1.THE REVELATIONS
(After being to Muringoor Divine Retreat Centre-14th March 1999 to 20th March 1999)
Wise people thirst for knowledge and the hope for the future as revealed in Bible (Isaiah 30-24) is: ‘Foolish people will learn to understand and those who are always grumbling will be glad to be taught.’ What is required is:
Respect ‘others’ (not only our) faith and discover their richness.
Know and obey God.
Don’t quarrel; love your enemies by forgiving them.
God is one and only one. Since God wishes to fulfill the desire of everybody in his omnipresent, omnipotent and omniscient form, he sends prophets, who are his chosen children. We are all children of God. The chosen children are those who have faith in God, who have the Holy Spirit filled in them. People believe the chosen children to be God and starts worshiping them which give rise to different sects of people and each come to be known as a ‘religion’, which is just a particular system of faith and worship.
Mathews 17 to 21 of Bible tells this about the chosen children:
“ Here is my servant, whom I have chosen,
The one I love, and with whom I am pleased,
I will send my spirit upon him,
And he will announce my judgment to the nation,
He will not argue or shout,
Or make loud speeches in the streets,
He will not break off a bend reed,
Or put out a flickering lamp,
He will persist until he causes justice to triumph,
And in him all people will put their hope.”
Avestan Zarathustra, Rama Mahavier Jain, Mohamed, Jesus Christ and Buddha are all God incarnate on earth. Buddha is to Hindus, what Jesus Christ was to Jews. Jesus Christ was a Jew, and Buddha was a Hindu. While Jews rejected Jesus, Hindus accepted Buddha. Even here Charles Darwin’s theory seems to have been applied. The theory says that the Fittest survive, the weak go to the grave. One should be in a position to adjust oneself with the change. ‘Buddha was the first being in the world who brought missionarizing into practice. Nay he was the first to conceive the idea of proselytizing. Now, or today, even here competition is seen. Since the promoters of the missionaries alone are not in a position to cater to the needs of their devotees, they choose disciples from among the devotees. But common people unknowlingly starts worshiping the prophets. There is nothing wrong in it, for Mahanirvana Tantra 4:12 says, “Material worship, is the lowest stage, struggling to rise high, mental prayer is next stage, but the highest stage is when the lord has been realized.”
It means wherever thow seest extraordinary holiness and extraordinary power raising and purifying humanity know thou that I am there. God never ever has proclaimed that Christians alone, or Hindus alone or Muslims alone will be saved. All religious books say that ‘Good’ will be saved. ‘Truth alone Triumphs’. Thus as Vedanta Sutra 3:4:36 syas (Vyasa) “we find perfect men even beyond the pale of our cast and creed.”
Then why do we quarrel? Remember the story of the frog said by Swami Vivekananda on 15th Sept 1893 at the parliament of religion-Swamiji Concluded saying that ‘A Hindu sits in his own little well and thinks that the whole world is his little well,’ This is the case with each individual living on this earth. Quarrels are caused mainly due to misunderstanding. One should be a little patient to understand what is in the mind of others, or what does the other mean by his speech.
The cruel murder of missionary workers in Orissa has been explained in Deuteronomy 13 of the Bible. A prophet or interpreter of dreams may promise a miracle or a wonder in order to lead you to worship other Gods or do other things. His promise may come true. But God is using him to test us. Those who trust God should not tust him’. Bible even tells us to rebel and put to death interpreters. This is what has been done in Orissa forgetting that hate never destroys hate only love does.
It is clearly emphasized in Mathew 25 of bible- ‘Any country that divides itself into groups which fight each other will not last very long’ Thus for the peaceful survival of our nation the one on the banks of Indus which also includes the present Pakistan, only the merger of the two can bring total peace which is but a distant dream, a dream which ought to be accomplished. History has taught us, and excavations have proved that violence begets violence and the inflecting of death leads in turn to death door. Cruel motives of men are sure to lead men to disaster. On the day of final judgments may victory be granted to truth and non-violence.
As is said in Bhagavad Geeta, ‘All those who are proficient in the science of sacrifice, are qualified to reach the ideal goal, which indeed is one and same for all seekers. The science of sacrifice tells us to be inactive in action and active in inaction.’ Knowledge alone can in the end take a person to the ultimate reality. One will see that all beings, including oneself are manifestations of the one supreme self. This infinite knowledge, alone can remove completely our sins (vasanas) and purify us. As in other branches of knowledge, one cannot set a time limit for acquisition of this knowledge. Inspite of these drawback I can say this much, strict adherence to the path pursued, deep devotion to the ideal we have accepted and are striving to reach self restraint and constant endeavor are factors that will help to attain supreme peace (Param Shanti).
If we do not have faith in others we will fail to recognize others and latter will be guilty of the same. Eg. If we do not have faith in others religion/words what would happen is, on the day of final judgement, the day being not far away, we will fail to recognize the truth, and hence would be guilty of the same as had happened to the people who had not entered the Noahas Boat. Thus the only rule in life is ‘Love’.
Edward Morgan Foster in his essay, ‘Two cheers for Democracy’ says that tolerance is the most important virtue because it is absurd or unreal to expect enemies or altogether different people to love each other. Therefore love, which is very essential, does not work in public life and international relations. Tolerance is a less difficult less dramatic but more useful virtue than love and it will enable difficult races and classes to settle down together for the salvation of this crowded jostling world. Understand the plan behind the universe. Be Patient, do your duties.
One thing is quite sure, since all religion teach the same things, those who have true faith in religion will have the qualities of , ‘harmlessness, truth, absence of anger, renunciation, peacefulness, absence of crookedness, compassion to beings, uncovetousness, gentleness, modesty, absence of hatred and absence of pride. 16-21,22 of the Bhagavad-Gita says, ‘Triple is the gate of this hell, destruction of the self, lust, anger, and greed, therefore one should abandon these three. A man who is liberated from these three darkness, practice what is good for him and this goes to supreme goal.
Recognize the whole mankind as one race; if anybody hope that the triumph of any one of the religion/country/person and the destruction of others will bring about unity, it is impossible. Beauty lies where there is unity in diversity. One should overcome the barriers considering, oneself as the sons and daughters of one single God. Each must assimilate the spirit of the others and yet preserve his individuality and grow according to his law of growth. One should never dream of the exclusive survival of his own ideas, and destruction of others. We should aim for the goodwill of all men as we have a common origin. People behave rudely or otherwise only because of ignorance- worst criminals as well as greatest saints don’t make themselves a nuisance to everybody. Be constructive in life, have inner dedication. ‘Be ye harmless as a dove, but wise as a serpent’ and ‘Cause less inconvenience to your co passengers’.
2. Religion.
‘Religion’ means a particular system of faith and worship. What binds man to God is his religion. When men have learnt to build a quiet temple inside his own heart and to be a ministering priest to his own self, religion will have done its true work.
The only way in which religion can be established is by worship, not by argument or discussion. The steps for proper worship are:
Before you can begin to worship God, you must forget yourself, before you can forget yourself, you must learn to control your thoughts and silence your minds. For this you must have humility and child like attitude.
We must not think of over selves as bodies and intellects. Thus you should forget your personal life at the time of worship.
Find for yourself some human intermediary, between self and God who will be a focus.
Make yourself strong and illumined to do without outside help, i.e stilling of the mind.
Self Reliance is the only true worship. What is needed is a fellow feeling between the different types of religion, seeing that they all stand or fall together, a fellow-feeling which springs from mutual esteem and mutual respect…Swami Vivekananda- All religions are different expressions of the same truth, all march on or die out. They are the radii of the same truth the expression that variety of minds requires.
3.God.
(Based on the debate with Mr. Menon, of Green wich oil mills, Thrissur, at the time of audit there with Jayanthy)
There is an unseen, unknown force controlling or moulding the nature and each individual here. We do not know what that external force is and therefore call it God. It is only adversity that takes man to God. Others simply say, ‘Man makes his own fortune and calls it fate’. Only that person in life can know what is fate, who has seen, felt or experienced adversity even by doing good things.
Cotton does not become cloth by itself. If there is a pen and a paper, nothing will come on the paper by itself. Some one has to lift the pen and write on it. This is nature. It is the sufficient proof for the existence of God, to those who do not believe in him. I have not seen the White House at Washington. But it is there and therefore it would be a folly if I deny it. I breath air, though I have not seen it. If we had told our great grandfather that I sitting in India can talk to or see a person who is not near us, he would not believe it, though I can see it happening today. In past people did not know the law of gravity until Newton discovered it. Thus gravity existed before Newton discovered it and would have existed even if it was not discovered.
So is that external force controlling mankind, which is called God. There is nothing like ‘my God’ or ‘your God’, but one single God-the omnipresent, omnipotent and omniscient which is ‘our God’.
Until the reality of God is unveiled, each one of us has got our own ideas. The whole concept of God depends entirely upon where we stand, for different people and also for the same people at different points of life, God means many things. For some it is a personal deity, for some human images, or other images and for some light is the form of God and space is his home. For some it is power-because wherever we go God is there. He is the creator of such a vast creation. Therefore the highest deity ought to be the impersonal and universal.
Everything in life is not within the control of men. There is an external force controlling it, moulding it. Man should learn to build a quiet temple inside his own heart, and be a priest to his own self, for God is within him, around him and everywhere. One must see God in oneself as well as in every other individual. The real God who is presently playing hide and seek with us will one day reveal his identity to us, if we earnestly desire.
I accept all religions that were in the past, and worship with them all, I worship God with every one of them, in whatever from they worships him. I shall go to the mosque of the Mohammedan, I shall enter the Christians church and kneel before the crucifix, I shall enter the Buddhist temple, where I shall take refuge in Buddha and in his law, I shall go into the forest and sit down in meditation with the Hindu, who is trying to see the light which enlightens the heart of everyone.
4. Faith.
Faith is the playing ground of impression developed through birth. ‘A man is as his faith is, nay man is but his faith’. What do you mean by faith? The belief in what I don’t know, so that I may come to know what I believe in is called faith. Faith is that towards which each of us irresistibly gravitates in all our actions, feelings and thoughts. Thus every one of us has a goal, a great destination. This is the faith in each of us. Without faith ‘might would be right’ as is happening in the world of today. If all of us on this earth had faith in God, there would be love among all of us, on this earth and we know that where there is love there is peace and God. There would be no enemity, no hatred, no war, and no bloodshed! Ha! How wonderful it would be. But today all these are present on mother earth, which reveals lack of faith. This is leading us to destruction. There is a great deal of variance in the life of men because of difference of faith. Faith is the man, have a firm faith in a noble ideal and thus act tirelessly to achieve it in a spirit of dedication and love unto him. To one who works thus in the world, success is sure. Eg. Einsten/Edison-Science, Gandhi-Non Violence.
With the birth of a man is born his faith and is the lifeblood of his living. It is a great Power. Often Christ said ‘As ye believe, so will it be’ A doubting mind is a diseased mind. Doubt is like a little germ, which gets loaded in the heart and infects the whole being. There is no happiness for the man of doubting. It throws the whole world into a state of turmoil. A man who thinks himself the most sinful of all sinners, fallen without hope, rises to his feet again when a wise and loving heart comes and rekindles in him the divine spark. Thus faith regenerates. Faith may not eliminate all our troubles. It may make it greater. We should always remember that, there is a place in every heart upon which we can absolutely depend. We must try to find that. No matter how degraded a person may be, there is still within him the divine spark. ‘There is so much good in the worst of us, and so much bad in the best of us, that it ill behoves any of us, to find fault with the rest of us.’ No matter how small or insignificant we may seem at times, we are always connected with the great whole. As we think, so we become. “Fools dwelling in ignorance, yet imaging themselves wise and learned, go round and round in crooked ways, like the blind leading the blind.”
Swami Vivekananda had said, ‘who will help you? You are the help of the universe, what in this universe can help you? Where is the man, or the God, or the demon to help you? What can prevail over you? You are the God of the Universe, where can you seek for help? Never help came from anywhere but from yourself. In your ignorance, every prayer that you made and that was answered, you thought was answered by some being, but you answered the prayer yourself unknowingly.
(After being to Muringoor Divine Retreat Centre-14th March 1999 to 20th March 1999)
Wise people thirst for knowledge and the hope for the future as revealed in Bible (Isaiah 30-24) is: ‘Foolish people will learn to understand and those who are always grumbling will be glad to be taught.’ What is required is:
Respect ‘others’ (not only our) faith and discover their richness.
Know and obey God.
Don’t quarrel; love your enemies by forgiving them.
God is one and only one. Since God wishes to fulfill the desire of everybody in his omnipresent, omnipotent and omniscient form, he sends prophets, who are his chosen children. We are all children of God. The chosen children are those who have faith in God, who have the Holy Spirit filled in them. People believe the chosen children to be God and starts worshiping them which give rise to different sects of people and each come to be known as a ‘religion’, which is just a particular system of faith and worship.
Mathews 17 to 21 of Bible tells this about the chosen children:
“ Here is my servant, whom I have chosen,
The one I love, and with whom I am pleased,
I will send my spirit upon him,
And he will announce my judgment to the nation,
He will not argue or shout,
Or make loud speeches in the streets,
He will not break off a bend reed,
Or put out a flickering lamp,
He will persist until he causes justice to triumph,
And in him all people will put their hope.”
Avestan Zarathustra, Rama Mahavier Jain, Mohamed, Jesus Christ and Buddha are all God incarnate on earth. Buddha is to Hindus, what Jesus Christ was to Jews. Jesus Christ was a Jew, and Buddha was a Hindu. While Jews rejected Jesus, Hindus accepted Buddha. Even here Charles Darwin’s theory seems to have been applied. The theory says that the Fittest survive, the weak go to the grave. One should be in a position to adjust oneself with the change. ‘Buddha was the first being in the world who brought missionarizing into practice. Nay he was the first to conceive the idea of proselytizing. Now, or today, even here competition is seen. Since the promoters of the missionaries alone are not in a position to cater to the needs of their devotees, they choose disciples from among the devotees. But common people unknowlingly starts worshiping the prophets. There is nothing wrong in it, for Mahanirvana Tantra 4:12 says, “Material worship, is the lowest stage, struggling to rise high, mental prayer is next stage, but the highest stage is when the lord has been realized.”
It means wherever thow seest extraordinary holiness and extraordinary power raising and purifying humanity know thou that I am there. God never ever has proclaimed that Christians alone, or Hindus alone or Muslims alone will be saved. All religious books say that ‘Good’ will be saved. ‘Truth alone Triumphs’. Thus as Vedanta Sutra 3:4:36 syas (Vyasa) “we find perfect men even beyond the pale of our cast and creed.”
Then why do we quarrel? Remember the story of the frog said by Swami Vivekananda on 15th Sept 1893 at the parliament of religion-Swamiji Concluded saying that ‘A Hindu sits in his own little well and thinks that the whole world is his little well,’ This is the case with each individual living on this earth. Quarrels are caused mainly due to misunderstanding. One should be a little patient to understand what is in the mind of others, or what does the other mean by his speech.
The cruel murder of missionary workers in Orissa has been explained in Deuteronomy 13 of the Bible. A prophet or interpreter of dreams may promise a miracle or a wonder in order to lead you to worship other Gods or do other things. His promise may come true. But God is using him to test us. Those who trust God should not tust him’. Bible even tells us to rebel and put to death interpreters. This is what has been done in Orissa forgetting that hate never destroys hate only love does.
It is clearly emphasized in Mathew 25 of bible- ‘Any country that divides itself into groups which fight each other will not last very long’ Thus for the peaceful survival of our nation the one on the banks of Indus which also includes the present Pakistan, only the merger of the two can bring total peace which is but a distant dream, a dream which ought to be accomplished. History has taught us, and excavations have proved that violence begets violence and the inflecting of death leads in turn to death door. Cruel motives of men are sure to lead men to disaster. On the day of final judgments may victory be granted to truth and non-violence.
As is said in Bhagavad Geeta, ‘All those who are proficient in the science of sacrifice, are qualified to reach the ideal goal, which indeed is one and same for all seekers. The science of sacrifice tells us to be inactive in action and active in inaction.’ Knowledge alone can in the end take a person to the ultimate reality. One will see that all beings, including oneself are manifestations of the one supreme self. This infinite knowledge, alone can remove completely our sins (vasanas) and purify us. As in other branches of knowledge, one cannot set a time limit for acquisition of this knowledge. Inspite of these drawback I can say this much, strict adherence to the path pursued, deep devotion to the ideal we have accepted and are striving to reach self restraint and constant endeavor are factors that will help to attain supreme peace (Param Shanti).
If we do not have faith in others we will fail to recognize others and latter will be guilty of the same. Eg. If we do not have faith in others religion/words what would happen is, on the day of final judgement, the day being not far away, we will fail to recognize the truth, and hence would be guilty of the same as had happened to the people who had not entered the Noahas Boat. Thus the only rule in life is ‘Love’.
Edward Morgan Foster in his essay, ‘Two cheers for Democracy’ says that tolerance is the most important virtue because it is absurd or unreal to expect enemies or altogether different people to love each other. Therefore love, which is very essential, does not work in public life and international relations. Tolerance is a less difficult less dramatic but more useful virtue than love and it will enable difficult races and classes to settle down together for the salvation of this crowded jostling world. Understand the plan behind the universe. Be Patient, do your duties.
One thing is quite sure, since all religion teach the same things, those who have true faith in religion will have the qualities of , ‘harmlessness, truth, absence of anger, renunciation, peacefulness, absence of crookedness, compassion to beings, uncovetousness, gentleness, modesty, absence of hatred and absence of pride. 16-21,22 of the Bhagavad-Gita says, ‘Triple is the gate of this hell, destruction of the self, lust, anger, and greed, therefore one should abandon these three. A man who is liberated from these three darkness, practice what is good for him and this goes to supreme goal.
Recognize the whole mankind as one race; if anybody hope that the triumph of any one of the religion/country/person and the destruction of others will bring about unity, it is impossible. Beauty lies where there is unity in diversity. One should overcome the barriers considering, oneself as the sons and daughters of one single God. Each must assimilate the spirit of the others and yet preserve his individuality and grow according to his law of growth. One should never dream of the exclusive survival of his own ideas, and destruction of others. We should aim for the goodwill of all men as we have a common origin. People behave rudely or otherwise only because of ignorance- worst criminals as well as greatest saints don’t make themselves a nuisance to everybody. Be constructive in life, have inner dedication. ‘Be ye harmless as a dove, but wise as a serpent’ and ‘Cause less inconvenience to your co passengers’.
2. Religion.
‘Religion’ means a particular system of faith and worship. What binds man to God is his religion. When men have learnt to build a quiet temple inside his own heart and to be a ministering priest to his own self, religion will have done its true work.
The only way in which religion can be established is by worship, not by argument or discussion. The steps for proper worship are:
Before you can begin to worship God, you must forget yourself, before you can forget yourself, you must learn to control your thoughts and silence your minds. For this you must have humility and child like attitude.
We must not think of over selves as bodies and intellects. Thus you should forget your personal life at the time of worship.
Find for yourself some human intermediary, between self and God who will be a focus.
Make yourself strong and illumined to do without outside help, i.e stilling of the mind.
Self Reliance is the only true worship. What is needed is a fellow feeling between the different types of religion, seeing that they all stand or fall together, a fellow-feeling which springs from mutual esteem and mutual respect…Swami Vivekananda- All religions are different expressions of the same truth, all march on or die out. They are the radii of the same truth the expression that variety of minds requires.
3.God.
(Based on the debate with Mr. Menon, of Green wich oil mills, Thrissur, at the time of audit there with Jayanthy)
There is an unseen, unknown force controlling or moulding the nature and each individual here. We do not know what that external force is and therefore call it God. It is only adversity that takes man to God. Others simply say, ‘Man makes his own fortune and calls it fate’. Only that person in life can know what is fate, who has seen, felt or experienced adversity even by doing good things.
Cotton does not become cloth by itself. If there is a pen and a paper, nothing will come on the paper by itself. Some one has to lift the pen and write on it. This is nature. It is the sufficient proof for the existence of God, to those who do not believe in him. I have not seen the White House at Washington. But it is there and therefore it would be a folly if I deny it. I breath air, though I have not seen it. If we had told our great grandfather that I sitting in India can talk to or see a person who is not near us, he would not believe it, though I can see it happening today. In past people did not know the law of gravity until Newton discovered it. Thus gravity existed before Newton discovered it and would have existed even if it was not discovered.
So is that external force controlling mankind, which is called God. There is nothing like ‘my God’ or ‘your God’, but one single God-the omnipresent, omnipotent and omniscient which is ‘our God’.
Until the reality of God is unveiled, each one of us has got our own ideas. The whole concept of God depends entirely upon where we stand, for different people and also for the same people at different points of life, God means many things. For some it is a personal deity, for some human images, or other images and for some light is the form of God and space is his home. For some it is power-because wherever we go God is there. He is the creator of such a vast creation. Therefore the highest deity ought to be the impersonal and universal.
Everything in life is not within the control of men. There is an external force controlling it, moulding it. Man should learn to build a quiet temple inside his own heart, and be a priest to his own self, for God is within him, around him and everywhere. One must see God in oneself as well as in every other individual. The real God who is presently playing hide and seek with us will one day reveal his identity to us, if we earnestly desire.
I accept all religions that were in the past, and worship with them all, I worship God with every one of them, in whatever from they worships him. I shall go to the mosque of the Mohammedan, I shall enter the Christians church and kneel before the crucifix, I shall enter the Buddhist temple, where I shall take refuge in Buddha and in his law, I shall go into the forest and sit down in meditation with the Hindu, who is trying to see the light which enlightens the heart of everyone.
4. Faith.
Faith is the playing ground of impression developed through birth. ‘A man is as his faith is, nay man is but his faith’. What do you mean by faith? The belief in what I don’t know, so that I may come to know what I believe in is called faith. Faith is that towards which each of us irresistibly gravitates in all our actions, feelings and thoughts. Thus every one of us has a goal, a great destination. This is the faith in each of us. Without faith ‘might would be right’ as is happening in the world of today. If all of us on this earth had faith in God, there would be love among all of us, on this earth and we know that where there is love there is peace and God. There would be no enemity, no hatred, no war, and no bloodshed! Ha! How wonderful it would be. But today all these are present on mother earth, which reveals lack of faith. This is leading us to destruction. There is a great deal of variance in the life of men because of difference of faith. Faith is the man, have a firm faith in a noble ideal and thus act tirelessly to achieve it in a spirit of dedication and love unto him. To one who works thus in the world, success is sure. Eg. Einsten/Edison-Science, Gandhi-Non Violence.
With the birth of a man is born his faith and is the lifeblood of his living. It is a great Power. Often Christ said ‘As ye believe, so will it be’ A doubting mind is a diseased mind. Doubt is like a little germ, which gets loaded in the heart and infects the whole being. There is no happiness for the man of doubting. It throws the whole world into a state of turmoil. A man who thinks himself the most sinful of all sinners, fallen without hope, rises to his feet again when a wise and loving heart comes and rekindles in him the divine spark. Thus faith regenerates. Faith may not eliminate all our troubles. It may make it greater. We should always remember that, there is a place in every heart upon which we can absolutely depend. We must try to find that. No matter how degraded a person may be, there is still within him the divine spark. ‘There is so much good in the worst of us, and so much bad in the best of us, that it ill behoves any of us, to find fault with the rest of us.’ No matter how small or insignificant we may seem at times, we are always connected with the great whole. As we think, so we become. “Fools dwelling in ignorance, yet imaging themselves wise and learned, go round and round in crooked ways, like the blind leading the blind.”
Swami Vivekananda had said, ‘who will help you? You are the help of the universe, what in this universe can help you? Where is the man, or the God, or the demon to help you? What can prevail over you? You are the God of the Universe, where can you seek for help? Never help came from anywhere but from yourself. In your ignorance, every prayer that you made and that was answered, you thought was answered by some being, but you answered the prayer yourself unknowingly.
Faith is belief in inspiration, revelation or autority. The word sometimes refers to a belief that is held with lack of reason or evidence.
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