Lenten Triduum… Journey inwards!

It is long since I had spent three full days during the season of Lent to be with the suffering Lord and the suffering humanity. The one thing that takes priority during this season over everything, particularly the spiritual aspects, is the exterior practices, penance and reparation for the past sins. Most often I forget the reason why I do all these penance and sacrifices; it is surely not the time for slimming, as some think it to be, or time for dieting, or time for putting a little control over one’s eating habits. Even the fast and skipping of meals often remain at the level of external practices which do not touch the heart, the core of my being. This year I propose to spend three days on an inward journey, into the core of my being, where alone can I encounter the suffering Lord and the suffering humanity!

Three days are not such a long duration in comparison to my life-time and I can afford to take the 72 hours away from my daily schedule (though I often claim to be too busy for some of the courtesy calls and appearances, many a times I catch myself aimlessly moving from one meaningless activity to another!), and be by myself. The world is not going to miss me much during these 72 hours, which I consider are going to be privileged moments to enter into my self! It is not that I have not ventured into such journeys before, but most often such journeys were interrupted by worldly preoccupations, and I would return to my humdrum reality from half way. Thus I hope and pray I survive the full three days alone with me!

Did I say alone with me? But I am never alone; I am a composite of the body, mind and spirit, and at any given moment I am controlled by these thridev (trinity). I had very seldom given time to enter into the three koshas (layers) of my self. Indian philosophy would detail several koshas, ultimately ending with anandamaya kosha, the blissful layer, and that is what I am hoping to embark upon during these three days, to ultimately seek and find ananda, the perfect bliss! It is God alone who is bliss, and that is why we dare to call him/her anandamayi! The ever joyous, blissful! What a wonderful name is this for God! How wonderful would it be if all of us on earth are as blissful as God is!

Let me place certain assumptions before I jump into the deep waters; am I sure that I am going to enter into deep waters? How deep is it going to be? For a person whose head is immersed into water, it really does not matter if the water level is seven feet high or 20 feet high; the fear and panic one experiences is the same in both the levels. How far I would be able to hold myself is left to each one? From my side, I need to become conscious of where I am? Am I still at the shore, untouched by the living waters that flow from the Lord’s presence, or am I well into the deep? Or am I able to feel the waters slowly rise (it is the Lord’s doing), or that I am moving into deeper waters (it is my Spirit’s doing)? Let me close my eyes and feel the waters?

As a preparation for this three days of inward journey, it is a wonderful thing to enter into the presence of the Lord purifying ourselves. The tribals of India would always begin any religious celebration with the first day dedicated to purificatory rituals, so that their bodies, minds and spirits are free from any sort of impurity which may prevent the Lord entering into our midst. I would like to invoke the Spirit of the Living God to let the living streams flow over me, and purify me of all that would prevent me from recognizing his presence, seeing me with my inner eyes, and holding on to him as my greatest treasure! Let me repeat the mantra on the eve of my journey, as many times as I can: Spirit of the Living God, let your streams flow over and cleanse me!

Reaping Lenten Fruits

There is something beautiful about lent, and there is something bad too in equal measure. The annual period of penance and repentance, lasting for 40 days, is observed so religiously by most of the traditional Catholics that they all might seem to be closer to the heaven than the others. The austerity with which they do fast and engage in spiritual activities, such as pilgrimages, extra time spent on every Friday for the Stations of the Cross, there are all signs that this season is truly a season of grace for all of them. But that much is the beautiful side of the lent.

There is also an ugly side to the season of “grace”. I could speak for my family; my parents fast for all the 40 days of lent, and skip one meal every day religiously; even if they fall sick, and require strength to carry on, they would not have food to sustain their body and mind. The rigor with which they do this ritual is sometimes frightening. Instead of this piety becoming a means to a greater union with the suffering Lord, and the less fortunate brothers and sisters of the society, the means often take the sway, and the end is often lost. My mother would go all the way to stick to the special pieties during the lent, while her quarrels with my father would go on unceasingly.

Let me add another dimension to the innumerable shades of meanings and significance that the season reminds us of. I would like to break the four letters of the world LENT, to imply LISTEN with EMPATHY to your NEIGHBORS TODAY. This is one thing that takes so much of strength and courage for us to do; we hear the cry of the people around us, but most often we are not touched; their cry stop with our ear drums, they do not enter into our hearts; sometimes the cries that come from all quarters are capable of transforming us, but only when we allow these cries to enter into us. Lent is a season to keep our ears and hearts open!

Every member of Israel is said to have carved the holy words of ‘Shema Israel’ (listen o Israel), and they were expected to inscribe these words, put them in an amulet and tie it on their foreheads, their wrists, in order to remind themselves that they are to listen to their God. LISTEN! The world around is fast forgetting the art of listening to oneself, neighbor, nature, and to God. Naturally when we fail to listen to the inner murmurings of our heart, we cannot listen to our neighbors, and when we cannot listen to ourselves and our neighbors, the cry of nature is addressed to barren grounds, and God would then remain just an unreachable destination.

In the next four reflections, we shall take a closer look at the four key words we have proposed for lent, listening, empathy, neighbor and today, and all of them have something to remind us about our own spiritual journey. Lent alone cannot make our entire spiritual journey; this is one of the key phases of our journey, but then there are other phases, and it is only when we make a smooth transition from one phase to another, from Christmas joy to the sorrow of lent and then proceed to experience the peace of the Risen Lord during the ordinary season of the liturgical calendar. Lent is an invitation to go deeper into our selves, for that is where we may encounter the Lord of our hearts.

On 'Fast' Track

The lent is round the corner, and there are many who have begun their serious preparations to make the best out of this season of grace. There are some who would do the most ostentatious and outrageous penance for their sins, and some would go to the extent of mortifying themselves foregoing meals, rest, little pleasures of the world in order to feel one with the suffering Christ. It is hard to say where one should stop in these endless pieties and what would be more pleasing to the Lord than these external pieties, which sometimes may not have much congruence with the interior lives of persons.

It is possible to turn all one’s pieties and noble actions to religious intentions and orientations; for instance, skipping a meal (generally the breakfast for some, and for some others both breakfast and supper) is considered as a mark of mortifying one’s body, not yielding to the pleasures of the physical body. The Muslims are known to do the strict fast for 40 days, fasting from sunrise to sun set and I could see some of the Muslim friends and service persons, worn out by middle of the day. Are these pieties voluntary? There is greater danger if they are institutionalized and one feels obliged to practice it, even if s/he has no inclination to it.

It is understood that there are better ways of mortifying oneself, rather than depriving the body of the essential nutrients and sustenance to carry out our responsibilities. I have seen some of my friends, who would fast every day of Lent, but would not have enough strength to do some of the works which may be expected of them. I have realized that if these pieties, which are merely means, become ends in themselves, then they cease to have the meaning and significance they once had. Any piety which does not help a person to live an authentic transformative life, then it is not worth.

I was told that fasting is one of the most common religious austerities that many of the religions of the world recommend to their people. As the people mortify their bodies, their souls are expected to rise above the material world, into a world that brings them together as brothers and sisters of one Father. I have seen my mother fasting every Friday of the year, and even when there are Liturgical festivities, such as Christmas or birthday of a family member, she would still keep the fast. I had tried to explain to her the meaning and significance of fast and still she would not give it up; it is for her a serious act, and it cannot be given up under any circumstances.

We all care for our bodies more than they really deserve. There are people who are too finicky about the care for their bodies, that they would go to ridiculous extent to make sure they present their bodies as if it is a treasure they cannot touch. I remember one of my younger friends, who while undergoing training to become a Jesuit, would rush to the wash basin to wash his hands after every five minutes of the 30 minutes of manual work. He would be spending half his work time, washing his hands, because he could not tolerate dirt and mud on his hand. But if only we realize that the body is but soil, and soil is our body, then we would treat our bodies differently. Yet, there is a spirituality which places the human body as a temple of the Spirit, and that is an altogether different realm.

Fast in Fellowship

I know many people in India think of the former chief minister of Bihar, Sri Lallu Prasad Yadav as a clown in Indian politics, one who can amass public money property shamelessly, and even justify doing so publicly. He has been credited to have turned the ever loss-making Indian railways into a profit making one, which made the world take note of his USP. But I have a soft spot for this Bihari for several reasons: he is a man of the soil; he might have made a fortune out of the fodder scam, but he is also the one who believes in taking care of cows, and sometimes does not feel shy to pose milking the Jersy cows for photographs!

Needless to say, Lallu's wisdom is rustic, untouched by scientific and technological advancement. There are sparks of rustic wisdom in his speech, and one is left to amusement at the wisdom of this man, who however fails to apply such wisdom to reality. While many parts of the country are going through drought-like situation, Lallu had proposed a way to partly overcome this drought, which for the most part is human made. Citing the example of Jagdivan Ram, who during the time of drought in the early years of Indian independence, invited the citizens to fast once a week, Lallu invited the present generation to skip their meals (at least one meal) one day a week!

I found this simple solution not only innovative, though the credit goes to Jagjivan Ram, but it also challenges the people who are responsible for creating such a situation. It is also a challenge to the ever-increasing human greed and avarice. I welcome the idea whole heartedly, and propose an improvement of this idea as follows: It may be hard to skip the meals a whole day, since most of us would not have energy to work if we don't eat the whole day. So here is a way out. On alternative days, I can skip a meal; on monday I skip breakfast, on Wednesday lunch and on Friday supper. At the end of the week, I had skipped three meals, equivalent to not eating for a day.

Doctors recommend fasting as a means of staying healthy, and there are people who fast to keep themselves trim. But fast that is proposed has a wider social message, not only purely personal. What is important is not just to skip a meal, because that may not affect the world around. But then there is a way to make this simple act of fasting meaningful to a wider society. I cannot eat up what I save out of fasting on other days. If I feel the pain of those thousands of men, women and children going hungry to bed each day, then I will keep the grains, pulses and vegetables I save each week, and hand it over to the people who are in dire need of them. In this way, while I feel the hungry stomach, I can see the smile in the face of the hungry children.

Living very close to the VIP road of the City of Joy, I can see on weekends there is no parking space around our house. There are hundreds throng in and around Music World in Park Street, prepared to dole out some money to eat outside. If all these eateries, both big and small, were to pull their shutters once a week, save the food and money, and hand them over to the most deserving children, men and women, then we will see the world changing rapidly.If all men and women earning a salary or wage were to pause for a day in a month, and hand the money for those who lack basic amenities of life, then the world would be a better place for all of us.