God who protects the virtuous

The Holy Bible shows in umpteen ways how God walks the extra mile to protect the virtuous, because their lives are in his hands. He cannot let their lives be swept away together with the wicked. There are stories after stories in the Bible which show God’s special care for the virtuous, who follow his directives. He separates them from the evil-doers at the time of retribution and gifts them with life. Such is the case with Abraham’s brother Lot, who is taken out of Sodom and Gomorrah, before God rained fire and brimstone on the twin cities and destroyed it beyond all recognition, but he remembered to save Lot. In his old age, God promises that he would not destroy the city where he would take shelter as he ran away from the cities of destruction. That was a wonderful way how God had a special plan for Lot.

Whenever we cry to the Lord, he listens to our prayer. All that we need to do is stretch out our hands to him, and he is sure to hold us. Think of the situation of Peter, who was known for his impetuosity, and while seeing Jesus walking on the sea, he too wishes to walk on the water. Jesus loves people who dare to dream big, and therefore he invites him to step out of the boat and walk. Doubt and uncertainty grip him hard and he begins to sink, and the very next moment he seeks the help of his Master, who stretches out his hand to him and holds him tight. Jesus would not even require the request of Peter to save him from the danger of sinking, for he would not let his beloved disciple die in the sea. Such is the case with all those who seek the help and assistance of God, he would be there to protect and save them.

I may wonder if I am truly virtuous to win the favor of the Lord, and seek his protection; one thing is clear that very seldom would a mother desert her son or daughter. The children are her own blood and there is a bond which is thicker than blood; if such is the case with our human mothers, how much more would be the bond that God had bound us with himself, our creator and Lord. There is not a single person who can feel that he or she is unworthy of God’s mercy and compassion; even the most hardcore criminal and sinner could find a safe haven under the protective wings of God, because the breath that we breathe does belong to God, and he cannot forget us, even if we go far away from his loving protection. The only condition that we need to fulfill is that we seek his help and assistance, that would do, and he would do the rest.

Jesus presents himself as the good shepherd who goes after seeking the lost; as is normally the case, often times the sheep might go its own way and may lose tract of its flock, and yet the shepherd does not complain and say, let it go to hell, it was after all not my mistake! He would leave behind all the others and go after seeking the lost. There is a wonderful message in this scene of the good shepherd that Jesus presents in the gospel according to John. He is the one who leads us to fresher waters and greener pastures, for he knows better than all, what is best for me and he would do accordingly. My judgments could err, but his judgments are impeccable and they would truly lead me to life in its fullness. Today I seek the protection of God, who alone can give life in its fullness to humanity.

We have no merit to call ourselves virtuous, and if there is any trace of virtuosity in me, it is thanks to the free gift of God, which he lavished upon me gratuitously. And yet before God, we all of us can find peace and security, irrespective of how we had been relating to him. Those who refuse life are the people who refuse his free gift, and still he is not the one who would reprimand and throw us away, he would still take us close to his bosom, because life was an extension of his divine self, which he showers upon the human persons. If Jesus is the one who goes after the lost sheep, then every sinner can find a place in his heart. This is truly consoling for all of us who are trying to tie up the loose ends, so that we can find true happiness and joy all by ourselves.

God of the Fighters

St John presents God as the God of the living in his gospel of Jesus Christ; he is not the God of the dead, but of the living. God cannot belong to the realm of the dead, those who have crossed the threshold of life and have passed into the netherworld. God by his very nature is living, and his life gives life to the world. Therefore we cannot think of God as anyone different from the living. No wonder then that St Peter in his famous declaration of his faith to his Master, calls him as the “Son of the living God”. What a wonderful title for Jesus, whose life was characterized by life, life in its fullness. He had life overflowing in him, and all those who were living life half-heartedly, began to brim with the fullness of life, which made his enemies shudder.

God takes the side of those who dare to take life as it came, and not those who ran away from it. God invites the daring to fight, even with him, and he is sure not to impose his power and might on the weak creatures, but gives due weightage to the fight. The Old Testament presents such a beautiful picture of Abram fighting with God, and is also rewarded for his boldness to wrestle with the Mighty God. Abram becomes Abraham, and he gets a new identity, after winning over God for his side, and I tend to believe God would have been delighted to “fight” with his servant Abram, very much like bitches love to play with their puppies, and they have so much of fun in the play. God invites his children to even fight with him, so that they might grow from strength to strength.

The Bhagavad Gita too presents such a God who beckons his disciple to go fighting, and not to shy away from his responsibility. Arjuna refuses to fight the battle, resolving to retreat, because it would be dishonor to fight with one’s own kinsmen. It is easy to give up at the thick of the battle, and it takes a lot of guts to go forward, unaware what fate awaited him. Arjuna might have also been afraid of the consequences; what if he were to lose the battle? It takes the whole of the Bhagavad Gita for Lord Krishna to instruct Arjuna, so that he might go forward to fight, come what may. He was not to think about the fruits of his labor, but only do his duty. That is why at the end, Arjuna surrenders to the Divine Lord, saying ‘karishye vachanam tava’ (I have resolved to do your will). That is when the actual battle is won.

The world unfortunately has more losers and retreaters than fighters; there are too many fears stopping even those who have the strength to fight the battle. There are bad companions who counsel in wicked ways, and there are circumstances which puts off even the valiant soldiers. Life’s battle does not come with too many risks; there are difficult times and hardships, but they can never destroy a person; what can really destroy a person is his or her unwillingness to take the fight and do it to the best of his/her ability. Those who wish to run away from the battle are the losers in all the cases. For the brave, no army is too large to win; it is the inner battle that one has to win before winning the physical war. This is the wonderful lesson that many of the biblical stories present to us.

Let me end with yet another beautiful story from the Bible, and this time a boy dares to fight with a monster, and defeat him. No one can take David, the shepherd boy, when he approaches Saul to fight against the monstrous Philistian’s Goliath. The boy is made a laughing stock, which the boy has the heart of steel, and he knows for sure to defeat this monster, what he needed was not physical prowess, but spiritual strength, and the boy had in abundance. And we are amazed at the way the boy swings the catapult and drowns the giant. No one can believe that was possible for a boy who knew only to tend his sheep, but David is a warrior who won the battle of the heart before defeating his enemies, and he invites today every one of us to our battles, here and now!

Confluence of Consciousness

Listening to the audio books of Esther Hicks on the teachings of Abraham is opening up new vistas of thinking in me. It is obvious that much of the concept surrounding the making of The Secret by Rhonda Byrne is from Hicks (Esther and her husband Jerry). Maybe it is through The Secret that I had come to appreciate the wisdom of the teachings of Abraham, and as I went on listening to her talks, or rather conversation with Jerry, I was suddenly stuck by one idea : Christ consciousness. I felt as if a thunderbolt had stuck me hard, and suddenly I began to see things, imagine things, and out of the blue I begin to understand something wonderful and new. I rushed to my room, pulled out a scrap book and began to put down a few lines, which I was sure to elaborate in future.

At the top of the page I wrote "Christ-Krishna Consciousness", and hopefully this will be the theme of a long writeup or a book in the future, dwelling not so much on the religious tenets of these two personalities whom we meet at every nook and cranny of this subcontinent, but on how we all of us share in their consciousness... or to correct myself... in the One consciousness which flows in the universe. In fact, I begin to see a few characteristic features of consciousness which can be the life-spring of the universe: it is beyond all religion, it is amoral, it is there everywhere, it can be attributed with all the qualities of God - omnicient, omnipresent and omnipotent.

What is so special about Christ-Krishna consciousness? We climb the ladder of divinity or sanctity in proportion to our awareness of consciousness. What we call enlightenment is nothing but an entry point into the world of consciousness... once we begin to be conscious of what we are, how we are, why we are - we are transformed beings. But the world will not allow us to enter into the state of consciousness, because a mere taste of this ethereal reality negates the mundane world, and one who has tasted the fruits of consciousness, would not turn to the world and what she would offer to him/her.

I would think that Christ and Krishna are not embodies selves, but pure consciousness, and we may give them any name and shape and form, and we are all capable of entering into such a consciousness and can truly become like unto them... Maybe that is what St Paul talks about in his epistles - becoming like Christ; it is not a passive experience, but entering into the world of Christ; becoming a Christian - alter Christus (another Christ). Once we truly enter into His self, then we forget the world; and in such a state, we even forget the label of Christ, because in his true self and identity, he becomes the nameless one, the formless one, the ever present, the ever eternal... He is Krishna, he is Allah, he is Buddha, he is all the spiritual beings who had populated this universe.

The role of religion is basically to open the gates of consciousness and help us in getting a taste of this eternal consciousness; but unfortunately all the religions have remained only in the level of materialism, not taking us beyond that. We have for the most part remained with labels, names and forms of Christ and Krishna. Today let me pause for two minutes, making a sincere attempt to enter into the ever-flowing stream of consciousness; let me float in, and enter into the great confluence of consciousness, where I can meet Christ and Krishna, Allah and Buddha... where even my enemy is Christ or Krishna, everyone is a carrier of that eternal consciousness. And that is the birth place of sheer unalloyed bliss - ananda. For consciousness opens the floodgates of bliss to all of us! Am I ready to enter into such a consciousness?