7.1 Your mercy is the key to spiritual awakening’s mystery

taba icchā hoy jadi 

tādera uddhār

When your will manifests as grace,

They will break free from māyā’s embrace.

My dear Lord, one of my life’s greatest mysteries is understanding how spiritual awakening occurs. Why does one soul come to you and another doesn’t; even when both share similar backgrounds and life situations? Why do the most suitable candidates remain lethargic, and the most unsuitable candidates become super enthusiastic?

O mysterious and mystifying Lord, reflecting on Srila Prabhupada’s own outreach track record, this mystery becomes vivid—for decades Indians did not take up his message seriously, although they were the most likely candidates, being close to you by birth and upbringing. Yet Americans—especially those from the counterculture who had rejected even the basic norms of their liberal society—embraced the demanding disciplines of bhakti-yoga, stricter than what most conservatives in India practiced.

Sociologically, culturally, and philosophically, various reasons can and should be sought. Such analyses are useful, yet whatever lesson they teach, O inconceivable Lord, let them never blind me to the supremely valuable truth: your mercy is omnipotent.

O supreme mystic, more important than figuring out your mercy is fitting into it. Let me seek it, savor it, and share it—whenever it awakens devotion in my heart and in the hearts around me. Ultimately, your mercy matters most—may that truth become my supreme realization.