituality (Vol.II): Post Classical and Modern, pages xxxv-xxxvi
K R Sundarajan and Bithika Mukerji
Motilal Banarsidass Publishers Pvt. Ltd. 2003
ISBN: 8120819373

“Thou Art The Pristine Spirit ... Which Illuminates And Breaks The Self-Hypnotism”

Self-Realization through Sahaja Yoga (“spontaneous union with the Divine”) resulted in the awakening of the dormant Kundalini “which is coiled in three and a half, and which rises through six centers to pierce through your fontanel bone area, and you start feeling the Cool Breeze in your hand, and also the Cool Breeze starts coming out of your head.” It is regarded by some as “the divine mechanism for the transformation of the whole world from an aimless crowd of jostling, fighting people into a harmonious assembly of illuminated beings.”

On the very first day of meditation on the Spirit of the Living God, as quiet tears rolled down, he repeatedly uttered these words: “At last I found You! At last I found You! At last I found You! At last ...!” They were the tears of Joy acknowledging the end of decades of delusion and the beginning of a joyous journey in search of the eternal Spirit. The meaning of Life had just begun to unfold like a blossoming flower, subtly revealing the sweet smell of the Divine within himself.

Week by week the Thousand-Petal Lotus was nourished, petal by petal, as the Rain of Spiritual Enlightenment fell on it. It began as drizzle. Soon the heavens opened and a downpour deluged him. This cloudburst of manna monsoon over the Great Lotus Forest continued unabated for 21 full moons. The Divine Revelations drenched the mind, body and soul and finally quenched his thirst for Truth, bursting open the floodgates and sweeping away the mighty Maya (Illusion) that keep billions trapped in their lower urges (chakras).

The Great Divine Mother Shri Vidyavidya-svarupini ^[31] Shri Nirmala Devi had again showered Her Grace to a faithful devotee who had always depended on Her for deliverance through countless rebirths. It did not matter to Shri Priyamkari ^[32] Shri Nirmala Devi how deep he had sunk into the filthy cesspool of this world. Shri Muktada^[33] Shri Nirmala Devi was just fulfilling Her Promise to an ancient disciple that She would rescue him at all times, and revive his spiritual consciousness — rebirth after rebirth after rebirth, till liberation. Shri Sandra-Karuna ^[34] Shri Nirmala Devi was unconditionally bound by Her Love to awaken him at all times and in the worst of conditions possible, even if he became a subhuman — transforming an ‘animal’ into a human endowed with the highest enlightenment.

All seekers are assured of this matchless Supreme Salvation of the Great Mahadevi. It is an unconditional Love and Compassion that has no equal in the universe. She is the Supreme Liberator of all humankind, the final step to moksa. ^[35] All human souls, after whirling around in countless rebirths as they ascend ever higher, will ultimately have to meet the Great World Soul. Only then will they enter the Kingdom of God. Behold the Divine Mother, the Shakti of Sadashiva, the Holy Spirit of God Almighty, the Ruh of Allah!

The Great Adi Shakti Shri Mataji Nirmala Devi
Shri Mataji Nirmala Devi “In that meditation you will feel the Love, the Divine Love, the beauty of that Divine Love. A complete panorama changes. A meditative person has a very different attitude, a very different temperament, a completely different life and he lives always in complete satisfaction with himself....

You see, so to get to your Beauty, to get to your Glory, to get to you own great Personality, which is now exposed, only thing you have to do really religiously is to mediate.... It is your gain, nobody else’s. It’s for your gain everything is happening.

Now, one has to know that we have achieved a certain height of evolution and from this height you might go up to here, up to here, up to here. I’m not saying it’s not possible to do that, but, first and foremost thing, that whatever you may be, may consider you to be a very high class Sahaja Yogi, you have to be humble about meditation.

This meditative quality even when I’m talking to you, it’s just I’m getting into it because it’s so Joy-giving. You just jump into the Ocean of Joy.

First it will be difficult, but after some time you will know that this connection as you have with Shri Mataji is the only connection that you are looking out for.”

Shri Vijnana-Ghana-Rupini Shri Nirmala Devi
Incarnation Of God's Divine Love, Meditation,
Adi Shakti Puja, Cabella, Italy — June 6, 1993

“She is not only the Power of God as the whirling wheel of life in its birth-bringing and death-bringing totality; She is also the Force of the Centre, which bestows Consciousness and Knowledge, Transformation and Illumination. Thus Brahma prays to the Great Goddess: “Thou art the pristine spirit, the nature of which is bliss; thou art the ultimate nature and the clear light of heaven, which illuminates and breaks the self-hypnotism of the terrible round of rebirth, and thou art the one that muffles the universe, for all time in thine own very darkness.” ”

Eric Neuman, The Great Mother
(Eric Neuman, The Great Mother, Princeton University Press 2nd.
Edition, 1963, p. 333.)

Shri Adi Shakti: The Kingdom Of God, 1999, pages 96-8

Footnotes
31. Vidyavidya-svarupini (402nd): Both knowledge and ignorance ... Vidya is the upward movement of Consciousness toward liberation or realisation of the Ultimate which is Herself. Avidya is Her power as creative energy i.e. Viksepa-Shaktii which produces the diversity (Vividhakara); svarupini means Atma-Jnana. She is all these three powers of Consciousness. Avidya binds the jiva, and vidya liberates him.
32. Priyamkari (731st): One who grants things dearest to Her devotees.
33. Muktida (736th): Who confers liberation. For it is only Her Grace, that could confer liberation. Just as She created the bonds to the devotees, it is only She Herself again that can break them and confer freedom or Mukti.
34. Sandra-Karuna (197th): Intensely compassionate to devotee.
35. “Because She leads to certainty men who wander into good and bad ways by restraining and by soothing them, She [Devi] is called Dandini [Justice].”
R. A. Sastry, Lalita-Sahasranama, The Adyar Library and Research Centre, Madras, 1988, p 247.

NOTE: If this page was accessed during a web search you may wish to browse the sites listed below where this topic or related issues are discussed in detail to promote global peace, religious harmony, and spiritual development of humanity:

www.adishakti.org/
www.al-qiyamah.org/
www.adi-shakti.org/  — Divine Feminine (Hinduism)
www.holyspirit-shekinah.org/  — Divine Feminine (Christianity)
www.ruach-elohim.org/  — Divine Feminine (Judaism)
www.ruh-allah.org/  — Divine Feminine (Islam)
www.tao-mother.org/  — Divine Feminine (Taoism)
www.prajnaaparamita.org/  — Divine Feminine (Buddhism)
www.aykaa-mayee.org/  — Divine Feminine (Sikhism)
www.great-spirit-mother.org/  — Divine Feminine (Native Traditions)

"Now, the principle of Mother is in every, every scripture - has to be there." Shri Mataji, Radio Interview 1983 Oct 01, Santa Cruz, USA