Assumptions

A married couple was returning from the funeral of Uncle George who had lived with them for twenty years and had been such a nuisance that he almost succeeded in wrecking their marriage. 

“There is something I have to say to you, dear,” said the man. “If it hadn’t been for my love for you I wouldn’t have put up with your Uncle George for a single day.” 

“My Uncle George!” she exclaimed in horror. “I thought he was your Uncle George!” 

This no doubt is an extreme kind of ‘Assumption’. But it brings out several salutary points.

1. Sometimes we assume things very blindly. Some times they are the logical conclusions we draw based on solid factors, nevertheless wrong. If we look back with an unbiased mind, we would realize that in ‘real life’ often logic does not work.

2. It also shows that when our love for someone is genuine we would not cringe from any sacrifice to safeguard it.

Indian Thoughts Archives (Curtsy Kaimlet)

Saints and Sages

‘But let us not lose heart… India is an ancient land of religions that has produced a great number of saints and sages who taught the people about the one true God beyond religious barriers, a Universal God whose grace and love is available to all human beings who surrender themselves to divine providence’ the Baba said. 

He continued..

‘We need to turn to the great saints and sages of our land for help at this crucial juncture in history….. 

‘All religions have produced such great saints and sages who deserve respect and reverence from all seekers of truth and grace. Sainthood and holiness are not the monopoly of any one religion. They are God’s common gifts to whole humanity…. 

‘All saints and sages of humankind, irrespective of their religious and cultural backgrounds, need to be revered by all true spiritual seekers. All of them are recipients and reservoirs of the grace of God. Sincere adherence to their noble teachings can help others also to grow in holiness of life and experience of God, which are the two spiritual attributes common to all true saints and sages of humanity...

‘India seeks for experience rather than knowledge in the spiritual field. ‘Anubhava’, personal experience of God, is the goal and core of India’s religions quest. It is to men and women of God-experience that the seekers of truth turn for guidance and help….

‘One also has to keep in mind that there is so much of goodness in the worst of us, and also there is so much of evil in the best of us….

‘It is said by the wise that ‘every saint has a past, and every sinner has a future’. …

‘Saints and sages can also have their negative and shadow areas. Their words and deeds may not be inspiring and exemplary sometimes….

‘The eternal values by which one lives can be the best test of one’s holiness and sanctity. A tree is known from its fruits…..’

The Baba stopped for a while and closed his eyes for a minute. There was total silence.

‘Have you understood this third spiritual law of peace, my son?’ the Baba asked Atma Prakash.

They sat in meditation for a while. The Baba then began to speak...

‘The fourth spiritual law of peace, my son, is that ‘the grace of God, once received, can be nurtured and nourished best by working selflessly to promote righteousness and peace in the world’. 

The Baba then continued: ‘Peace…Shanti… in the world needs righteousness, Dharma, as its basis. By working for righteousness and peace in the world we become true sons and daughters of God. There is no religious discrimination implied here at all. ‘Blessed are the peace makers, they shall be called the children of God’ taught Sadguru Jesus Christ, the Prince of Peace….

‘Peace has psychological, sociological and ecological dimensions. It also has social, economic and political aspects and implications. The socio-economic-political systems and institutions need to be re-oriented towards a culture of peace. This is an important requirement for peace in the world. They have to be rebuilt on the strong foundation of righteousness. Righteousness, to be true, needs to be based on ‘justice’. Economic justice is basic to peace in the world…. 

‘A peaceful economic system should uphold the dignity of the human person and the dignity of human labour. Productive justice and distributive justice are integral to economic justice…

‘Productive justice’ means that the tools and means of production should not be owned only by those who invest the capital as it is being done today, but they should be owned jointly by those who invest the capital and those who invest the labour…

‘Distributive justice’ implies distribution of the profits equitably between those who invest the capital and those who invest the labour…. The larger share should always go to those who invest labour because they give from their life. Those who invest the capital only give from their abundance…

‘There should also be provisions for rewards, appreciations and encouragements for hard work and quest for excellence… 

‘Much of the violence in the world is caused by an unjust and greed-based economic system. For example, Communism, as we had seen, came up as a reaction against the exploitation of the workers by the rich capitalists, and against the hypocrisy of the Church. The naxalite movement in India, as you know very well, began as reaction against the injustice and exploitation perpetrated by` feudalism, and against governmental corruption. It continues in those areas where injustice, exploitation and corruption are still prevalent…

‘Any amount of ‘police action’ and any number of ‘special task forces’ will not bring peace unless the root causes, which are injustice and corruption, are removed and justice is ensured to the victims of injustice. Political centralization leads to centralization of power and perpetration of injustice and corruption…..

‘Centralization of political power further leads to economic centralization. This in turn will lead to more injustice and exploitation. Injustice and exploitation will surely invite violence and war. Without de-centralized political and economic systems there will be no lasting peace and sustainable development….. 

‘Justice is the first casualty in all centralized political and economic systems. Centralization also promotes corruption. In a centralized political system tru

e ‘democracy’ will remain a mirage and political leaders and Government servants will become masters, lording over the citizens. Effective and speedy justice can be meted out, and corruption can be controlled, only through decentralization of politics and economics, and localization of authority and power….

‘Though the British had left India in 1947, the Education system, the Judiciary, the Bureaucracy, and even the Police Rules imposed on us by the British, still continue as they were. We need to liberate India from these enslaving systems and structures. Education is the key for the success of this historic mission. India today needs an integral and effective approach to education for her regeneration and reconstruction’ the Baba paused and looked at his disciple questioningly.

Excerpts from Integral Revolution

UNPRINCIPLED POLITICS

It is very sad that we have come to this point. I came from the murder politics of Kerala, India, to the painful, demoralizing, and unprincipled politics of the USA. A thick pall of gloom hovers over the entire US during this election to the most powerful office of the world. The most powerful office in the sense of money and muscle power: roughly five percent of the world’s population in the USA controls about twenty-five percent of the world’s resources.

We have to two candidates of the two major parties in this election: one is a woman who has been in the very center of power ever since she left her famous law school and her home turf in the progressive east to become the wife of a governor, her class-mate in the law school, of a very conservative and backward southern state. It appears she lost her own identity as she subjected herself to the demands of politics and southern culture. She became a martyr to her husband’s at least two serious marital infidelities. Her husband, the president of the US was on the verge of being impeached for his affair with a woman doing internship in the very center of unequalled power. She sacrificially stood by her man and saved him on many crucial occasions. Finally when she had had enough, one might say, she began to charter her own course led by her ambitions. She is reported to use any means, good or bad, to achieve her good end. She will be the first woman president, and she can do some good, and is unlikely to do any damage if she becomes the president.

The other candidate is a man, the quintessential autocrat and narcissist. He led by pleasure and power principles, creates and defines reality for himself and others as he is the measure of all things. He described in his advertisement his Trump Tower in New York City as a 68-story-tower instead of the 58 stories it really has. He termed this lie a ‘truthful hyperbole’. It is also good to remember that his mentor was ruthless, brash, and bullying Roy Cohn, the notorious lawyer of Senator Joseph McCarthy of ill-fame who engaged in investigations and communist witch-hunt in the 1950’s and under whom many innocent persons suffered. He learned early on from his imperial father that there is no place for failure, that one who loses is nobody, and has no place in this world. His older brother did not meet his father’s standard, and died in his early forty’s due to complications of alcohol. Uncontrollable by his own father, he was sent to an army school to bring some discipline in his life. He thrives in positive as well as negative publicity. On the verge of financial collapse of his financial empire, over forty banks, to which he owed money, and which came to liquidate his assets, finally decided that his glamorous name on his real estate was more worthwhile than the buildings themselves to recover at least some assets. Ever since then he is selling his name as his commodity. That is the pathetic and deplorable unreality that is currently lived in the US. This is also what is, in good measure, exported to the rest of the consumer world. He is reported to be a racist and a sexist. He was humiliated in public by the current African-American president for questioning his birth certificate, and thereby his citizenship. A self-centered authoritarian, concerned only about the “greatness” of the US, he is not temperamentally and character-wise suitable for the US or for the international scene. His ability to make good judgments is in question.

Coming to the unprincipled politics, Gandhi called politics without principles one of his seven social and deadly sins. He did not think that politics is a good place for a person with principles as politics is marked by intrigues, dishonesty, lobbying, bribery, and manipulation. A person with integrity is unlikely to last in politics. Our civilization is at cross-roads as it is currently guided more by emotions than by reason and principles. The religious, political, and medical fields are in chaos. Perennial values such as truth, fidelity, respect, and ethical behavior are in short supply. Politicians as other professionals need to be trained in ethics and professionalism. The current election in the US amply proves that the voters in general do not have the training to make discerning choices in the climate of political gridlock/stalemate, divisive and partisan politics. The world ethos, especially the American ethos, needs to arrest its degeneration before it is too late.

Swami Snehananda Jyoti 

The Old Faithful Well

A young boy spent a month every summer with his parents in an old farmhouse.  The house was 150 years old when his family bought it.  It had never been modernized.  The water supply during those years came from an old well that stood just outside the front door.  This well was remarkable because it never ran dry.  Even in this severest summer droughts, the old well faithfully yielded up its cool, clear water. 

The day came when the family sanctuary was modernized.  A new well was drilled a few hundred feet from the house. The old well was capped to be kept in reserve.

 The old well remained covered for several years until one day, moved by curiosity, the now grown young man decided to uncover and inspect the old well’s condition.  As he removed the cover, he fully expected to see the same cool, moist depths he remembered so well as a boy.  But to his great surprise, the well was bone dry - John Sanford

Note: (Curtsy Kaimlet) This type of well is fed by hundreds of tiny underground rivulets along which seeps a constant supply of water.  As water is drawn from the well, more water flows into it along the rivulets, keeping these tiny channels clear and open.  But when such a well is not used and the water is not regularly drawn, the tiny rivulets get closed by the small grains of sand and mud. If there was flow, these would have been carried away.  The well, which had run without failing for so many years, was now dry -not because of a water shortage, but because it had not been used. The same would be the fate of our talents and abilities if they are not constantly made use of.

Indian Thoughts Archives

Deeper Through Official Recipients

‘The third spiritual law of peace is that ‘all religions, scriptures and saints are recipients and reservoirs of divine grace and hence, by sincerely adhering to the eternal values taught by them any one can come to a deeper experience and understanding of the grace of God. Religions are concrete social and historical expressions of humanity’s quest after Truth, the Ultimate Reality, the one true God. They can help us to understand the true purpose and meaning of life in this world and thereafter. Scriptures of religions are divinely inspired. But they are written in human languages by human beings and hence, are subject to human errors and limitations. They are also subject to linguistic and cultural limitations….

‘There are contextual and eternal elements and teachings embedded in all scriptures. The contextual are to be ignored after that particular context is no more prevalent. The eternal are to be preserved and cherished……. 

‘The eternal unites, the contextual divides. Many of these eternal principles are common to religions. The common eternal principles of religions embody in them common moral and spiritual values like truth, righteousness, non-violence, justice, love, purity, patience, compassion and respect for parents. Living one’s life according to these eternal principles and values alone can lead one to ‘eternal life’….

‘Different religions use different terms to represent this state of ‘eternal life’. The Hindu friends may like to use the term ‘moksha’. The Christian friends may prefer ‘heaven’ whereas the Muslim friends may like the term ‘paradise’. Our Buddhist friends may like to refer to this state as ‘nirvana’…..

‘Teaching and promoting the eternal principles and values common to all religions constitute the most important spiritual task ahead of us in this millennium….

‘The eternal values constitute the common meeting ground of religions. Scriptures and sacraments, cults and rituals, codes and creeds… all are for uniting people and for helping them find peace and happiness. Words often tend to divide. Spirit alone can unite. Hence, more than the words written in scriptures, the spirit behind them is to be understood and cherished...

‘Let us not forget that much of the conflicts among religions today come from the fact that the followers of different religious traditions do not understand well their own scriptures and the eternal spiritual and moral values contained in them. As a result, they lack the very values of the religion which they try to impose on others. They also do not respect the scriptures of other religions’ the Baba paused to look at his disciple. 

After few minutes of silence, the Baba continued: ‘Many think that theirs is the only true scripture and only they have received revelations from God. As a result, mutual hostility and mistrust grow among religions….

‘Competitions to promote the ‘only true religion’ arise among those religions which claim such monopoly over truth and divine grace. This is the result of ignorance, ‘avidya’…..

‘There is an interesting ancient story… the story of the old lady and her cockerel…

‘There was this old lady living in the village. This was before the clocks and watches were invented. People used to get up in the morning listening to the cock crowing… 

‘There was only one cock in the whole village, and it belonged to that old lady who was a very nasty and jealous lady… a kind of witch.. you might say… She used to consume a great deal of opium and country liquor…. Spreading rumors about young housewives was her main occupation…..This used to lead to domestic quarrels, fights among women, fights among men…..even to murder…

‘The old lady used to collect a kind of ‘cock tax’ from people for the services rendered by her cock. …. that of crowing every day morning to wake them up….. 

‘Occasionally she used to threaten the people by saying that she would go away, taking her cock with her….

‘The poor villagers could not allow such a thing to happen as it would mean disaster for them….

‘The ignorant villagers believed that the sun was also woken up by the cock. Hence, if the cock did not crow, the sun would not rise… that means total darkness… No agriculture…. No work… Life would be impossible…. Hence, they even agreed to double the cock tax …. 

‘The nasty old lady continued to eat more opium, drink more country liquor… and spread more rumors, causing more conflicts and violence…. 

‘The ignorant villagers believed that all these were much better than total darkness engulfing the whole village..!….

‘But an educated young man came to the village once. He saw the way the ignorant villagers were being exploited by the nasty old lady… 

‘One night he stole the cock and locked the bird up in a box. Next day there was no cock to crow. But the sun rose as usual. People were surprised….

‘The young man called the villagers together and told them what he did. That day the villagers came to understand that the sun would rise even if the cock did not crow…

‘They drove the old lady away… 

‘There was peace and fellowship once again in the village…. 

‘Something similar is happening today with religions and their priests, pujaris, mullas and others who make a living from their religions.…. They teach the people that the keys to divine grace and heaven are with them and no one can enter heaven or reach God unless he or she does the prescribed ‘puja’ or ‘penance’….and of course for a payment…

‘And so, we have today all over the country many temples, mosques, churches and gurudwaras, and their pujaris, mullas, priests and grandhis………selling divine grace, salvation, eternal life… and such other heavenly commodities for a price... 

‘Religion is by far the most flourishing business in India today, my son …. 

‘This is also the only business that does not involve any risk as it does not need any ‘capital investment’.

Excerpts from Integral Revolution

ECUMENISM

(I was 25 when the historic Second Vatican Council ended in 1965. I was fired by it then. The council was an opening for further developments. That did not happen. I left the Jesuits after being one of them for 25 years. I still live by the ideals I learnt as a Jesuit. I live by the spirit of the council. For the two months I am in the US, I am revisiting the documents of Vatican II. I am especially studying the decrees on ecumenism, approaches to other Christian churches, and non-Christian religions. Currently I spend my energy and resources for the Unity of Humanity and Amity among Religions.)

Unity of Humanity in God is the supreme goal. Unity of religions and close friendship among them are essential to achieve that goal. It is not difficult to understand this when we know we are all children of the one and only God who is the loving Father and Mother of us all. Thus ecumenism among all Christian churches and all religions became a vital part of my everyday living.  In all this I do not want to overlook the many crucial struggles and the great differences among humans of the past. In every cooperative enterprise, candor, respect, faithfulness to one’s conscience, and tolerance as well as empathy and compassion are indispensable.

We also need to put everything in sound historical perspective and current theological insight. This is necessary to extricate ourselves from disputes unto death that our ancestors engaged in the past.  Our loyalty always is to the Will of God and not to the wrong views of our ancestors. It does not matter to which side they belonged. What matters is to what side we belong today in the light of God’s call we are given for the One Humanity after honestly evaluating everything that happened including all the doctrinal developments in the past.

After going through all the decrees about and closely connected to ecumenism, I came to a theological conviction that things are simple or complicated as we want them to be. Right from the beginning, for instance, there were many factions or churches in the one Christian community. Dogmatic developments came to solve problems of the time. Whether they solved the problems of the time or their solutions led to complicated problems and deeply-entrenched self-righteousness is another question. I do not think at the present time the hierarchical authority of the Catholic Church needs to insist that the fullness of life in Christ or a complete incorporation into the system of salvation according to the plan of Christ or a complete participation in Eucharistic communion resides only in the Catholic Church. The response of a well-known non-Catholic Christian, who played a leading role in the formation of the World Council of Churches, to the decree of the Council on Ecumenism is worth recalling. His statement implied that ecumenism should be centered on Christ and not on the Roman Catholic Church. I do not think any person focused on the Kingdom of God can disagree with that. We need to retrieve the teachings of Christ from the unfortunate historic baggage of polemics and of who is right and wrong. Let history speak for itself. Christ’s teachings in the scriptures are simple and easily understood by sincere persons who surrender wholeheartedly to God, and are willingly led by the Holy Spirit.

A PLAN FOR ECUMENISM:  This is a very simple practical plan. When people come together and cooperate on common good based on the teachings of Christ or fundamental teachings of other religions and good will, a spontaneous energy and enthusiasm that is very contagious is generated. Person needs to be convinced that a common goal worth pursuing is there for all.

In the United States that is purported to lead the world, I am witnessing an amoral society where anything goes, and where what matters most currently are power, might, and manipulation cleverly used to brow-beat others, and brain-wash them into subjugation. A couple of generations lost in the confusion of divorce, moral decay, and mindless affluence are striving to gain power and control to compensate for their lost identity. We thought we were coming out of the indescribable evils of racism in the 1960’s in the USA by declaring human and civil rights for all. We thought we were coming out of the cold war with the breakdown of the authoritarian Soviet Union in the early 1990’s. We thought we were making much progress in human rights internationally. We still have an impotent, anachronistic United Nations where major world powers are jockeying for power and their spheres of influence and dominance. The same old colonialism, imperialism, and religious fanaticism are raising their ugly heads wearing new masks. They are openly challenging human rights seducing the un-enlightened by offering material prosperity they are bound to fail in delivering.

We do have a moral emergency as the fabric of moral values and decency is corroding at its very foundation. True and humble leaders of Christian denominations and other religious groups need to fill the interim vacuum of leadership by urgently come together with an open mind for the sake of humanity, and chart areas of cooperation before the whole world sinks into a human-made chaos and confusion. We need to focus on external forum. By doing things that are practical and helpful in living a life of love, the Holy Spirit will work on bringing about changes in the internal forum. By internal forum is meant living a life that is according to one’s conscience in the area of faith and morals. No compromise of one’s values is required. Genuine love, candor, and respect overcome all obstacles. We see that again and again in mixed marriages where partners/spouses belong to different religions or races.

It is not that we do not have a world order that is many times better than the previous ones. It is just that we are at cross-roads, and that we need great courage and integrity to choose the path of righteousness (sanatan dharma) that will involve many sacrifices to finish our task God intends for us. While evil leaders who play games with humanity, and titillate the ignorant with false promises of material prosperity, leaders of integrity from many walks of life can unselfishly cooperate in increasing and sharing available resources that can benefit all. Initial resistances and suspicions melt down, barriers gradually vanish. Vested interests and hidden agenda have no place in these cooperative enterprises. Holy Spirit can triumph only in genuineness, transparency, and purity of intention. God’s will can manifest only in such a climate.

A footnote to the above: History does not generally favor the official religious heads of the past and the present who formulated and still formulate fantastic doctrines for the world of an after-life. It favors those who advocated human rights and risked their lives to save others from tyrants and oppressors in this world. That was also Christ’s mission in this world. I have not the slightest doubt that Christ’s mission in today’s world would be the Unity of humanity and friendship among religions while fighting for the oppressed and the down-trodden.

Swami Snehananda Jyoti 

Keep On Going

Colonel Sanders went to more than 1,000 places trying to sell his chicken fry recipe before he found an interested buyer. The fact that we can find “Kentucky Fried Chicken” almost anywhere in the world today attests to his perseverance.

Thomas Edison tried thoudands of different ways before he succeeded in creating the electric bulb. If he had given up, you would have been strggling to read this story!  

The original business plan for what was to become Federal Express was given a failing grade on Fred Smith¹s college exam. And, in the early days, their employees would cash their pay checks at retail stores, rather than at banks. This meant it would take longer for the money to clear, thereby giving Fed Express more time to cover their payroll.

Sylvester Stallone had been turned down a thousand times by agents and was down to his last $600 before he found a company that would produce Rocky. The rest of his story you know.

To truly succeed requires a total commitment to your goal. Too many people make the mistake of quitting just short of success. Keep going no matter what. If you really believe in what you are doing, give it all you’ve got and don’t give up.

You will succeed.

There is no such thing as failure. Every action produces an outcome. It may not always be the outcome you are looking for, but it is an outcome nonetheless. If you monitor the results of your actions and keep correcting what is not working, you will eventually produce the outcome you are looking for.

Indian Thoughts Archives