Part II — Compassion

Question: What does God's Compassion do when we resist God's Grace?

Sri Chinmoy: Compassion and Grace are the same thing, but Compassion is much more intense. The same Grace, when it has tremendous intensity, is called Compassion. Water is everywhere, but when there is a torrential rain, you can say Compassion is descending. It is like a heavy downpour from above, with tremendous force. Grace is also water, but water is here, there, everywhere. This is the difference between Compassion and Grace.

When an individual resists God’s Compassion, God either waits indefinitely and uses His Patience-Power, or He uses more Compassion. In His case He deals with infinite Compassion. He does not accept any defeat. If we resist His Compassion, He may use more of His Compassion-Power to conquer us, or He may allow us to stay for ten, twenty, fifty, sixty or a hundred years more in ignorance. He is dealing with eternal Time. It is up to Him whether to force us to accept His Light in a different way. But this forcing does not occur in a human way. His forcing means that He will use more of the Compassion-Power which He has and which He is. From His infinite Compassion-Power He will use more Compassion-Power in order to conquer our ignorance. But if He meets with tremendous resistance, then He may change His mind. He may say “No, he wants to sleep; let him sleep for another hundred years. There is no hurry in it.” But God will never withdraw His Compassion for good, no matter how we resist His Compassion. Only we delay our progress, our onward, upward, inward progress, by resisting God’s Compassion-Power. For God’s Compassion-Power is His magnet-power, His magnetic power that draws us to His very Heart, which is all Light and Delight.