Speaking Tree - Christmas Thought - A cue from the Bible
Christmas Thought: A Cue From The Bible
Every one of us is potentially divine. Radiance of the divinity within may be temporarily veiled by egoistic thought processes; but the jewel within the lotus of the heart cannot be hidden forever. At some point, whatever is obscuring it could disappear, revealing the truth. Such a one in whom the core of consciousness shines forth, exuding selfless love and bounteous beauty, is called a perfected being: a Christ, Buddha or Paramahamsa.
Selfless service to humanity, expecting nothing in return, is the beginning of this journey to perfection; an indication that the mind has evolved enough to sense that the divine spark in oneself is no different from than that in others.
This happens with the overcoming of the little self and the spontaneous, instantaneous understanding of the Supreme Universal ‘That’ which pervades everything – the omnipresent ‘Isha’ that is described in the Ishavasya Upanishad as ‘Ishavasyam Idam Sarvam’.
Along with the practice of meditation, retrospection, contemplation and other devotional activities aimed at stilling the mind and delving deep into the recesses of one’s consciousness, one could engage in such activities that could, to the best extent possible, allay suffering.
This two-pronged action is sure to dissolve the little ego – the cause of all misery – over a period of time until the Supreme Self in all of us shines forth. Then, what is ‘human’ gets transformed into God.
If we have meditated for 30 years, and seen all kinds of visions and yet there is not an iota of love and concern for those who are in misery, we have to re-examine and re-assess where we have gone wrong. If the heart does not melt at the cries of pain around one, all the years of so-called meditation have been futile. We have lived in a world of illusions and imagined ourselves to be saints.
A true saint’s heart melts with compassion at the sight of misery and he immediately sets about trying to alleviate suffering to the best of his capacity.
All that one requires to emulate realised ones, is love. When your heart is clean, you don’t hate anyone. Sometimes, to discipline oneself, one might have to be stern, but that too is done with love, not hate. When you don’t hate anyone, love grows. When we talk of Hindus and Muslims as being separate, i am reminded of what the Bible says: ‘Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God’. And, ‘Those who are pure in heart are God’. You, i, and all people on earth – if all of us purify our hearts and harbour no hatred for anyone – could all become God. And then, the world could become Heaven.
This thought has had some impact on my heart as well. Maybe there is a sense of gratitude, which is the precursor to feeling love for all mankind. As the Bible says, “For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty, and you gave me some thing to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes, you clothed me, I was in prison and you came to visit me “ (Mathew 25:35-36).
Selfless service to humanity, expecting nothing in return, is the beginning of this journey to perfection; an indication that the mind has evolved enough to sense that the divine spark in oneself is no different from than that in others.
This happens with the overcoming of the little self and the spontaneous, instantaneous understanding of the Supreme Universal ‘That’ which pervades everything – the omnipresent ‘Isha’ that is described in the Ishavasya Upanishad as ‘Ishavasyam Idam Sarvam’.
Along with the practice of meditation, retrospection, contemplation and other devotional activities aimed at stilling the mind and delving deep into the recesses of one’s consciousness, one could engage in such activities that could, to the best extent possible, allay suffering.
This two-pronged action is sure to dissolve the little ego – the cause of all misery – over a period of time until the Supreme Self in all of us shines forth. Then, what is ‘human’ gets transformed into God.
If we have meditated for 30 years, and seen all kinds of visions and yet there is not an iota of love and concern for those who are in misery, we have to re-examine and re-assess where we have gone wrong. If the heart does not melt at the cries of pain around one, all the years of so-called meditation have been futile. We have lived in a world of illusions and imagined ourselves to be saints.
A true saint’s heart melts with compassion at the sight of misery and he immediately sets about trying to alleviate suffering to the best of his capacity.
All that one requires to emulate realised ones, is love. When your heart is clean, you don’t hate anyone. Sometimes, to discipline oneself, one might have to be stern, but that too is done with love, not hate. When you don’t hate anyone, love grows. When we talk of Hindus and Muslims as being separate, i am reminded of what the Bible says: ‘Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God’. And, ‘Those who are pure in heart are God’. You, i, and all people on earth – if all of us purify our hearts and harbour no hatred for anyone – could all become God. And then, the world could become Heaven.
This thought has had some impact on my heart as well. Maybe there is a sense of gratitude, which is the precursor to feeling love for all mankind. As the Bible says, “For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty, and you gave me some thing to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes, you clothed me, I was in prison and you came to visit me “ (Mathew 25:35-36).
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