Nam Sankirtan

In August 2004, I had gone to Kerala to visit my spiritual master Swami Bhoomananda Tirtha whose ashram is located at Trichur. It has beautiful surroundings and the entire area is lush green. The visit was planned soon after the Guru Poornima celebrations got over but one activity of ‘Daan-Satra’ still remained. This is a very sublime tradition in which the poor families of the nearby villages are provided some help in the form of cash, rice and clothes. Poor people of the area look forward to this occasion with a lot of fondness. For them, it is more of a blessing than help. Swamiji also ensures that this distribution ceremony is conducted with perfection and humility. 

During my forementioned visit, Swamiji took me along with him for one such distribution function. Firstly, the drive through the Kerala villages was in itself a great joy. Soon, we reached the village where the function was arranged. People had already gathered there waiting eagerly for Swamiji’s arrival. Many of them were very poor but all were looking happy. In the whole gathering, there was hardly anyone who could communicate in a language other than Malayalam. Therefore, the only person I could communicate with was Swamiji. Still, I could read the body language of others and my inference was that the proceedings were very sublime, making everyone happy. 

As soon as the distribution part was over, it was time for chanting, Swamiji himself initiated the process by chanting ‘Hare Krishna Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna Hare Hare’. And to my surprise, everyone in the gathering joined in the chorus with correct pronunciation. This was something new to me and gave me a lot of pleasure. Earlier, I had noticed a similar thing in Andhra Pradesh as well as in Tamil Nadu, where I had been on election duties. This set me thinking about the efforts which must have gone into propagating the names of our Gods throughout the length and breadth of the country. This happened thousands of years back, when there were hardly any means of communication and travel. Today, despite all these means and a lot of investment, such campaigns are only short-lived and people soon forget all that is conveyed through such campaigns. On the contrary, what our great saints and seers spread in temples and pilgrimages, still remains in our memory. Surely, their message is directed to the heart rather than to the head. This is the difference between the spiritual and the secular.

Rakesh Mittal I A S

Peace At Last

Muslims did not accept their presence and severed all contacts with them for fifty days. Then came the revelation to Mohammed indicating the acceptance of their repentance. The hypocrites had hidden agenda and Mohammed realized failure to take strong action against them will result in undermining the morale of the true believers. The agenda of the hypocrites was to create division among the Muslims and weaken their strength. They built a mosque at Duanan and they frequently assembled there and discussed ways and means how to weaken the morale of true believers. They invited Mohammed to inaugurate this mosque by offering prayers there. It was before the battle of Tabuk. 

Mohammed asked them to wait until he returned from Tabuk. Mohammed was fully convinced about their conspiracy and hidden agenda. Therefore, he commanded to demolish this mosque. It was a lesson to all hypocrites. They became frightened, except their leader Abdulla Ibn Ubay. There was none to give them shelter or refuge. Abdulla Ibn Ubay died two months after the battle of Tabuk. Ever since Muslims came to Medina, Abdulla Ibn Ubay was entertaining great hatred towards them. However, Mohammed took special care to see that no disrespect to his dead body was shown by Muslims. He offered prayer for him and spent at the burial ground till the body was buried. With the death of Abdulla Ibn Ubay the nuisance created by the hypocrites came to an end. The rest of them returned to be good Muslims and the Arabian Peninsula became free from all external attacks. Many new delegations came from different parts and embraced Islam. 

Justice P K Shamsuddin

Market Spirituality

Market or consumer spirituality is like anything else is a commodity of the market economy and consumer society. Coming out of the civil rights and protests movements of the 60’s and the 70’s, and the new generations of the 80’s and the 90’s, quite a few genuine seekers in the USA got disillusioned by the wants and pockets of poverty in the midst of plenty, and their own emptiness in the midst of so-called plenitude, consumerist values, waste, and traditional religions devoid of true spirituality and freedom. They saw Christ’s teachings got domesticated and rendered innocuous by the unbridled capitalism and consumerism. They also saw a televangelism tailored to suit capitalism. Some of the prominent televangelists turned out to be hypocrites who fell from the star-studded skies while building their own cozy paradises and empires. It is also important to note that some jet-set evangelists are exporting their own brands of Christianity and capitalistic culture to the rest of the world. The US economy with its voracious appetite, dominating the world, also swallows up everything in its path.

Some of the disillusioned seekers from the US, turned off by their religions and an economy dominated by multi-national corporations, and, above all, a political system highly influenced by powerful lobbies of special interest groups, looked toward East and came especially to India searching for their answers to life’s purpose. Somehow they ended up in ashrams of spiritual gurus and god-men/women. Thus the remedy soon became malady.  At this point the most charitable thing that may be said is that they get in India some placebo, sufficiently soothing, that they are not getting back in their own homeland. Many of these gurus and godmen/women come in the way of genuine seekers (sadhaks) in that they conveniently make themselves to be the destination instead of taking the seekers beyond them to the ultimate destination. Some of these seekers get their own egos massaged as they end up also as handlers and packagers of these godmen/women for the consumer society back at home.  Another reality that needs to be kept in mind is that initially the searchers coming to India are surprised at the number of people from India who are eager to come to the US looking for the good life. Well, the Indians are not any different from the rest of the world in looking for greener pastures for their physical well-being.

The run-away capitalism that makes objects of subjects (humans) is as bad as authoritarian communism. Both manipulate humans through a convenient ethic of opportunism to achieve their materialistic ends. While the authoritarian communism is oppressive, the unbridled capitalism gives an illusion of freedom. Both use force and fear, power and control in varying degrees. We still need to develop a model between these two extreme systems, that will tame our “predatory self-interest” as Reinhold Niebuhr, a social theologian calls it, and harness our authentic social energy within us for the common good of all humanity. It is of paramount importance that our spirituality does not become a prey to market economy. And that we develop a universal spirituality that embraces the entire humankind. This spirituality incorporates the best from the world’s best spiritual masters as our spiritual heritage. In this spirituality, that goes beyond all religions, and that respects individual beliefs, one can find one’s bliss.

Swami (Dr) Snehanand Jyoti

Gospel for the Unfortunate

I have a close friend in Odisha, Dr Yadam Ramkumar, who is in his thirties. He frankly says that he hails from a lower class poor family. Anyway, today he is an acclaimed writer, publisher, professor and an internationally noted figure in individuality development classes. He could easily tunnel through all obstructions, just using his own will and self determination. On Aug 4 this year, I had been at the 1st year anniversary celebrations of webandcrafts.com at Infopark Thrissur (Kerala). With an investment of just five machines and three dedicated smart friends, team webandcrafts, under a 21 year old CEO, could make the company one of the best growing IT companies in Kerala. I was surprised to hear Shri Rishikesh Nair (CEO –Infopark) who presided over the occasion announce their free hosting service worth 1 million Indian Rupees to all social service organizations in India. I have in my keep many more thundering stories of soaring success. All these live stories, when streamed at a stretch, make anyone realize that it is the most obstructed, who has the best chances to play with success. A survey shows that more than 60% of America’s richest hail from ordinary backgrounds. Bill Gates and Steve Jobs are best examples. 

When ‘Share and Learn’ contributors write on positive thinking and practical techniques to master life, there could be readers who take it as advises from the most fortunate, who haven’t anything to worry in life. Our contributors in Indian Thoughts, I can assure you, talk from their deepest experiences in life. Smart Plus, written by Shri Rakesh Mittal IAS, is the most read according to the feedback we receive. His observations on life situations are touching. How many of you know that he is a living example of patient suffering? Two smart boys were born to him. At the age of eighteen, his eldest son began frequent medical checkups; the whole family had to accept with regret the medical report which said that he is prone to a terminal disease, according to which he is likely to live only up to 35 years. They were right; he passed away in this May 2013. Now his other son also is suffering from the same disease. The whole family spends there time nursing him with love. But Shri Mittal is not lost. A year before his eldest son sought a medical report, he had initiated ‘The Kabir Peace Mission’. He personally told me that all these shocks could not shake him at all. He still lives in his self-created world of honesty and social commitment. If I quote his words, ‘the fire experiences of gold do not degrade it’. I am happy to see that suffering and pain are two distinct posts in his life. He shows us how one can stand straight even at the worst falls in life. I feel that it is an art which everyone needs to master, because it is what makes every winner different.  

Joseph Mattappally

Virtue

A thankful heart is the parent of all virtues.

Our life is too short, but to expand that span to vast eternity is virtue’s work. Vice stings us even in our pleasures, but virtue consoles us even in our pains. Remember that when you’re in the right you can afford to keep your temper and that when you’re in the wrong you can’t afford to lose it. Humility is to the virtues what the chain is to the rosary, remove the chain, and all the beads escape: take away humility, and all the virtues disappear. This journey through life can be pleasant and rewarding experience if we have the right attitude…

A good attitude is like cork-it can hold you up. A poor attitude is like lead-it can sink you. The virtue of a man ought to be measured not by his extraordinary exertions, but by his every-day conduct. Every virtue gives a man a degree of facility in some kind; honesty gives a man a good report; justice, estimation; prudence, respect; courtesy and liberty, affection; temperance gives health; fortitude, a quiet mind, not to  be moved by any adversity. The shortest and surest way to live with honour in the world, is to be in reality what we would appear to be; and if we observe, we shall find that all human virtues increase and strengthen themselves by the practice and experience of them. As St. Francis de Sales tells us, virtue means simply a Special Effort. Being virtuous does not, then, means keeping your eyes raised to the rainbow while you walk towards where it ends, and hoping to find a spiritual crock of gold as eternal reward. 

                                   Heaven is not reached at a single bound;

                                   But we build the ladder by which we rise

                                   From the lowly earth to the vaulted skies,

                                   And we mount to its summit round by round.

When Agesilaus the Great was asked: “How is it that Sparta is not surrounded by walls?” He replied: “What makes a city strong is not timber and stone, but its citizen’s virtues.”

Sr(Dr) Lilly Thokkanattu SJL

Know thy self, Never imitate - 2

How is it that most educational institutions in the world teach us to be imitators and they never ask us to be ourself? There are good reasons for it. The most important reason is that if everyone becomes himself, he will be a free individual, a rebel- not a conformist, a camp follower. He will be a danger to the institutions of parents, teachers, priests, managers of society and to society itself. Every society is afraid of non- conformists and rebels. It honours the and yes- sayers. That is why everybody, from the presidents to parents pressures the children in one voice, to be followers, imitators. Otherwise they can’t be certain who will turn into what. If everyone is allowed to be himself/herself, it is very difficult to say what is right and what is wrong, what is virtue and what is sin. Therefore the society wants us to fit into its well defined patterns and clear cut moulds. It doesn’t care by this effort our individuality is destroyed, our life is ruined, and our soul is impoverished. Its’ sole concern is to turn men into machines so that the status quo is maintained at any cost. 

It seems man lives for society; society does not exist for man. The individual has no importance. We are just the cog in the machine. It seems education is not meant for us, on the contrary, we are meant for education, for being educated the way the society wants us to be educated. It seems tenets and doctrines are not made to serve man, on the contrary, man is born in service of tenets and doctrines. It seems religion is not for man, but man is for religion. It is ironic that man is not an end unto himself, he is just a means. And things that are meant to be means have become ends unto themselves. This is the danger and curse of imitation that man has been reduced into a thing, a non- entity. Imitation is destructive, it kills the individual. And this danger is not circumstantial, it is inner, the spiritual. It is a kind of slow poisoning of the soul. Whether we imitate Krishna, Jesus or Buddha, it makes no difference- all imitations are suicidal. There is no mould, no pattern, no type into which we, humans can be fitted. Every person is a unique and different individual, and we are meant to be our self. This is our freedom and our birth right. It is our destiny. 

So when we discuss about Krishna, let us not think even mistakenly that we have to be like Krishna. Every suffering that comes to humanity from external sources is secondary. It is the suffering that comes from imitation and following brings in its wake is real and colossal. We cannot become like Krishna and Jesus without becoming dead. And it is only dead people who are afraid of everything. A man who is fully alive is himself, and he does not imitate. And an alive man, areal individual is not afraid of society. On the contrary, the society is afraid of him. And that is why the society condemns him. It is amusing that every society slanders and condemns the free individual, who is the only free individual, who is the only alive person- but this not the whole story. The free individual is condemned in the beginning and worshiped and adored in the end. And a really alive person is not afraid of condemnation, ostracism, even crusification. Krishna, Jesus and Buddha are few rare beings in the man’s history who chose to be themselves. They were not concerned about what we say about them. Discussion will continue ... 

Dr Dwarakanath, Mitran Foundation

The stress management people

Catholic or Protestant

Once, I was on an official visit to Mumbai and was staying in my departmental guest house located in the Pali Hill area. In the same building, my regional officer also used to stay with his family. Even during tours, I am in the habit of going for morning walk. This is not only refreshing but also gives a lot of insight into the local area. On that visit, my regional manager advised me to go to a nearby park for morning walk and he accompanied me to that place. I found the place very well maintained and enjoyed walking there. There was a nominal admission fee, which was being used for its maintenance by a citizen’s society. As we came out of the park after a refreshing walk, I saw a church adjacent to it. Since I like to visit worship places of different religions, I suggested my colleague to go inside the church to offer our prayers. He himself being a religious person agreed to my suggestion and we both went inside the church. At that time, the morning prayers were about to conclude and so we also took our seats at the back. After the prayers, all those present there were proceeding towards the statue of Christ for seeking His blessings. We also stood in the queue to seek His blessings from near. As we were moving towards the statue of Christ, we were stopped at a point and were asked whether we were Catholics or Protestants. I never see a religion from this viewpoint and so apart from being ignorant I am also opposed to this kind of man-made distinction. So my response was that we were neither of them but were only human beings. 

The person who made the enquiry from us was perhaps not used to this kind of an answer. His prompt response was that in that case we were not allowed to go further. Respecting the tradition of the church, we didn’t mind and came out of the church after offering our prayers from a distance only. Thus, the matter ended there itself. However, his enquiry and response to my answer still keep coming to my mind. Which religion can be superior to a good human being but perhaps all religions have drawn their boundaries may be in varying degrees. I am not sure whether this is in the larger interest or not, but if we go by the definition of spirituality, it is the infinite expansion of mind. Viewed from this perspective, such boundaries are certainly not in the larger interest of the people. In the era is which we are living today, there is a need for rethinking on such restrictions, irrespective of the religion. I must also add that the above experience has in no way affected my reverence towards any religion.

Rakesh Mittal I A S

Over to Dhuma

 However, if Byssantians made an attack through the Border States there was the possibility of the rulers helping them. Therefore Mohammed sent Khalid Bin Walid along with five hundred horsemen to Dhuma and Mohammed returned to Medina with the rest of the army. The ruler of Dhuma had gone with his brother for hunting. Taking note of this opportunity, Khalid attacked Dhuma. There was no serious resistance. He captured the ruler Ukaid, imprisoned him and asked him to open the gates of the city. In the meanwhile, Mohammed sent a message to Yohannan Bin Ria who was an important ruler of Aila, a border native state, asking him to surrender or face the war. On receipt of the message Yohannan came to Mohammed and proclaimed his loyalty to Mohammed and entered into a treaty with him. Similarly the natives of Jabral and Udurib also made valuable presence and entered into treaties with Mohammed. 

As directed by Khalid Bin Walid, the city gates of Dhuma was opened. He took out into custody 100 captives, 800 camels and 400 bags of wheat and went to Medina along with the captive Ubaydir. He embraced Islam in the presence of Mohammed. The treaties entered with the ruler of Aila and the nearby states ensured the protection of the borders of the Arabia peninsula from the attack of Byssantians. However, the army did not properly understand the importance and the significance of these treaties they entered. They felt, after crossing the desert, undergoing many hurdles and making sacrifices that they did not make any gain. As the result of the peace treaties, they could not collect any booties or material gains from the people who surrendered and proclaimed loyalty. Therefore, some of them evaluated this venture as a misadventure. This information reached Mohammed. Mohammed handled the situation and took the army into Medina. Then Khalid Bin Walid reached Mecca along with the cattles, corns and Ukaidir. Ukkaidir had worn coats woven wit golden thread and the people of Medina was wonderstruck at the site of Ukkaidir with this sort of pomp and glamour. 

Those who failed to join the army were feeling tension and as those who criticized the venture were conscious of the mistake they made. They approached Mohammed and tried to explain the reason for their conduct, which was not really genuine. Three of them confessed their mistakes and proved their loyalty. They were Kabba Ibn Malik, Munavar Ibin Rabbik and Halak Ibn Ubbayya. 

Justice P K Shamsuddin

Attitude Toward Food

Over-heard from the backyards of neighbors of my Siddhashram (Center for Realization) in USA was a spirited conversation between a fat dog and a lean dog. Fat dog: I am going to come and get you for calling me fat and ugly. Lean dog: You will not be able to catch up with me as your large belly is almost touching the ground.

Well, this sums up what is happening in affluent countries like the USA. And developing countries like India are steadily becoming more obese. According to a recent study, approximately 1 in 5 Americans died from illnesses related to obesity. Men and women have virtually identical obesity rates in the USA, 35.8% and 35.5% respectively. In India according to the National Family Health Survey of 2007, 12.1% of males and 16% of females are overweight or obese. Five percent of the population in India is morbidly obese. That is an interesting statistic for a poor country. It is noteworthy that relatively poor states like Louisiana, Arkansas, and Mississippi in the USA have the highest obesity rates. In olden days a big, extended, bloated stomach (kudavayar) in Kerala as elsewhere was a sign of prosperity and wealth as only rich people could afford to have plenty of food or over-eat. Interestingly, after Punjab, Kerala has the highest rate of obesity in India. What boggles my mind is the co-existence of highest literacy in Kerala with the highest rate of crime, alcohol consumption, and obesity. What does that say about education? Certainly, enlightenment is not an outcome of the type of education in Kerala. On the contrary, sadly, Kerala education as much of education in the rest of the world achieves the very opposite of enlightenment. I may also note that being lean now is the sign of poise and prosperity as it denotes some kind of self-mastery and self-control.

In my childhood I remember some low-caste persons would collect food that was left over from the banana leaves after a big celebration or wedding party or yearly commemoration of an ancestor (sradha). Not long ago in the feudal days of kings and big land-lords, persons’ wages were their food for the day. It is reported that the world’s great wonder, Taj Mahal, was built by twenty thousand workers who worked for twenty years only for their food as their wages. It was not any different for blacks during the days of slavery in the USA. They were like machines owned by their masters, and produced for their masters. Many obese persons use food to calm themselves or to generate good feelings or to deal with their anxiety and low self-esteem. Two nasty mental disorders (Anorexia Nervosa and Bulimia), especially in the US, are associated with eating habits and distorted body images. Currently persons in the US on an average are 20 pounds (about 9 kilograms) heavier than they used to be 10 years ago. The conversation one frequently hears in the US relates to weight and one’s eternal struggle to reduce one’s weight.

Lest the reader thinks that I am rambling, meandering, and digressing into my pet peeves of un-godly capitalism and consumerism, I need to make a few comments on food and nutritious eating. Food is the first line of medicine. Since we have ignored or neglected this dictum or mantram, medicine has taken over every aspect of our physical and mental health with its concoctions and formulas, and ever-new drugs and procedures. Some of the progress in medicine is good; a great deal of progress in medicine is mindless, market-driven, and does not improve the quality of life, and leaves us in penury.  The current status of medical practice does not deal with our body holistically as one unit but as many parts to be surgically cut and pasted, trimmed and tucked, reduced or augmented, or properly pigmented by ever-increasing specialists.  So we need to make a decision that we are going to eat not on the basis of taste but on the basis of nutrition, and what is good for our body. Once we have learned to enjoy good health free of diseases, every nutritious food we eat will have the necessary taste. Then we will not be eating for our anxiety but for necessary health driven by life’s purpose determined by our mind and spirit. Then we will have a healthy lifestyle free of stress, restlessness, spiritual emptiness, and tension headaches. We will not need to staple our stomachs or undergo gastric bye-pass surgeries to diminish our stomach capacity. Instead we will develop good, old-time self-control to stop impulsive and compulsive eating habits. Self-control, unfortunately, is not a politically correct word for an amoral, self-indulgent consumer society, where anything goes. We will not eat what we want; we will eat what we need. I have experimented with it. And it works. To sum it all, we eat what we need for our bodily needs not based on taste. And that itself will be our enjoyment, pleasure, and great taste. Our eyes do not need to be bigger than our stomachs in that we fill our plates with more food that we can eat. It is a sin to waste food in a starving world. So we carefully choose what we need to eat, and eat what we have chosen. Choose to eat less than more, and enjoy the bliss you may have never known!

Swami (Dr) Snehanada Jyoti

Masters of Uncertainty

Quite recently, I was through some well-known success stories across the world, verifying what kind of people could easily make it. On the way I came across a New York Times survey report on the millionaires of the land. Their study on them regrets to say that these people cannot be millionaires, because they don't look like millionaires, they don't dress like millionaires, they don't eat like millionaires and above all they also don't act like millionaires. If being a millionaire means living the experience of an ordinary gentleman but with loads of tension and stress, who would choose to be a millionaire? That was the first question which crossed my mind. Suddenly, as if provoked by an inner flash, I turned to myself and asked, ‘Is it not true with everything we generally choose?’ We become this and that but do not at all look like what we have achieved. I know bright youngsters who say that the career they chose was not exactly what they envisioned. Are we living in a culture of instability and uncertainty? My answer is, ‘Yes’. I also am sure that this is what develops into stress, the most painful killer disease of the times.

Everybody begin with Himalayan expectations and Herculean preparations and we find them being caught up in confusion regarding ‘what next’. The moment these enthusiasts touch the clouds they are taken back into a culture of instability. Being aware of this danger and learning the art of managing situations should necessarily be included in personality development curriculum. However, I do not like to generalize my assumption into a theory, because I know at least one Indian guy, who still continues to be successful beyond confusions. I am talking about Shri Anand Kumar from Patna, Bihar (India). He has exceptional mathematical skills; many of his papers appeared in Mathematical Spectrum and The Mathematical Gazette. His ambition was to continue in Cambridge. He got an admission but did not join there, because his father could not afford to raise the necessary money. All their efforts to find a sponsor also failed. He had to give up his Cambridge dream for ever and live selling papads in the streets. 

However, Anand was not in confusion of any sort. He also tutored students in maths and earned extra money. As a year passed by, it was not his papad sale that grew but the number of students that came to him. It continued growing fast and when three years were completed there were almost 500 students enrolled. It was in 2003 that Kumar started the Super 30 program, for which he is now well-known. He now takes thirty intelligent students every year from economically backward sections which included even beggars and hawkers.  He provides them study materials and lodging for a year. His Ramanujam Institute does it all. Anand Kumar is not financed by any external agencies. What he could contribute turned out to be quite surprising. Out of the 270 students he tutored from 2002-2011, 236 students secured an admission to IIT. In 2010, all the students of Super 30 cleared IIT JEE entrance, making it a three in a row for the institution. Hearing about him through Time Magazine, even US President Obama is said to have come forward offering a pretty good support. It was not what Anand was looking for; he was not at all confused. 

I admire his stability, consistency, integrity, and self-respect. He lives in the present, unscarred by the fancies of chances. He shows us how exploiting chances and utilizing opportunities are different. He seems to have realized the purpose he is made for. That is what makes him very special on earth. 

Joseph Mattappally

Humility

Humility is the mother of many virtues because from it obedience, fear, patience, meekness and modesty are born. He who is humble easily obeys everyone, fears to offend anyone, is at peace with everyone, is kind with all, he lives happy, contented and in great peace. Humility does not consist in hiding our talents and virtues, but in possessing a clear knowledge of all that is lacking in us and acknowledging all the gifts God has given us freely. There are two types of humility: the humility of the intellect and the humility of the heart. Humility of the intellect consists in thinking lowly of ourselves; and humility of the heart consists in desiring to be despised by others, and in taking pleasure in contempt.

One of the best ways to acquire humility is to fix the following maxim in our mind: One is worth what he is worth in the eyes of God. There is no penance more effective than patience, no happiness equal than joyfulness, no disease more killing than lust, no virtue richer than humility. In humility and confidence, we have to go forward without pause. Humility is our left foot, confidence is our right. Let us use both of them to walk properly. Basic humility is the attitude of one who stands constantly under the judgment of God. It is the attitude of one who is like the soil. The fertile soil is there, unnoticed, taken for granted, always there to be trodden upon. It is silent, dark, inconspicuous and yet it is ready to revive any seed, ready to give it substance and life.

Novelist Somerset Maugham carried with him an old and cracked cup aboard a small cargo ship during his escape from war-torn France in 1940. The ship was crowded, the weather hot and water was rationed. For years afterward he would point to the old cup and tell his friends. “That was what held my daily allowance of water.” “Whenever I feel myself getting a bit stuffy,” he would add, “and inclined to take the comfortable places I stay in and the good food I eat for granted, I fill my cup at the tap and drink it—slowly, brings me back to earth again in quite hurry.”

The clothing of humility never goes out of style.

Sr (dr) Lilly Thokkanattu SJL

Know thy self! Never imitate!

I have been discussing on Krishna’s life and philosophy not so that we will make him our ideal and imitate him. If we can understand Krishna’s life, it will help us understand our own life in its right perspective. If we fully unfold and understand Krishna’s life, which is vast and multidimensional, it will enable us to unfold our own life and know it. But we will never understand Krishna if we think in terms of imitating him. If we imitate someone or other, we will never understand because of that. And we will never understand our own life. In fact the reason we want to imitate someone is that we do not want to take the trouble of understanding ourselves. It is a way to escape the arduous task of understanding ourselves. Understanding begins when someone ceases to imitate others and start knowing who we are and what we can be. The life of one like Krishna, who has achieved his full enfoldment helps to understand our own life. To become like others even Krishna’s carbon copy is neither possible nor desirable. Everyone is different and will remain different. 

Krishna never imitates anyone. Buddha does not follow others. It is ironic that we few try to imitate the people who never imitated others. People like Krishna, Buddha and Christ are the exquisite flowerings of individuality. The basic fear of imitation is quite different. Imitation in itself is ugly, unnatural and wrong. Never a person like me or you have happened in the long past of mankind, and never a person like me or you is going to happen again in future. God is a creator, he is creativity itself. He is always original and he never makes a carbon copy. And therefore, if we ever deny our individuality and try to follow and be like someone else, we are violating the fundamental law of life. Imitation is a crime against God. He made me and you an individual, he gave us individuality and we are sometimes trying to impose other’s personality. This is the basic fear ad fundamental problem of our life. 

Up to now most religious teachers and priests of the world have taught imitation. Parents and teachers all over the world exhort young men and women from their early childhood to be like others. They never ask them to be themselves. They insist to all of us, “Be like Krishna, Christ or Buddha, but never commit the mistake of being like you, yourself.” Why? How is it that all educational institutions in the world teach us to be imitators and never ask us to be ourselves?  There are good reasons for it. And we shall discuss it in future weeks....

Dr Dwarakanath, 

Mitran Foundation, the stress Management People.

Sauce and Rice

I visited South Korea for the first time in the year 1995. Before that, I had been to Japan twice in 1988 and 1989. At that time, Japan was considered to be the most developed nation of the east and South Korea was only trying to come up. It was no match to Japan and there appeared to be no chance also of it becoming so. But that was exactly what had happened by the year 1995 and the possibility of South Korea leaving behind Japan was also not being ruled out. Against this background, the visit to South Korea had been very enlightening as well as inspiring. One of the memorable examples is the visit to the POSCO steel plant, where our delegation was received very warmly. The environment of the plant was so good that we felt like we were going around in a park. 

During the course of this visit, the Indian ambassador in South Korea had hosted a dinner for us. While we were talking about the many good things of the country, the ambassador told us that the whole development of South Korea was a matter of only thirty years. Before that, it was a poor country and the people there could barely manage to afford the staple food. The prevalent saying there was that the people at that time had only one variation in their menu, and it was sauce (chatni) and rice (chawal) at lunch time and rice and sauce at dinner time. This was all they knew about food. From that stage, South Korea had achieved the status of one of the most developed nations within a span of three decades. 

This narration by the ambassador was not only interesting but inspiring as well. He also mentioned that the main reason behind this progress was the committed leadership in the country. It was not only the vision of the leader but competence coupled with the discipline of the people on account of faith as well as fear. This was another message for us. Thereafter, I had the chance of visiting few more countries in the east. The secret of success everywhere was the same. The people have to become a part of the development process and it happens only when there is competent, committed and firm leadership. India is now a nation of more than one billion but there is a dearth of leadership which meets the above criteria. Still, it will be wrong to say that we stand no chance. After all, our country has produced a leader like Mahatma Gandhi, whose philosophy is now being considered relevant all across the globe. The fact that we have not tried to understand him correctly, what to say of following him, is perhaps the main reason behind the delay of our progress. But delays are not denials. Our country is fortunate to have much better resources and certainly our people’s staple food is dal (lentil) and chawal (rice), better than the Koreans at the beginning of their development. Let us learn from the experiences of such countries. 

Rakesh Mittal I A S

War Again

The origin and growth of Islam; the story continues....

At Mecca all sorts of oppositions were suppressed; it was then that Mohammed heard that the Byssantians are marching towards them.  Lot of preparations were required for the Muslims to face a big force like that of Byssantians. He asked the tribes to organize a big army. There was a pretty good response to the call of Mohammed. They all came forward ready to march through the desert leaving behind their home and possessions. However, there were some people who refused to participate in the war. They were hypocrites who had embraced Islam for personal gains. Mohammed asked one of them whether he had any objection to be part of the army. He replied, “O, prophet of God, please give me exemption; please don’t put me into trouble. It is a fact that there is nobody who may match me. But when I see Byssantian women, I am afraid that I may lose may patience.” In the meanwhile some people assembled secretly.  No one knew about this. The purpose was to create confusion and put fear in the minds of the people about war. 

Mohammed formed a group under the leadership of Thahell Abdulla. Some people came forward with support and Haffar contributed one thousand Dinars. The rich people followed him and contributed accordingly. The poor people also cooperated according to their ability. Some among them were not able to raise funds for travel expenses. Mohammed told them that he has not sufficient resources to take them along with. They got frustrated and started weeping. Because of tears in their eyes they were called Dukaven. There were eight thousand soldiers in the army. Mohammed made arrangements for carrying on the administration in Medina, in his absence. Mohammed recruited Mohammed Bin Masalma to look after the affairs of the state. He also entrusted Ali to look after his domestic affairs. In Mohammed’s absence Abu Bekker led prayer till the prophet started from Medina and took over the command of the army. Abdulla Ibn Ubayy had joined the army along with his tribe. Mohammed thought that it would be better that he and his army remained in Medina because Mohammed had doubt about his integrity. Mohammed commanded the army to march towards Sham. Ten thousand horsemen followed the army. Abu Khaisema who witnessed  return home. His wives were waiting for him with eatables. He reamarked, “Should I seek pleased with   behind while prophet of God was in desert suffering from scorching sun and terrible heat. Please help me to join the army. Thus Abu Khaisema joined the army. The army advanced towards Hijr. There were remnants of ancient Byssantian buildings, constructed by the tribe of Hamud. A carving out from the rock, Mohammed ordered the army to rest there. He advised them not to go out in the night without the company of other persons. It was a place swept by strong winds of sand. In the morning they found that the well was filled with sand. There was not even a drop of water to drink. They were very much worried not knowing where they would get water, to quench their thirst. They had to travel still long distance. Suddenly the atmosphere became cloudy and the rains started. They drank the rain water and also collected it.

The army marched forward to Thabuk. The Byssantians by that time came to know about the march of the Muslim army and its strength. The army of Byssantians which was moving towards Thabuk was forced to retreat. They thought that it would be better for them to take refuge in the fort where Mohammed and his army came. They found that the Byssantian army has already withdrawn. A tribe residing at the border had already made peace treaty with Mohammed and therefore there was no reason to apprehend an attack against the Byssantians anymore. 

Justice P K Shamsuddin

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Many Faces of Humanity

Life is a flow. While some are engaged to life in the flow of the Great Stream of life, others are mere spectators of life passing by like bumps on drift wood deposited on the shore of the Stream by the current.  I put myself in the flow of traveling from one side of the globe to the other a few days ago. Traveling was enjoyable once. Not anymore. Now it is for the strong and the stout-hearted. Getting from point A to point B is a drudgery to be endured with patience, determination, and resignation, thanks to Global Terrorism. It is, of course, different for the young and the new. They will never know the pleasure of old time traveling before various networks of terrorism took over the air-ways. I still vividly remember the time in 1982 when my plane from Mumbai had arrived at New York late, and I ran from the International terminal to the Domestic terminal to catch a flight to St. Louis, and walked right into the plane without any cumbersome security check and a boarding pass, and that too one minute before the door to the plane shut. The other day (August 6, 2013), I travelled from Munnar area to Kochi International Airport against all odds in sheer faith. Tragedy in the form of huge avalanches of muds and boulders destroying homes and buildings struck my hometown of Kunchithanni causing deaths and sheer devastation on the night of August 5. The avalanches shut down the entire town. Roads piled-up high with mud-slides, trees, and other debris were blocked for traffic. Many stretches of the mountain road to the airport were closed due to avalanches. While clearing avalanches at the Cheeyappara Waterfalls, rescue workers were killed by further rock falls; several tourist vehicles were also washed away. To cap it all, the international airport at Kochi was closed due to flooding of runways. I drove for 4 hours my 4-wheel drive jeep along tough mountain terrain that included a long diversion on a very narrow bumpy road with ruts in a forest inhabited by wild animals to arrive at the air-port about nine hours before my plane was scheduled to depart.

It is the hours during the natural catastrophe just before and during the long tiresome journey from Kunchithanni (Munnar) to Kochi and to Dallas via Abu Dhabi and Washington, D.C. that the many faces of humanity across the globe dawned on me. I saw everyone in a somber mood around Kunchithanni on the day of the tragedy.  Yet I witnessed sobbing and weeping, laughter and mirth in spots. The vastness of unimaginable and unstoppable destruction due to avalanches awed all, and covered their faces with fear, insecurity, and uncertainty. Some of the calamities could have been prevented if the culverts in Kunchithanni were not blocked, and if the drainage systems were not clogged, and if the safety codes for buildings were observed. Again and again I have observed that many persons, intelligent though they are, still have to learn the very costly lesson that prevention is better than cure. My journey to the US caused some inconveniences. It could have been postponed. My inconveniences were nothing compared to the loss of lives and life-time earnings. The tired, weary, and sad faces, in the world’s airports, coming from burying a loved one, visiting relatives and leaving them behind were there. So were the joyous faces of those returning from vacations and reunions.  The excited faces arising from the desire and hope of starting a new and prosperous life in a new world of opportunities were also part of the blend. The faces of children were the mirror of the world where no joy or pain, no wonder or disgust was concealed. They needed constant attention and stimulation. The whole world of cargo and luggage were also on the move. From the way the bags were tossed while loading and unloading at the airports, I had no doubts many choice pickle jars packed in their suitcases would be broken. I succeeded for the first time in my entire life in eliminating my usual two heavy suitcases, and managing only with essential cabin carry-ons. When I look at the things I did not use, I could have still eliminated some more items from my essentials.

The jumbo jet was a micro-universe that displayed in a miniature way many things that go in the macro-universe. A burly man occupying the seat next to me showed all the signs of aggressive border incursions. He did not keep his husky body and hefty hands to his seat.  My assertive stance to rest my hand on a part of hand-rest got me nowhere. And yet there were angels around. The young lady who yielded her turn so I could use the rest room when in bad need, and the young man who let me use his phone to make a much-needed call as I could not use my credit card (as it turned out the card  had expired a few days earlier) come to my mind.

It is relevant here to make a brief note on security checks. I wondered if the personnel for the security checks were recruited for their sadism. In my evaluation the US security personnel would stand out with regard to sadism. Sadism and arrogance are a deadly combination that detracts from humanity. I was subjected to 4 security checks between Kochi and Dallas. The fourth check was a special one at Abu Dhabi for the USA. I do not want to think I am marked for racial profiling as I stand out with a cap and an Ayatollah-like flowing beard. I will never understand why one would need to go through security checks while changing from one plane to another in a large well- managed airport.

I could not but observe boredom and ennui visible overwhelmingly on the many faces of humanity. That got me thinking. How did humanity get here? Why are we not enjoying and celebrating life as we are supposed to?  Truly in those faces of humanity marred by wants and needs, cares and concerns, deprivations and depredations, and traumas and catastrophes lie hidden treasures of human knowledge that needs to deliver wisdom. We have a great deal of knowledge, but very little wisdom. Facts gotten by science need to be interpreted and synthesized by philosophy. As Will Durant, a great synthesizer of leading philosophical thoughts put it: Science tells us how to heal and how to kill, but philosophy tells when to heal and when to kill. Or perhaps not to kill at all, where spirituality comes in. Currently only about one third of positive human energy of the entire world is used, the rest is buried under massive avalanches of greed, selfishness, and depression. We need to liberate the trapped two thirds of positive energy for a new direction for humanity. We need to put these many faces of humanity together instilling hope and love, bearing on them a synthesis of science, philosophy and spirituality so a new humanity can emerge.

Swami (Dr) Snehananda Jyoti 

The Legacy of Doing

For all the gains I could reach, I owe my great masters, among whom Dr. Shamal Durvey from Mumbai, is the most revered. She once said, “We are all the time doing and thinking.....in between if we suddenly stop for a minute? Let us see what happens......perhaps some realisation.....“ Thinking is the activity of the mind while in doing, all the constituents of the body are involved. I have quite a baggage full of unanswered questions on right thinking and doing. Random esoteric answers do not satisfy me at all. A few months back, I happened to see the picture of a very old lady, sitting aside the market street in Kolkota with variety fries for sale. The exclusive on her said that she is very very weak, still she brings the fried food stuff everyday from a distant place where she lives. As I understand, her thinking and doing is limited to making fries, selling them and thus supporting her promoters.

Some other time, I remember to have read about one Abhmanyu Samal from Odisha, a young man in his forties. He is professionally a garbage mechanic. He developed a helicopter with the engine of a scooter, general pipes and tin. The forty thousand rupees he spent on the project was not spoiled. He flew his homebrew copter at a speed of 120 kms. It is difficult to define and categorize this young man’s world of thinking and doing. It is unlimited by time and space. Scientists, thinkers, social/religious workers and even politicians fall in this group. These people follow much precision in whatever they do. I remember the inaugural address situation of an acknowledged US president, Abraham Lincoln. A rich man stood up and asked him, “Mr. Lincoln, you should not forget that your father used to make shoes for my family.” The whole Senate laughed. Lincoln looked at the man and said, ”Sir, I know that my father used to make shoes in your house for your family, and there will be many others here. His shoes were not just shoes; he poured his whole soul in it. ……… But as far as I know, nobody has ever complained about my father’s shoes. He was a genius, a great creator and I am proud of my father”. The whole Senate was struck dumb. Lincoln was talking about a man who did something with great pride; perhaps he would have been referring to a man who did what he is supposed to do, without monitory motives. Human deeds can’t be classified into a few social categories, I know. My Master Shamalji once said, “When we are struggling, we need to ask ourselves - is this action appropriate? Is this my role at this moment? We need to drop struggles..... That is low energy....and when we do something with happiness that is high energy.......”  I endorse this categorization, according to which all deeds are classified into those with high energy and that with low energy. But I doubt if there are situations that do not fall in any of these.  

A man came home from work and found his five children outside, playing in the mud, with empty food boxes and wrappers strewn all around the front yard. The door of his wife’s car was open, as was the front door to the house and there was no sign of the dog. Proceeding into the entry, he found an even bigger mess. A lamp had been knocked over, and the throw rug was wadded against one wall. In the front room the TV was loudly blaring a cartoon channel, and the family room was strewn with toys and various items of clothing. In the kitchen, dishes filled the sink, breakfast food was spilled on the counter, the fridge door was open wide, dog food was spilled on the floor, a broken glass lay under the table, and a small pile of sand was spread by the back door. He quickly headed up the stairs, stepping over toys and more piles of clothes, looking for his wife. He was worried she might be ill, or that something serious had happened. He was met with a small trickle of water as it made its way out the bathroom door. As he peered inside he found wet towels, scummy soap, and more toys strewn over the floor. Miles of toilet paper lay in a heap and toothpaste had been smeared over the mirror and walls. As he rushed to the bedroom, he found his wife still curled up in the bed in her pajamas, reading a novel. She looked up at him, smiled, and asked how his day went. He looked at her bewildered and asked: “What happened here today?” She again smiled and answered, ”Well, today I didn’t do anything". 

Joseph Mattappally

Prayer

A soul without prayer is a soul without a home.

Pray where you are. God is present everywhere and ready to  listen. Pray to God simply and naturally, as to a friend. Tell him what is in your mind. Pray remembering the good things God has done for you. Pray for others, remembering the situations they confront and the help they need. Pray for the world in its need, asking God to bring better things and offering your plan to help him. Pray above everything else that God’s Will may be done in you and in the world.

We hear in these days of scientific enlightenment a great deal of discussion about the efficacy of prayer. Many reasons are given why we should not pray. Others give reasons why we should pray. Very little is said of the reason we do pray. The reason is simple. We pray because we cannot help praying. Ravenhill says the self sufficient do not pray, the self-satisfied will not pray, the self-righteous cannot pray. No man is greater than his prayer life. That prayer has great power which a person makes with all his might. It makes a sour heart sweet, a sad heart merry, a poor heart rich, a foolish heart wise, a timid heart brave, a sick heart well, a blind heart full of sight, a cold heart ardent. Begin your day with prayer and make it so soulful that it may remain with you until the evening. Close the day with prayer so that you may have a peaceful night free from nightmares.

While journeying on the horse back one day, St.Bernard met a farmer walking along the road. 

“You’ve got an easy job,” said the farmer. ”Why don’t I become a man of prayer? Then I too would be travelling on the horseback.”

“You think praying is easy,” replied the saint. “If you can say one Our Father without any distraction, you can have this horse.”

“It is a bargain.” said the farmer. Closing his eyes and folding his hands he began to say the Our Father……….

Suddenly he stopped and looked up. 

“Shall I get the saddle and bridle too?”

A lot of kneeling keeps you in good standing with God.

Sr (Dr) Lilly Thokkanattu

Krishna on perfection (contd…)

By way of these illustrations Krishna persuades Arjuna that if he flowers to maximum as a warrior- which is his innate nature- he will become a Krishna in his own right. Had Krishna been born 2000 years later he would have said, “I am Arjuna among the warrior.” When Krishna declares his being, he is not claiming greatness. To claim greatness he need not compare himself with beasts and birds, snakes and reptiles. Claims to greatness can be made directly, but Krishna really does not claim any greatness for himself. He is speaking about a law of growth, a universal law which is that when you draw out the best in you, when you actualize your highest potential you become God. When there is no difference what so ever between our potentiality and actuality, we become God. When the highest possibility of our life is actualized we attain to Godhood. If there is a distance between our potential and actual states of being, it means we are yet on the way to our destiny. And Godliness is everybody’s destiny. 

Here Krishna has to play double role. Krishna will be of no use if he is only his friend, but if he reveals his Godliness indiscriminately, Arjuna may be so frightened that he runs away. So all the time Krishna has to strike a balance between the two roles he is playing. While he continues to be Arjuna’s friend he also declares his Godliness from time to time. Whenever he finds Arjuna is relaxed, he declares his Godliness. And when Arjuna is assailed with doubt and confusion he returns to his friendly approach. His approach is very delicate, and very few Buddha’s have had to deal with such a situation as Krishna faces in the war of Mahabharata. Buddha does not have to deal with such a delicate situation. He knows his people clearly; he knows that his people have come to sit at his feet to learn truth from him, so the communication with them is easy and straight. Mahavira too, has no such difficulties with his listeners. Krishna’s difficulty with Arjuna is real; he has to play a double role. It is really difficult to teach a friend, to be his or her teacher. It is difficult even to be an adviser to a friend. So Krishna on one hand placates him with phrases like “O great warrior,” and on the other he tells him “You are an ignoramus, you don’t know the reality.” If we bear in mind this aspect of Gita, we will have very less difficulty understanding it. 

To understand Gita, let us try and understand Krishna. 

Dr Dwarakanath - Mitran Foundation

No Help is Small

In a mutually dependent society, we all need each other’s help and no good life can be imagined without it. The sole purpose of having friends and relatives is to seek their help or to extend our help to them whenever such a need arises. At the same time, it is also a fact that only close relatives and friends turn into enemies when such obligations are not met as per our or their expectations. Therefore, it is essential to understand what precaution is required to avoid this situation. 

Many years back, I was attending a seminar of the famous motivator Shiv Khera in Nainital. During the course of the discussion he touched upon this aspect and I drew a very important lesson out of that. He mentioned that most of us are very casual in seeking help and take it for granted. Quite often we seek help from others in a very by-the-way manner. Help is sought in such a manner as if no effort is required on the part of the helper and further, as if it is an obligation on his part to help. Moreover, for seeking such help, a lot of time is wasted on irrelevant talks. What Mr Shiv Khera meant was that if we seek help from others, howsoever small it may be, it should be sought with great politeness and without beating around the bush. Also, the difficulty or the dilemma of the person should be kept in mind and so a margin should always be given to him to apply his discretion. When it is not done, sooner or later it affects our relationship and no wonder a point may come when such a relationship turns into enmity. 

I myself have experienced this difficulty in my long career in the Administrative Services. Since we have access to almost all areas of public administration, help is sought by a large number of people. Quite often, they don’t come to the point immediately and waste time talking about other things. It is so annoying that one feels like snubbing the person concerned. Apart from that, they feel it requires no effort on our part and judge our sincerity, competence or influence on the basis of the outcome. This affects the relationship further. My own approach is to try my best in the case of a genuine need, but generally I am immune to the outcome and don’t get overjoyed by positive outcomes nor get upset by negative ones. But certainly, it is not the case with the person who seeks help. 

The message of this discussion is that when we seek help from others, we have to be very wise. The point to be kept in mind is that putting a demand or expectation is very easy but it requires quite an effort to act on that. So many factors play their role when something happens or does not happen. First of all, one’s expectation should be genuine and not unduly selfish. Secondly, the limitation of the other person should be understood and thirdly, it should not be placed as a matter of right but only as a prayer. The fact is that no help is small and each requires commitment, energy and sincerity. If nothing else, all these should be respected even if the outcome is not positive. If we take care of these factors, not only will the chances of a positive outcome increase, the chances of a souring relationship also decrease greatly. 

Rakesh Mittal I A S

Outliving the Dash

During one retreat, a priest asked the community to reflect on the dash, on every tomb in the cemetery, found engraved between the two dates of birth and death. He said that embedded in those dashes are what those deceased planted and uprooted, built up and tore down during their lives. He continued saying that hidden in those dashes are the times they wept and laughed, mourned and embraced, fell silent or spoke out. The priest has his view points and I have mine. However, outliving the dash is a challenge, for sure. Naturally, most of what we do in life is likely to transcend into a plane dash, shortly after we physically disappear from the world. Does it mean that all that everybody leaves behind is necessarily a dash?

I remember the story of a blonde lady who complained to the doctor that wherever she touches on her body, it is hurting. She pushed her finger on her shoulder and screamed; she pushed her finger on the elbow and screamed even more. The doctor was watching her, quite astonished. Because she screamed even while unknowingly touching her wallet, the doctor understood that the problem is with her finger, not the body. Many people we see around try to outlive the possible dash in their lives, with choice techniques of their own. According to them, there are problems with every situation they figure out. They never admit that the problems are with regard to their attitude and purpose. Outliving the dash requires commitment, consistency and purity of intention. Whoever or whatever uncompromisingly insists on these values truly outlives the dashes in their lives. That is what the bronze statue of an aging dog by name Hachiko at Shibuya Station in Japan tells us. 

Hachiko was a dog owned by a college professor named Hidesamuro Ueno. Each day, when Ueno left for work, Hachiko would stand by the door to watch him go. When the professor came home at 4 O’clock, Hachiko would go to the Shibuya Station to meet him. Unfortunately, Ueno died of a stroke while at the university. Hachiko didn’t realize that he was gone, and so the dog used to come to the train station every single day to await his master. For the railway men, 4’O Clock meant that Hatchiko is at the Station. Hachiko’s love for his master impressed many people who passed through the station, including one of Ueno’s former students, who began to write articles about Hachiko and his remarkable breed. After 10 long years of waiting for his master, Hachiko died in 1935. Shibuya Station installed a bronze statue of the dog, to honor its mascot. Though the statue was melted down during World War II, a new version was created in 1948 by the son of the original artist. Values are abstract. Living a life of abstract values erases the dash and leaves a vacuum wherever they were. 

Joseph Mattappally

Successful Communication

It is the goodness of God breaking forth into a desire to communicate with the cause and the beginning of creation- William Law

A world community can exist only with world communication, which means something more than extensive short wave facilities scattered about the Globe. It means common understanding, a common tradition, common ideas, and common ideals The swift advance of the means of communication tears down the barriers that time and space have created between people. One of the greatest accomplishments a man can attain is the power to put into words exactly what he means. That’s one of the highest marks of an educated man.

A good speaker leaves the listeners more informed and a little better off than they would be if he has kept quiet. Abraham Lincoln said, “I am never more embarrassed than when I have nothing to say”. Speaking for personal recognition is wasteful, speaking to provide a service to others is honourable. The best advice here is to have something to say and know what you’re saying, or keep quiet. Effective communication is important in the business world and it is equally important within personal relationship as well. Open communication fosters trust, trust increases ownership and ownership increases participation. Enunciate your words distinctly and accurately. Cultivate a pleasant quality of voice. Be simple, direct and sincere. Use the best language at your command. Cultivate honesty in your expression. At the moment of speaking do not try to dress up your thought in fine language. Action speaks louder than words.

“Brother Leo said,” said Francis of Assisi “Let us go into the town and preach”. 

They went forth together, wandering up and down the principal streets. They smiled as they walked along and talked happily with one another. Sometimes they would pat a ragged boy and speak a cheery word to others. “Father,” said the young monk, “when do we start to preach?”

‘Why, my son,” said Francis, “We have been preaching. We have been seen.  Our behaviour has been marked. There is no use walking anywhere to preach unless we preach as we walk.”

Sr (Dr) Lilly Thokkanattu SJL

Krishna on Perfection

In Gita chapter 10, Krishna declares himself to be the best among all things- of all seasons he is the spring, of all cows he is the Kamadenu, of all elephants he is the Airavata. And secondly- and this more significant- he finds his peers even among the creatures like cows and horses. Both things should be taken together. While he declares himself to be the best among different classes of creatures, he does not distinguish between one class and another. Even when he claims to be Airavata among elephants, he remains nonetheless an elephant. Similarly he is quiet at home among cows, snakes and reptiles. He does not exclude the meanest categories as we think. He chooses to be the best even among the meanest creatures of this universe. And there is a reason. But why does he declare himself to be the best and the greatest among us all? 

On the surface it seems to us to be an egoistic declaration, because we are so much involved with our egos that everything we see appears egoistic. But if we go deep into it we will know what a great message is enshrined in Krishna’s declaration. When he says he is Airavata among elephants, he means to say every elephant is destined to be Airavata, and if one fails to be Airavata he fails to actualize his best and highest potential. Similarly every season has the potential to grow as pleasant as spring, and if one fails to attain to the highest in its nature, it fails its nature. In all these declarations, Krishna says only one thing: that he is the culmination, the perfection of nature in everything. Whoever and whatever attains to the sublime reflects godliness. This is the central message of this declaration. We must understand this deepest significance. 

Krishna says he reflects the innate potentiality of each being come to its completion that each being can grow into Krishna-hood, godliness. Krishna symbolizes the actualized form at its best, the highest of each one’s potentiality. Every being, everything is capable of attaining to Krishna-hood. And if we fail to realize our self fully, it simply means that we have betrayed our innate nature, we have deviated from it. There is not even a trace of egoism in Krishna’s declaration. This is way of saying that we cannot attain to godliness unless we become like the Lion among animals, like spring among seasons, like the Ganges among rivers. We come to God only when we attain to our own fullest flowering, not otherwise. By way of these illustrations Krishna persuades Arjuna that if he flowers to maximum as a warrior- which is his innate nature- he will become a Krishna in his own right. 

It is important to understand Krishna to properly understand Gita. 

Wishing you all good health & happiness,

Dr. Dwarakanath, Director, Mitran foundation- the stress management people