Grace

You want grace? Well, ask God, maybe he'll give it to you And the theologian will tell you "Yes, God, gives his grace freely He gives it to all because he loves all It's here, like the air. All you have to do is receive it." Or a more orthodox, a Catholic Christian would say "All you have to do is to be baptized To take the holy sacrament of the altar The bread and wine, the body and blood of Christ And there is the grace right therе And it's given by these simplе physical means So that it's very easily and readily available Well, a lot of people got baptized And it doesn't always take People fall from grace Why do they? You see, we're just talking about the same old problem But we've put it a step up But it's the same problem How can I improve myself? Was the first problem The second problem is You want grace? I want grace, we want grace, hey You want grace? I want grace, we want grace, hey You want grace? I want grace, we want grace, hey You want grace? I want grace, we want grace, hey How can I accept grace? They're both the same problem Because you've got to make a move Which will put yourself out of your own control Into the control of a better If you don't believe in the Christian kind of a God You can believe in the Hindu kind of a God Who is your inner self You see, you've got a lower self, which you can call your ego That's that little scoundrelous fellow, who's always out for me But behind the ego, there is the Atman, the inner self The inward light, as Quakers would call it The real self, the spirit Which is substantially identical with God So, you've got to meditate in such a way That you identify with your higher self How do you do that? Well, you start by watching all your thoughts Very carefully, watching your feelings, watching your emotions So that you begin to build up a sense of separation Between the watcher and what is watched You want grace? I want grace, we want grace, hey You want grace? I want grace, we want grace, hey You want grace? I want grace, we want grace, hey You want grace? I want grace, we want grace, hey So that you are, as it were, No longer carried away by your own stream of conscious You remain the witness, impassively, impartially Suspending judgment, and watching it all go on That seems to be something like progress At least you're taking an objective view of what is going on Of what is going on You're beginning to be in a position to control it But just wait a minute! Who is this self behind the self, the watching self? Can you watch that one? It's interesting if you do, because you find out, of course That this is, just as the problem of grace It is nothing more than a transposition of the first problem How am I to be unselfish by my own power? It becomes how am I to get grace by my own power?