Lessons to Learn from Least

I found it hard to believe that Europeans could be so very insensitive, when they come to our country. Unlike we people here in India, who are so very informal, and would love to just walk in unannounced, the Europeans are known to appreciate formality, and yet when it comes to dealing with us, they take many things for granted, and that was one of the things which was annoying me, ever since this team of three Jesuits through a third person announced that they are coming to meet us. They would have booked their flight tickets some three months earlier, but they did not find time to inform us about their program.

I had a taste of how the Europeans behave in Europe, just a year ago, and after a stay for over a month I found, I might not survive if I were to stay in Europe. Life is so very artificial, and there are not much scope for one to be free to be what one wants to be in Europe, or at least that is the kind of feeling I got. You cannot walk into even your best friend's room or office without first making a prior appointment. That is how the society operates over there, and we would like to do things very differently here, and that is what makes all the difference to the people who visit us.

When people, even priests and nuns, visit us from either the United States or the Europe, often they exhibit a sense of superiority over us, our culture, language, though they cannot afford to do it openly and directly. Money power is their major strength, and sometimes they make attempts to purchase our value and cultural system with monetary and charitable help. They also show a sense of condescending over our culture and our people. While they appreciate our culture and rich traditions, they would hesitate to eat what we eat, drink what we drink, an obvious indication of keeping themselves apart.

We are born and brought up in a mortley of cultures and we know how to mingle with people of different cultures, religions and ethnicities. We have no problem to dialogue with people of other languages and cultures; even when we do not know the language of a particular group of people, and yet we know how to communicate. We know how to esteem people, and relate to them on equal footing, without showing any sign of inferiority or superiority, and the Europe and the US have a lot to learn from us, and it might take several centuries for them to first of all acknowledge they have something to learn from the developing nations.

I wish all the people who visit India, especially from the Europe and the US, learn from us the art of hospitality. Atito devobhava - guests are like gods, that is what the Holy Scriptures of our land says, and we mean it, as opposed to the cold, calculated and indifferent attitude of the Europe. We know the art of making homes as opposed to the developed nations, who only know how to make buildings. That is another thing that they can learn from us. In fact, if we start listing all the things they can and need to learn from us, we can fill a library with the lists! This is not an exaggeration, but a notion which only those who have known India can vouch for!

Mother Dear...

Spending an hour of quiet moments at Mother's tomb is not only a rare privilege, but also a precious opportunity. I must be honest to accept that I was not a fan of Mother when she was alive; I had my own reservations about her way of looking at reality, and sometimes I had a divergent view. But over the past one year, my appreciation of Mother's works and her life has changed much of my thinking. Going through 'Come Be My Light : The Private Writings of the "Saint of Calcutta"', edited with commentary by Brian Kolodiejchuk, had disturbed me a lot, so much so I had to seek the help of my spiritual director.

I was not much fascinated by the name and fame that she acquired due to her work for the poor and the neglected in society; but I was touched by the simplicity and transparency with which she went through the dark nights of her soul. Even in the midst of darkest clouds, she was able to sight the silver line, and that was her great consolation. She was on the verge of losing her faith in God, and was often assailed by meaninglessness in life, and yet she knew that the hand of God would lead her through. That unshakable faith in God of life is what I often look up to.

As I sit a few feet away from the place where her mortal remains had been buried, I would like to imagine a current passing from her mortal remains to my body, instilling in me, a fraction of the spirit she carried wherever she went, fearlessly standing for what she was convinced; she could not be stopped by anyone, neither soldiers, nor guns, neither religious fanaticism nor regionalism. She was above all that divided the society, and her service flowing out of love for her Lord and Master, made her a sui generis. Today I should be asking myself if my service to humanity is in fact flowing out of my love for the Lord to whom I have committed myself for life!

I look up, and see a stream of people entering into the hallowed ground, touching their heads on the marble stones, which have hugged the saint of the gutters, so that no one can do her any harm, and I feel these people know no religion. Mother Teresa, though a professed Catholic, but to the people of other faiths, she gave not Christ, but His love, service, and ever abounding care and concern. Most often in life, she was able to go beyond the narrow categories we have made for our own survival. Today we will be able to find answer to many of the ills haunting our society, if only we are able to go beyond our narrow religious limits.

I try to seek a few quiet moments in her presence, whenever time permits, and what do I seek from God through her intercession? I have been born poor, and had been living like a poor, but there are all the dangers for me to distance myself from the poor I had been growing up. My education, social status (as a religious priest, belonging to a particular congregation), my contacts, all of them have made me a separate class. The poor when they stand close to me, think that I am no more one of them. This is what I dearly seek through the kindness of Blessed Teresa, that I can tell even on the verge of death knocking at my door, that I was born a poor, lived the life of a poor and was dying like one too. What great honor could I then expect?

Return to Roots

Attending an enlightening lecture-cum-interaction with Prof Bharat Gupt on Natyasastra opened up several cupboards in my household I had never bothered to unlock and see what treasures lie over there. I was found asking myself this simple question: how is it that all these years I had not ventured to know and learn more about some of the rich traditions we had been beholding for several centuries. It is no wonder, we may not be aware of many of the rich treasures of our homeland, which have found home in the West, even with adequate copyright and intellectual rights. On the one hand I felt so proud to be part of this great land of cultures and religions, and on the other felt embarassed not knowing the intricacies that this great literature transpose!

It would be beyond the scope of this little blog to enter into some of the salient features of Natyasastra, but it would be worthwhile to highlight one or two key aspects which interested me. This great classic has been popularly known as the Fifth Veda (the other four being Rg, Yajur, Sama and Atharva, which had been appropriated by the Brahmins), meant for the hoi poploi, the aam janta, the nothing-special about people. Is it a generous gesture on the part of Bharat Muni to hand this treatise to the common people, as a consoling factor? Whatever critics say, one thing is for sure: this can be appropriated by any one, especially the non-Brahmin!

The world today is moving at a break-neck speed to explore everything that is possible to harness the world's resources to the best way possible. Brain-drain has not yet become a problem that would disturb the developping nations, but the ancient traditions are slowly finding their place not in schools and colleges, but in archives of archaic manuscripts and museums. The great literature that had enlivened the literature and art of this great nation for several centuries has suddenly become a thing of the past, and we are looking for viable alternatives to replace them. Shame, shame! We have no qualms of conscience to bury alive living traditions, because we are not equipped to take a dip into them!

Some of the great literatures of the ancient India have been path-breaking in several fields, and many of the things that modern science and technology re discover have found mention in many of our scriptures, but who is there to really go through the palm leaves, scrolls to decipher the rich material that had been treasured for hundreds of years. If we ourselves bury these rich materials, then we shall be answerable to the future generations for burying living civilizations as a sign of our incapacity! It is time that we wake up, and unearth the scrolls and manuscripts which are fast eaten up by whiteants and moth! Who knows we may find remedy for many of the evils huanting the world in some of them.

But the responsibility to return to our roots lies with every one of the Indian citizen, who feels obliged to own up what has been our collective tradition, irrespective of culture, religion or language. If our children are taught to return to their roots, in the study of culture, language, literature and religion, then there would be less conflict and attempt from one section of people to assert their cultural hegemony. We do not need to swallow all that the ancient literature and scriptures teach us; we need to look at them critically, and study them at the particular socio-cultural context, and take them for what they are worth. But our lives will be quite different if only we take a close look at them, and shape our lives in the light of our discoveries!

Slumdogs to Skylarks

At last, many of the Indians are on the first page of most of the world's newspapers, and this time, not for something disgusting or horrifying, but noble and beautiful. Eight Oscar awards to Slumdog Millionaire has shaken the nation from its slumber, to reveal to the world that India is more than a land of snake-charmers and of hunger and thirst, where industry has not grown... The world has known India for all the reasons what it should not have been. Living in Philippines, for instance, Indians are looked down upon as people who are shrewd (thanks to the Gujaratis, who have a flourishing money-lending business), and know how to extract the most from the locals, and for Pinays India does not exist, all they know is Mumbai, what I used to call 'national ignorance'.

The picture is somewhat different in Europe; since there is a huge African population, often the Indians are grouped together with the Black, partly due to affinity due to color. For the West, the dark or brown skin is not something detestable, but something that need to be kept at a distance. Can eight Oscar awards change the most often distorted view of the great nation of cultures and religions in the eyes of the world fraternity? This is one question that I keep asking, even as the debate goes on if the movie is an Indian or a British one! Whether we like it or not, India has been put on the Oscar map, and it is there to stay, even if the future years do not find adequate talent to match the present generation!

The story of the Slumdog may come as a surprise to other nations, but to the Indians this movie has exactly the same kind of formula, with which most of the Indian films are made. The triumph of the underdog is one theme that is eternal in this land, because that give relief to the audience, even if it is only momentary, and takes them away from the humdrum reality that most of our men and women are forced to live. But the story is something that is too good to be true, and I only hope that the dalits and the marginalised tribals don't make futile efforts to reach the state of Jamaal in the film. Reasonable risks can bring in good results, and this film is a proof to it.

One of the most memorable moments at the Kodak Studio in California was the presence of the tiny-tots who made an integral part of the film; the early Jamaal and Salim and Latika are too good to be true, and they probably don't realize that they are part of history, and after a decade or two, they can share with the next generations that India is no less than any other nation in the world. We may be believing strongly in age-old customs and traditions, we may be worshipping cows, we may deny women their due religious rights and privileges, we may still believe in ploughing our lands with bulls, and worship trees and shrubs, like Tulsi... we may be superstitious, but we have a civilization which can show the path to the world in the years to come.

I do not want to float in the clouds, thinking and owning the success of one movie, which tells an imaginary story, well told and portrayed though; reality is what we need to believe in, and embrace whole-heartedly. I would like to pause for a while and own the land that I am born in, and accept her as she is, without attempting to force her change according to my whims and fancies. I would like to embrace her as A. R. Rahman attributed his success to his mother, and attribute all that I am and capable of to what this wonderful land of mine has given me. I am part of the great civilization, I am part and parcel of this great nation of varied cultures and religions, and it is only proper that I salute her saying "Jai ho" (hail)!

Sacred Salaam!

Sometimes I do feel it would have been better if I had a choice to voluntarily choose Christ. It is not that I have less respect for the gods of other religions; I have great respect for every spiritual being, because I am convinced that the fundamental principle that unites them is the same, and that goes beyond any religious coloring. For a person who is in search for the deeper principles which govern the universe, all religions are alike, however there are certain facets of a religious tradition which may attract one to it rather than to another. It is like a buffet meal, where you are presented with several dishes, and you may like only one particular dish, and after eating a little of it, you might feel your heart (and also your stomach) is full. But you have not said that other dishes are not as good as this one, and it is not possible for you to taste them all either. But you are happy to have what you like.

If someone were to ask me, what has Christ done to me - I am sure I will have something to say, something from the very personal angle, which one may accept or not! I am not much interested in the controversy between the Jesus of history and the Christ of faith, but would like to limit myself to what has Christ done to me, in my little life! Strangely Jesus has helped me to get out of the boundaries of the religious circle that had surrounded me all these years. The religion of Christ is a universal religion where all men and women of goodwill can find fulfilment. Christianity is an institution, which has the basic tenets of the teachings of Christ, but has over the years solidified the principles, and have become sacro sanct to them. But Christ goes beyond all religions, and in a sense he was the first humanist, who truly promoted humanism, based on fraternal charity and love!

Jesus has helped me to look at my neighbor in whom lies my salvation, fulfilment and the attainment of my aspirations. It is a call to community living, and he had taught it by example, living with people of different temperaments, different walks of life. I would like to imagine what three years of life with a terrorist (Simon the zealot), public servant (Matthew the tax-collector), agnostic (Thomas), man of temper (Peter), greedy and money-minded (Judas), innocent and too young (John), simple fishermen would have been, but at the end they were transformed men, who could think beyond their narrow peripheries! It appears that at the end, all these men were one in mind, and one in heart. That was the magic of living with Christ has done, and that reckons me to take side with him to transform me as he had done with his apostles!

Jesus was a medicine-man par excellence, for he treated people not based on symptoms, but based on the root causes, which prompted the illness. I tend to believe that those who were cured by Jesus might not have been sick again, because he went to the roots, and once the roots are healed, there is very little for the sickness to surface. He had medicine for all illnesses, most often to psychological and spiritual diseases too. In fact he understood that most of the sicknesses are related to the spheres of psychology or spirituality, and not so much to the body. Today we need to spend thousands of ruppes to diagnose the illnesses that huant us, but being an ace medicine-man, Jesus know what troubled people, just by looking at their faces. If only our doctors today have that ability, many lives of the poor and unaffordables could be saved.

But more than all, Jesus was the revolutionary, who reversed the age-old traditions which kept the human person bound with chains. He freed them from the clutches of tradition and conventions, and breathed in fresh air. He could be called truly a liberator, who placed realistic demands on his disciples, and demands which may even cost them their lives, but with the hope that it is all worth. He is a task-master who likes to push the student to the maximum limits of his/her capacity, but with love and compassion. He was the strange mixture of a demanding and a loving person, who valued people based not on what they had, but what they were, and that is the reason why all people were equal before him. Today I pay my humble tribute to this great person, who has made ripples in my life, and I continue to feel its vibrations as I continue to cherish what he is to me!

Aligned to Appreciation

Tolerance by definition means to put up with, not joyfully though. And when we talk of a harmonious coexistence of people of different faiths and religions, one hears often the word tolerance. We should exercise tolerance towards one another! Now let me throw some light on this ominous concept to show how badly mistaken we are. To start with, what do we tolerate? Frankly speaking, we tolerate those things that we hate; we tolerate loud music at night in the neighborhood; we tolerate smoking in public places and transports; we tolerate bribe-begging public servants; we tolerate the unwanted price hike; we tolerate the offending boss at the office - so point one is : we tolerate persons and things we hate from our hearts.

Tolerance stems out of a compulsion, a necessity, which cannot be avoided. If I am married to a woman who snores joyously all through the night, I cannot run to the judges pleading to revoke the wedlock. I am forced to tolerate her snore, and shortly afterwards I may find myself giving company to her in snoring, driving all burglars away. That is point two : tolerance stems out of a necessity. Point three : the goal of tolerance is directed towards my own welfare. Let the other person go to hell; if I am hale and hearty, that is fine. Point four : tolerance quietly hopes that the other party will one day vanish into thin air!

Maybe I will stop here going deep into the concept of religious tolerance. Many of us even take false pride in claiming that we are on the same platform at the inter-faith prayer meet. Tolerance is more dangerous than passive indifference. Just think for a while, what do we think of people of other faiths, when we share dais with them - 'Fools, they do not know about the only true faith. I wish they all embrace my true faith!' This in other words, is tolerance. Quietly waiting for the other to disappear from the scene. This is fake prayer meet. This in other words is a mockery of the soul of all religions.

Then what is the remedy? How do we approach the people of other faiths? What is the attitude we need to have when we take a step to join hands with people of other faiths? Appreciation. This is the remedy. Perhaps that is the only remedy! What is this appreciation to do with my or others' faith? Maybe I have to start my spiritual journey with a note that I am not the sole recipient of all knowledge and wisdom imparted by the revered saints and sages of my religion. Mine is just one of the many ways to reach my ultimate goal in life. Here I acknowledge that others too have revealed truth, and there may be elements in the faiths of others, which may open up newer vistas for me.

If I forget the time and space while listening to the bhajans by Guru Govind Singh "Koi bole Ram Ram, koi Khuda..." that is something I can be truly proud of. If I can join the Meera Bhajans or the Prasadika of Bengal or the Baul songs of Lalan Fakir, or if I can get into the shoes of the people of other faiths, then there will flower forth a new attitude of appreciation. Here we are no longer outsiders as in the case of tolerance, but are insiders - we share the faith of the other and appreciate it. For a moment we become Hindus, Muslims or Christians, or Sikh! For at the base of all religions, we have the same governing principles, and after all the God of all religions is the same, though the name may vary. That is the true attitude we could have while coming together to share our faith experiences. And it is this attitude that can truly transform the world torn apart by religious fundamentalism, fanaticism and terrorism in the name of religions!

Reign of Religions

Religions have caused more harm and destruction to humanity than all the natural calamities down the centuries put together. In fact, it would be quite wrong to attribute a lion's share of violence and bloodshed to "religion" as it is meant to be. But what is originally meant to be religion - a way of life - has become the battleground for political parties and vested interests to parley and display quite unashamedly their show of strength! It is no wonder that ever since fierce battles came to be fought in the name of religion (killing a member of opposite religion assured a seat in heaven!) during the Middle Ages, many sincere men and women of good will have bidden adieu to the cultic, formal religions.

Religion is meant to be the cementing factor between people and the ultimate, and union of hearts and minds among people of all walks of life. No god will ever tolerate if blood is shed in his name - however bloodthirsty he be! What is happening in different parts of the world today is - religion is used as a means by a handful of powerful people in order to wield hegemony over the weak, and the downtrodden. Every religious fight or conflict is in fact an attempt to over power the awakening group - using the time-tested techniques of arousing fear and panic. Most of the major religions had done this, and it is not the time for us to dwell on who's donneit! But to look beyond what history has taught us - to go beyond the narrow confines of religions.

But it is time for us to return to our sources! From the events and incidents that shake and shape our world, it is obvious that most of us believers in organized religions do not read our Holy Scriptures. If at all we do, then we do it mechanically, or do it selectively, harkening only the passages that suit our purpose. Because no religion, worth its salt, can ever teach its followers to shed the blood of the neighbour. Just because the weaker party is not able to retaliate, the mighty and the powerful might continue their reign of terror. They may win over the battle according to worldly standards, but it may not take too long for events to take a 180 degree around.

In many religions we have the custom of branding the people who had died in order to protect the religious faith as martyrs. A crown of glory is given to them, and they are considered revered persons. Today I would like to pause for a while and ask myself - which is more important : to give one's life for the facile, divisive faith or to lay one's life for the welfare of the neighbour. Unfortunately most of the religions have taken the liberty to twist the basic tenets of religions for their own benefit and advantage. Adn therefore I would like to go back to the sources, to the Sacred Scriptures to re-discover God as he/she truly is. Once I begin to recognise His/Her true nature and identity, then my attitude to other faiths too will change.

It is time for me to look at every person I come in contact with as my brother and sister. Unless I drop the labels of religion, caste, creed and nationality, I would be enslaving myself to structures that would distance me far away from my union with the Ultimate, and through him/her to the humanity, each of them reflection of the Maker! Once I encounter the God of my heart in my brother and sister, then the religious layers collapse, and I maybe able to see God as he/she is in every creature around me! Such is the family of gods, living in harmony with one another, and that truly is vasudeiva kutumbakam!

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?