THE SON RISES AGAIN THIS EASTER

         The Sun rises in the East, every morning.

         This is a statement we all religiously believe in.

         And yet, from a scientific point of view, every part of the sentence is changeable – Sun is a name given by us, therefore, is not true, it does not rise, it is the Earth that turns around to face it, the concept of East is our own fixation and it is not every morning that we turn around to face it, but when we turn to face it, is called the morning.

         But, yet, the rising Sun is a splendour.  It reboots the energy in the living beings.  It is the Sustainer of life, with its message that there is dawn after the darkest hours.

         So also is the case with the rising of the Son of God.

         Where is the question of death for the Son of God, when there could not be a death of God itself?

         Then what happens to his statement that he and his Father are one?

         And did not the Son of Man himself say that ‘he shall be raised from the dead’, and not that, ‘he shall rise from the dead himself’?

         Did he not himself say that it was not for him to grant who should sit at his right or at his left, but for those for whom it had been prepared by his Father?

         He was also the very person who asked one not to be afraid of those who can kill the body but not the spirit.

         The spirit never dies.  Hence, there need not be any resurrection, for the spirit. 

         It is the earthly ones who think that there is a resurrection.  They are strongly rooted in their desires and beliefs that they do not understand his true statements. 

Bernard Shaw says in his preface to the play ‘Androcles and the lion’ :

“The first common mistake to get rid of is that mankind consists of a great mass of religious people and a few eccentric atheists. It consists of a huge mass of worldly people, and a small percentage of persons deeply interested in religion and concerned about their own souls and other peoples'; and this section consists mostly of those who are passionately affirming the established religion and those who are passionately attacking it, the genuine philosophers being very few. …The passionately religious are a people apart; and if they were not hopelessly outnumbered by the worldly, they would turn the world upside down, as St. Paul was reproached, quite justly, for wanting to do…... Unless a religious turn in ourselves has led us to seek the little Societies to which these rare birds belong, we pass our lives among people who, whatever creeds they may repeat, and in whatever temples they may avouch their respectability and wear their Sunday clothes, have robust consciences, and hunger and thirst, not for righteousness, but for rich feeding and comfort and social position and attractive mates and ease and pleasure and respect and consideration: in short, for love and money. To these people one morality is as good as another provided they are used to it and can put up with its restrictions without unhappiness; and in the maintenance of this morality they will fight and punish and coerce without scruple. They may not be the salt of the earth, these Philistines; but they are the substance of civilization; and they save society from ruin by criminals and conquerors... And as they know, very sensibly, that a little religion is good for children and serves morality, keeping the poor in good humor or in awe by promising rewards in heaven or threatening torments in hell, they encourage the religious people up to a certain point: for instance, if Savonarola only tells the ladies of Florence that they ought to tear off their jewels and finery and sacrifice them to God, they offer him a cardinal's hat, and praise him as a saint; but if he induces them to actually do it, they burn him as a public nuisance”.

The worldly wise that we are, mix up philosophy, spirituality and religion with our material demands and make a convenient cocktail.  It is therefore heady to discuss poverty during a grand gala dinner at five star hotels and feel sympathy for the downtrodden, sitting on silver thrones, without ever being capable of turning a single stone to change the plight.  For such of us, the resurrection of some distant spirit to save humanity comes in handy, to fulfill our dreams for a better world, without making our own hands murky by meddling with the lives of these desolate beings.

Thus, it is our earthliness that once in a while or once in a year yearns to turn to this ‘Easter’ for sustenance. 

  

The same holds true in matters of all other celebrations of births and victories, carried out under any other banner of religion or organization.

The truth being forgotten is that the ideal or spirit shines always, never abated, never crucified.

And for those who even today state with conviction that truth is in being wise and wisdom is in being circumspect, for them the dying on the cross and rising from the dead will be great Miracles. 

And let us hear Bernard Shaw himself on the Miracles as such (from the same source - http://www.gutenberg.org/files/4004/4004-h/4004-h.htm#link2H_4_0029 )

“If it could be proved today that not one of the miracles of Jesus actually occurred, that proof would not invalidate a single one of his didactic utterances; and conversely, if it could be proved that not only did the miracles actually occur, but that he had wrought a thousand other miracles a thousand times more wonderful, not a jot of weight would be added to his doctrine. And yet the intellectual energy of sceptics and divines has been wasted for generations in arguing about the miracles on the assumption that Christianity is at stake in the controversy as to whether the stories of Matthew are false or true. According to Matthew himself, Jesus must have known this only too well; for wherever he went he was assailed with a clamor for miracles, though his doctrine created bewilderment.”

        

         Which is the Son of Man that has to rise, we decide.

 

        

BUFFALO GURU

          Most of us are misunderstood - By ourselves, by others or both.

        To clear the confusion, we keep on bringing out dogmas and theories of proper behavior, ethics and morals.  Most of those who choose the dogmas thrive materially and also have a peaceful existence. They need not be bothered about the consequences of their actions because, it has been dictated by some dogma house and hence all responsibilities lie there.  The houses which hand out these dogmas or principles could be any religion or organization. It is structured for the needs of certain people.

        Those who step out of these structures or refuse to step into them, their roads are different.  They are alone responsible for their plights.

      There misunderstandings are bound to be more.  Because, they have chosen to be different and hence have dared the others.  For these fellows without fellow travelers, inner doubts are also bound to be more since they are not sure of the path to take.  What is to be done and not to be done, how, when, etc remain a perennial and eternal question in their minds.

        It was a sunny spring morning.  A Buffalo was grazing in a garbage pit near my house.  The one year old child in my arms, showed her hand towards the buffalo. As we neared it, it started running to another garbage pit, slightly away.  The child started giggling seeing the buffalo run.  To make her more happy, I also started running towards the buffalo.  Then the buffalo started running towards a third pit, which was at quite a distance.  I continued chasing it.  The child was very happy. Then all of a sudden, an unexpected thing happened.  The buffalo turned around fully and stood glaring at me with the head menacingly posed as if to charge.  My mind froze and a chill went down my spine. It was an open ground.  If the buffalo was to charge, we would have to run for our lives, and with the child in my arms, I did not know whether it would be a success.  Then without my own knowledge I smiled at the buffalo and said in my mother tongue, “No, No, it was only for fun”. (Later I realised that it was my being at work)  For a few seconds, the eyes of the buffalo held my gaze.  Then, with a nod, it gave a mild moo and turned off and walked away.  It did not run this time. Now, relieved, I looked at the face of the child in my arms, the one year old, her eyes had welled up with tears and she was visibly frightened and shaken.  The fear was writ all over her face.  This was the communication between three beings. No minds were involved.

        During the school days, when I came across the poets declaration, “He who wants to do good, knocks at the gate.  He who is good, finds the gate open”, to my mind, it appeared to be, contradictory and confusing.

        Later life shows the merit of that declaration.  It is not the action that constitute us, but what we are, determines the merit of our actions.

        At that point of ‘being’, then the misunderstandings vanish.  The veil of maya, is lifted. 

        For those of us who are ordinary but observant enough, glimpses like these happen. For those who are realized, it becomes a permanent state.

       

ON BEING FORTHRIGHT

        He was one of my favorite teachers. The Head Master used to come to our class once in a week and discuss common issues. Mostly they bordered upon literature and ethics. Since they were out of the book (and box) I eagerly awaited his classes.  Many of my class mates of course felt the ordeal a bore.

        Once he was describing his own life instance where he had been caught by his father for having taken food in an outside food stall because the food stall person had accosted his father with the coin he had given, saying that the coin was defective.  He had got a banging from his father, not for the wrong currency but for having breached a family norm, for in those days, in a brahminic family, taking food from outside stalls was prohibited.  He narrated the event and stated that it was one incident in his life which he could never forget. He then asked the students in the class to come out with instances which they felt were important in their lives.

        One girl stood up and said that she had been taken to Delhi to get the President’s award for Guides.  But due to some confusion there, it was not given there but they were all asked to go back to the schools and the certificates were sent by post.  She said she felt dejected. 

        The HM tried to soothe her feelings by saying that what mattered was not a photograph with the President or any dignitary because with modern technology any photos could be created, but what was important was the certificate itself.

        I do not know whether that girl was satisfied.

        But I felt that he was unnecessarily defending his establishment and I put a question to him:

        “Sir, if only the certificate is so important, why the photo copy of the certificate could not be hung in our library instead of the photo of our previous HM getting the award from the President?”.

        There was hushed silence in the class.

        After a few seconds, the HM told me, ‘You come to me after 7 or 8 years and tell me whether you have been as much forthright in life like this always”.

        Later in life, in the 33 years that have gone by after the incident, during moments of crisis where I had to debate within myself, whether to speak out what I felt as truth, or not, due to reasons that it was not always welcome, or more so when it appeared that it may not be understood, my HM’s words and face have come back to my mind.

        And every day I remember him with pranams.

THE SECRET ALLIANCE

Our organisation had achieved a memorable victory after a good struggle.

As per an example set out by five of the beneficiaries of the struggle, all other beneficiaries also made a monetary donation to the organisation which had spearheaded the struggle.

One of the beneficiaries, was a well known person and also very close to powers that be. He however had chosen not to follow the footsteps of others.  He did not volunteer any contribution to the organisation.

But one day, he came to my seat and took me aside and in a secretive manner handed over a box.  He said he wanted me to consume the sweets with my family.

Might be he was trying to show his personal gratitude.

But I only felt it as an insult - to an organisation by his neglecting its existence and choosing to show his affection only to one person, just because he headed the organisation.  Even the cost of the sweet would have been only a fraction of what others had given as contribution to the organisation.  That too was a point I felt was demeaning the organisation.  I also felt insulted that he chose to give me a separate treatment when I was only a part of the organisation and after all what did he think, that with this sort of exhibition, he was satisfying my personal ego?

Or was it that he did not want to identify with the organisation openly, but wanted to show his gratitude or affection secretively?  This again was a point of demeaning the organisation and those who stood by it.

The questions that arose in my mind that day have not got an answer till date. 

In a scene in the Tamil film 'Bharathi', the protagonist laments 'Patriotism has become a secret affair'. (தேசபக்தி கள்ளக்காதலா போயிடிச்சு ஓய் ).

The above event happened before the release of the above mentioned film.

Alienation or estrangement

This concept I hold as an essentially spiritual one.  

It explores and explains what happens when one is alienated or estranged - from labour, the proponent concentrated on, but in general also I like to expand its scope.

The pain would be understood from the plight of Shajahan - where his own offspring went against him.

That is the plight often in life.  It is our own effort which gets loaded against us by making our tormentors all the more powerful.

And yet we may not be able to stop contributing to our own subjugation and subordination. 

The answer to this was found in India by Gandhi.  It was non-cooperation.