Divine grace

Eastern religions

Hinduism

Hindu devotional literature, also known as bhakti literature, across India and Nepal is replete with references to divine grace (kripa, Sanskrit: कृपा, IAST: kŗpā) as the ultimate requirement for spiritual self-realization or liberation.

For example, the ancient sage Vasistha, in his classical work Yoga Vasistha, considered it to be the only way to transcend the bondage of lifetimes of karma. The Hindu philosopher Madhvacharya held that grace was not a gift from God, but rather must be earned. The Alvars, South Indian poet saints, held kripa as the only means to liberation.

Buddhism

While many schools of Buddhism emphasize self-discipline and the accumulation of merit and wisdom on the path to enlightenment, something akin to the concept of divine grace is present as well. This idea is found in the Mahāyāna Buddhist concepts of "blessings", transference of merit and "other-power". Other power is a concept in East Asian Buddhism that designates the active influence exerted by a Buddha upon sentient beings. In its most characteristic formulation, found in Pure Land Buddhism, it refers specifically to the salvific efficacy of a Buddha’s vow-generated power, enabling beings to attain rebirth in a Pure Land and thereby advance toward Buddhahood. This idea is commonly contrasted with “self-power,” the reliance on one’s own meditative, ascetic, or moral efforts to achieve liberation. Furthermore, the concept of "merit" refers to the power of good karma built up over time through extensive spiritual practice. This merit can be transferred to other sentient beings by a Buddha or an adept bodhisattva.

Although the term “other power” emerged in Chinese Buddhist discourse, it corresponds to a wide range of Indian Mahāyāna concepts such as adhiṣṭhāna, and anubhāva, that describe divine assistance, Buddha-inspired transformation, and the causal force of the Buddha’s past vows. In this way, the doctrine situates liberation not solely in the practitioner’s agency but also in the Buddha’s ongoing, responsive activity. Indian precedents for other power are pervasive in early and classical Mahāyāna literature. The Mahāsāṃghika tradition already advanced an exalted conception of the Buddha whose supernatural capacities were unlimited and universally operative, establishing an early framework for understanding the Buddha’s power as transcendent and omnipresent. Mahāyāna sūtras further elaborate this theme by depicting the Buddha’s majesty, radiance, sustaining power, and vow-force as capable of inspiring disciples, shaping their speech, protecting them, and generating the conditions for their progress on the bodhisattva path. Texts such as the Aṣṭasāhasrikā Prajñāpāramitā, the Avataṃsaka, the Gaṇḍavyūha, and the Laṅkāvatāra portray the Buddha’s intervention as indispensable for the maturation of bodhisattvas, the arising of visions, the stabilization of samādhi, and even the attainment of liberation. These sources present other power not as a peripheral notion but as a structural feature of Mahāyāna soteriology.

The developed Pure Land traditions of China and Japan are particularly focused on the doctrine of other power. In this tradition, other power refers to the power of Amida Buddha, who countless millennia ago made a primal vow to save all sentient beings by building up enough merit to establish a pure land, into which beings could be reborn simply by invoking his name, and in which they could easily attain full enlightenment. In Pure Land schools, the distinction between “self-power” and “other-power” becomes a primary doctrinal axis used to classify Buddhist paths. The “path of sages” is associated with difficult practices grounded in one’s own capacities, whereas the “easy path” relies principally on a Buddha’s vow-power, in particular the vows of Amitābha as set forth in the Larger Sukhāvatīvyūha. Within this framework, rebirth in the Pure Land is understood as the result of Amitābha’s power responding to the practitioner’s aspiration. Interpretations vary, however: some thinkers advocate the complete abandonment of self-power practices, while others endorse a model of sympathetic resonance in which one’s efforts harmonize with, and are augmented by, the Buddha’s influence. Chinese Pure Land exegesis frequently emphasizes this cooperative dynamic, whereas certain Japanese traditions foreground the absolute primacy of other power.

In the Japanese school called Jōdo Shinshū, founded by the 12th-century Japanese monk, Shinran, reliance on other power becomes absolute. For Shinran, the only hope for spiritual advancement is giving up on all self-power (Jp: jiriki) and, through faith, or "shinjin," embracing the "other-power" (tariki) of the infinitely-compassionate. The key difference between Shinran's school and other schools of Pure Land Buddhism is the idea that even this faith and the resulting small effort of reciting Amida's name is impossible without the intervening grace of Amida Buddha working in the deluded human being through the power of Amida's primal vow. Therefore, the recitation of Amida's name is seen more as an expression of gratitude for already-existing grace rather than the self-induced catalyst for a grace not yet present.

Vajrayana Buddhism also incorporates the idea that the blessings of a Buddha or a guru and the practitioner’s karmic conditions jointly determine rebirth in Pure Lands and one's enlightenment. More broadly, later developments such as Mantrayāna apply the logic of other power to tantric ritual technologies, holding that mantras, mudrās, mandalas, and initiations work insofar as they reproduce and embody the Buddha’s own power. Across these diverse Buddhist traditions, these doctrines express a consistent Mahāyāna intuition: the Buddha’s salvific activity is not confined to the historical lifetime of Śākyamuni but continues as a dynamic, pervasive force that enables, sustains, and in certain contexts decisively accomplishes the liberation of sentient beings.

Sikhism

In Sikhism, divine grace is characterized as divine blessing that transcends human effort, allowing the seeker to progress beyond individual limits. In Guru Nanak's thought in the Sikh tradition, divine grace of the Akal Purakh (the Ultimate Reality) is the means by which that Akal Purakh, who otherwise transcends human comprehension, can be "known in personal experience." The Akal Purakh, though comprehended as nirankar and without gender, is seen as both a father and mother figure; as a mother figure, this Supreme Being is the source of grace.

The grace of the gurus is also emphasised in Sikh thought. For example, it is said in Adi Granth 352 that one is completely absorbed in remembering the divine Name through the guru's grace.

Moreover, the importance of divine grace is not only emphasised over the concept of karma, but is understood to even break "the chain of adverse karma." In Sikh doctrine, in the teachings of the Gurus, karma is replaced by the omnipotent Akal Purakh's divine command (hukam). In the teachings of Guru Arjan, divine grace is said to be able to change things such as physical deformity, which is often explained through the framework of karma. For example, in Adi Granth 809–810, it is said that "The cripple can cross a mountain and the blockhead can become an accomplished preacher. The blind can see the three worlds through the grace of the Guru".