Alan Watts
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

[Chorus]
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
[Chorus]
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?