My grace is sufficient for you

My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.
– 2 Corinthians, 12:9

This is another beautiful pointer from the New Testament.

When I recognize my weakness, through and through, there is receptivity for God’s grace. Said another way, when I am less full of myself, there is more room for God.

I can recognize my weakness in innumerable ways. My human self is dependent on support from people close to me, society, ecosystems, the earth as a whole, the solar system and the unviverse as a whole. Without all of this, no human self. Even what I tend to take credit for – such as skills, insights, choices and actions – are gifts, given to me through experience, culture, biology, ancestors, the earth, the universe. I try to control my life and circumstances, but can only do it to a very limited extent. My days are numbered, and I can die this very moment. I aim at following precepts and guidelines, and fail miserably. I aim at living from what I really am, and fail miserably. There is no end to the weakness of this human self.

And I can also recognize my weakness as a doer and observer. When I explore the doer and observer, I find that they are only images. And also that the doer takes credit for shifts, insights, choices and actions after they have happened. This is the real, 100%, weakness of what I take myself to be.

Recognizing all of this, in a heartfelt and wholehearted way, there is (the possibility of) receptivity to God’s grace.

What is God’s grace? It can come through guidance and shifts. And also, a realization that all already is God’s grace. Nothing is, that is not God’s guidance and grace.

And all of this can happen through a sincere, heartfelt, wholehearted love of reality and God, expressed – for instance – as devotion, contemplation and inquiry.

This is written mainly from a second person relationship with God, inviting in a zero-person relationship. (When there is a recognition that what I really am is not this human self, not the doer, not the observer and so on.)

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outline…..

• My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness
  • weakness
    • realistic , recognize reality
    • what we take as what we are, is already weak
      • human self
        •  100% dependent on infinite sources of support (society, ecosystems, earth, solar system, universe as a whole)
        • all its talents, skills, motivations, choices, actions are gifts, given to us (by life, biology, upbringing, the universe, existence)
        • only able to control in a very limited way
        • it’s day’s are numbered
      • doer, an image + a story saying the doer did it, after the fact (“weak” b/c only an image)
  • recognize or not
    • when don’t recognize this weakness, not receptive to God’s grace
    • when recognize, receptive to God’s grace
  • God’s grace
    • guidance, shifts (conventional sense)
    • all as is, recognized as God’s grace (nothing is, that is not God’s grace)

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draft…..

Here is one way to appreciate it: When I recognize my weakness, there is receptivity to God’s grace.  

I can recognize the weakness of this human self. It is dependent on support from innumerable sources for its existence. All its talents, skills, motivations, choices, actions and so on are gifts. And it is in control in only a very limited way.

I can also recognize the weakness of anything else I take myself to be, such as the doer. When I look, I see that the doer is just an image. Only a story gives it credit for choices and actions, and even that happens after the fact.

In this recognition, there is receptivity to God’s grace. In a conventional sense, in the form of guidance and shifts. And also in recognizing that all as is, is already God’s grace.

As they say, when I am not, only God is.

This can be explored through devotion and inquiry, each an an expression of love for reality and God. And in either case, it can lead to a real recognizition of the weakness of what I take myself to be, and receptivity to God’s grace.

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 outline….

• My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.
  • my grace is sufficient
    • all that is, as is, is already God’s grace
    • when there is receptivity to God’s grace, its guidance and shifts are sufficient
    • ultimately: when no longer rely on/identify as the “doer”, realize that all there is, is God’s grace
  • my power is made perfect in weakness
    • …

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outline….

• my grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in your weakness
  • experience
    • devotion
      • love of reality and God + recognizing the weakenss of what i take myself to be, give myself up (as far as I can)
      • receptivity to God’s grace… as guidance and shifts  + recognizing all already as God’s grace
    • inquiry
      • love of reality and God (devotion and inquiry, two expressions of love of reality and God)
      • recognize that what I take myself to be is only an image, is not what I really am
      • “get out of the way” (the dynamics that comes from taking myself as a doer, observer falls away)
        • receptivity for God’s grace as guidance + shifts
        • all revealed as already God’s grace
        • when I am not, only God is
  • dynamics
    • when take ourselves to be a doer, then don’t trust reality/God (even if let go for a little while, always ready to get back into the game)
    • recognize the weakness of what we take ourselves to be in a couple of different ways
      • weakness of this human self vs. the wider world
        • infinite causes
        • always supported, all is a gift from the wider world/existence (the existence of this human self, food, air, support from others, society, culture, ecosystems, natural habits/laws, all our skills, abilities, motivations, choices, actions – all a gift from existence, cannot really take credit for any of it, even if think there is a me or I here)
        • in control in only a very limited way
      • what we take ourselves to be – me, doer, observer etc. – all an image, doesn’t do anything
        • doer, observer etc. – an image only
        • at most, take credit after the fact (a story about causality etc.)
    • identification released out of what we take ourselves to be, God’s grace becomes more apparent
      • more available for guidance, shifts etc.
      • also recognize all, as is, as already God’s grace
      • in the absence of the confusion of taking ourselves as doer or observer, God’s power is perfected, all is revealed as already God (including that identification)

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outline….

• My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness
  • when recognize the weakness of who + what we take ourselves to be, God’s power is made perfect and God’s grace revealed as sufficient
    • when take ourselves as me + I, cannot trust God’s grace, trust the doer (choser, actor) more, co-pilot at most, always ready to take over control even if let go for a little while
    • recognize the weakness of me + I
      • first, the doer is not in as much control as may seem (conditioning running the show + circumstances outside of our control)
      • then, recognize doer as an image only, taking credit after the fact (“I did that”) (is “weak” b/c only an image, a thought)
      • finally, in the context of awakening, get to a point where “I” cannot do anything more, only God’s grace is left
    • when identification is released out of the doer, God’s grace is free to come in
    • and also reveals that all, as is, is already God’s grace (whatever happens including the life of me + I, identification as a doer, recognizing doer as an image only, etc.)

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outline….

• My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness
  • when realize, really get through and through, that “I” cannot do anything, is helpless, weak, then receptive to God’s grace, and God’s grace is sufficient
  • when recognize the weakenss of the human self + “I”, receptivity to God’s grace which is sufficient
    • cannot do anything on its own, infinite causes, infinite support from the whole of Existence
    • the “I” (as doer, observer) can’t do anything, only (appear) to take credit
    • when recognize, receptivity to God’s grace
    • all that is happening is already, as is, God’s grace
    • guidance and openings, also God’s grace
    • in recognizing the weakness of me + I, God’s grace is free to flow and is sufficient (is already all there is)
      • God’s power is made perfect when me + I is no longer taken as what we are (the human self + doer/observer)
      • when recognize the weakenss of me + I, receptivity to God’s grace (infinite causes + only images + cannot “awaken” on its own)
      • all is already God’s grace + when me/I is no longer taken as what we are, God’s grace/power (guidance) is free to flow, is made perfect and is sufficient (no doer needed)
    • a beautiful, rich pointer, as so much in the new testament

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initial draft…..

When I realize, through and through, that “I” cannot do anything and is helpless and weak, there is receptivity to God’s grace, and God’s grace is sufficient.

There are times when the image of “I” is recognized clearly as an image, happening just as any other content of experience, and is not what I am. This is one form of grace, and a recognition that all there is, is God’s grace. Nothing is, that is not already God’s grace. This happens indpendent of any particular emotions or feelings.

And there are times when this is very heartfelt, when the recognition of the weakness of this human self and the “I” is sweet and heartfelt and opens up to God’s grace through the heart. Through the heart, there is receptivity and a recognition that nothing is, apart from God’s grace.

I have a deep gratitude for both. If I try to descrive it using the three centers, then the first one happens through the head center, a clear seeing. And the second one through the heart center, a sweet – really bitter-sweet – recognition of the helplessness of this human self and the image of “I” that is still here, and a love for God’s grace expressed as all there is, as it is, and also the guidance and openings we usually think of as grace. Through the heart center, there is also a deeper reorganization of the human, and even a felt-sense of all as already God and grace.

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This is another beautiful and rich pointer from the New Testament.

To put it simply, when I recognize how weak I am, there is receptivity to God’s grace.

I can recognize the weakness of what I take myself to be. This human self exists only through the grace of existence. It is all a gift, including the talent, skills, motivations, choices and actions and everything else I may see as something “I” am doing.

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I can recognize what it points to through devotion and inquiry, and at two different levels.

Through devotion, through love of reality and God, and realizing the weakness of my human self and what I take myself to be in a heartfelt and wholehearted way, I can find receptivity to God’s grace, to guidance and shifts, and eventually recognize that all already is God’s grace.

And through inquiry, through that expression of love of reality and God, I also recognize the weakenss of what I take myself to be, and find receptivity to God’s grace.

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I can also recognize the weakness of anything else I take myself to be, such as the doer. When I look, I see that the doer is just an image, and it takes credit for what is happening after the fact. It has about the same reality as a mirage, although taking it as real does have a great deal of consequences.

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When I take myself to be the doer, have an exaggerated view of the strength of this human self, and take credit for what are really gifts, I am full of myself. There is very little room for (recognizing) God’s grace.