Rooted but not Routed Sufficiently

Indian civilization and culture date back to millenniums. It is one of the best civilizations in the world. Some of the world religions have borne in India and spread across the continents. Indian culture was and is very much accommodative that it has provided a pivotal platform for the amalgamation of several world religions and cultures, without getting it denigrated or remaining to stagnate. The sole credit for this is the deeprooted epistemology and metaphysics that it upholds since ages. Yet, the country has remained underdeveloped and underprivileged compared to various other countries of the world. Wealth, prosperity and development have remained the sole property of a few individuals, depriving the same to the remaining 99 per cent. What could be the fundamental reason? Can our understanding of individual well-being be accounted for it? 

A paradigm shift in the export

In old days India attracted thousands of people from across the world for the spices and condiments. That allowed people to learn our culture, spirituality, and wisdom. As the wisdom of the east began to spread across the world, the eastern perfume of knowledge began to attract the bees of wise. People flocked in, learnt our culture, language, texts and works and made it universal. Now the western people have understood that the best of intellectuals of the world are the Indians. Many of the countries are importing our IITians, software engineers, doctors and technicians to work for them. The artisans move abroad for their livelihood, often times, prefer to remain aback, niching themselves there, than to return and work for the country. In one of the documentaries released by CBS Worldwide, the reporter says, “The United States import oil from Saudi Arabia, cars from Japan, TVs from Korea and whisky from Scotland. So what do we import from India? We import people, really smart people from India… most successful, most influential people.” How then is our well educated, capable and potential people produced in the country prefer to work for other than us? 

Some may place an objection to the above query, saying that there are several people who prefer to stay back and work, and also can cite examples of people who returned and worked for the welfare of the country. We do not negate this salient contribution, but respect and honour them. However, a question may still haunt us. We have the best of several kinds of mines in the country such as coal, gold, copper, uranium, iron, manganese, bauxite, etc. Why then these ores are exported and the same thing is imported back as ready materials? Why can’t we invest and make the opportunities available for our people? We have best of educational institutions, best of medical and technical colleges. But, the cream of these institutions is being exported abroad by the MNCs. Do we have an answer?

Ground zero situation of our people

The ground zero situation of the citizens of our country is alarming and heart-breaking. If one part of the country is seen flooding, the other part is wreathing in drought; if one has built a mansion, the neighbourhood is a slum colony; if one is acquiring hectares of cultivable land for the commercial purpose, the other is struggling to save a plot of land on which he/she is surviving; if one has secured highest job in a firm having a low grade in studies, the other in spite of the highest grade is moving from pillar to post in search of the job. Powerful are becoming more powerful, rich the richer and poor doomed to the abyss of poverty. 

Organizations and political parties who are meant to provide fair justice, maintain equal distribution and welfare of every section of the society, are dividing and ruling the people whose custodians they are. One party is demeaning the other party’s good works. Instead of building on the good works done by the predecessors, count it to be worse and dismantle it, and sow the seeds of vengeance and dissention. Religion is meant to bind people (re-ligare). But often than binding, the custodians themselves are brawling up the tenets of their religions and often times promote it through their selected adherents to build a certain elitist culture.

This may sound odd to many, but it is the reality. If my culture is a community-oriented and aiming at the welfare of every citizen irrespective of caste, creed and religion, treating everyone as my own kit and kin, then I must be inclusive in all the aspect of my speech and act. If not, I am a hypocrite and a defector. But this inclusiveness does not happen very often in us. Primarily we seem to look at the good of the individuals rather than of the community, though the community welfare is indirectly aimed at.

Individual liberation Vis-à-vis Community liberation

Liberation is a chief focus in all the systems of religions across the world, be it Semitic or Asian. Everyone is aiming to get rid of samsāra, the wordiness to attain freedom. One of the Triratna’s (three jewels) of Buddhism is, “Saṅgham Saraṅam Gacchāmi,” I take shelter in the sangha, the community of believers. Ditto is the reality in all the Semitic religions: Judaism, Islam and Christianity. They have a strong sense of community, every individual work for the community and the community, in turn, work for the individual liberation. The Passion, Death and Resurrection of Jesus has a strong sense of the welfare of the community. Therefore, the people who have acquired such culture have a strong sense of community in contrast with individualist cultures.

Though, individual liberation is the ultimate purpose, the community of believers play an important role in achieving it. Good of the individuals in a family is the good of everyone and everyone’s good is the good of the whole family. However, in some cultures like Hinduism, stress given on the individual effort to achieve individual freedom is very much seen. Salvation is a personal effort. Person’s accumulated sins can be purged by the efforts of the same person. However, grace can be handy in some cases. A one-pointed devotion can earn grace for liberation. Once again it is left to the individual’s discretion. This becomes clear in the very fact of one’s worship practices, that the stress given to individual worship in contrast to the community worship is more.

This does not mean that we are demeaning the worship practices of a particular way of worship. Individual or community, a specific worship pattern has its own pros and cons. Ultimately, it is the individual who benefits.

The Individualism

One of the negative contributions of growing consumerism, globalism and postmodernism is the individual culture. Today, the human labour has been replaced by machine culture. Earlier, say for example, a group of people were involved in making a piece of cloth, which took few days of their labour. A single machine could do the same work more efficiently, and a thousand times faster than the earlier. The outcome of it is the community dimension of humans, and thus owning the outcome of it, that is, instead of saying ‘we did it’, now they say ‘it did it.’ Here, the final credit goes to the owner of the machine.

“Desire is the root cause of suffering,” says the Buddha. Desiring to be rich, successful and great is not wrong in itself, nor was absent in olden days. But, the growing materialistic tendencies and machine culture have bred to selfishness and desire to be instantly rich. This has given rise to ‘instant remedies’. How many families prefer fast food like noodles, Maggie etc., while their home-made ‘shevai’ is discarded owing to time taking endeavour?! These ‘instant solutions’ not only harm our physical health, but also the family ‘relational health.’ 

Therefore, we don’t need to learn the rocket technology to see the individual ‘selfishness’ which becomes the Damocles’ Sword for the growth and well-being of a community. See, for example, the state of Jharkhand. It is one of the richest states of India in terms of resources. The finest gold, copper, uranium, coal, bauxite and iron ores are in its crest. The State was full of water bodies and rivers. One of the finest forests, in terms of bio-diversity of Asia, is in Jharkhand. Yet, it is the least developed in terms of infrastructures, education, and economy. Governments after governments who ruled in the past and present are busy not in the welfare of the state, but the welfare of certain vested interested groups of people. How do we account for this contradiction, being poor at the time of owning rich resources? Even, those crumb fallen so far from the ruler’s desks would have been sufficient to alleviate the basic needs of the people of the place. This is the Pandora box we need to crack down. 

The individualism is affecting not only to the State of Jharkhand but to every state of the country. More so, where the voiceless people of the society inhabit. These voiceless are the Dalits, tribals, women, minorities, poor, destitute and people of lower strata of a creed. These are the easy targets for the MNCs, money-makers, politicians and even to a certain extent the religious leaders. The innocence of these people seems to be the strength of these colonials. 

How then, do we bring the change? It may seem a utopia, but not impossible to attain. Unless we change our minds we can never grow. We need to move from individual-centred life to community-centred life. We need to make ‘community’ as our centres, rather than ‘individuals’ as our point of departure. Our every projects, decisions, activity be it at the grass root level or at the national level should be transparent. Let the decision be open to all, and take a collective decision in the decision-making body. Let everyone know every aspect of funds being allotted and being utilized. Collective and accommodating was our culture and must be in the days to come. Being rooted in our collective culture and traditions lets march ahead towards the welfare of all irrespective of caste and creed. Then, a new India is possible. 

Fr. Raju Felix Crasta

Thai Cave Rescue, A Brave Herculean Act

These pictures are self-explanatory, the effort the rescue team had put up, the co-operation of the people and the mission of rescuing 12 young boys along with their coach for eighteen days unfolded.

For details of the rescue operation, see, the following link

https://www.theguardian.com/world/ng-interactive/2018/jul/03/thailand-cave-rescue-where-were-the-boys-found-and-how-can-they-be-rescued

The cave, Tham Luang is about six miles distance in Doi Nang Non Mountain range, and the boys were safely found around 2.5 miles from the entrance. The most difficult part of the rescue was heavy rains and gushing water inside the cave. But the rescue team, SEALs by their hard work brought back all 13 people trapped inside the cave after 18 days. Equally, praise-worthy are the people who supported them with whatever means they could. 


For the rest of the world, this gives a  message: there is no greater mission than upholding humanity and working for the well-being of all. Everyone is important in the society. With the selfless co-operation, we can achieve any impossible task. 

The following heroes of the rescue operation and related pictures, are taken from the following link.
https://www.gconnect.in/gcmagazine/magnews/tribute-rescuers-volunteers-thailand-cave-rescue-operation.html 

He sacrificed his today for their tomorrow

Fr. Raju Felix Crasta

Where are You?

God called Adam and asked, “Where are you?” Today, the same God calls each one of us by name and asks the same question, “Hey Joe, where are you? Hey Shanti, where are you?”

We search someone: when the person is not found where one should be; when not doing what should be doing, not available when should be available, when seen hiding whereas should have been visible and so on. We see people hiding behind trees, in the cosy environments, behind one’s own weakness, in the bars, shops and restaurants, and modernity and technology.

When someone spots us in our hiding place, we begin to blame others: he did this, he said that, he made me like this, he told us so, I am innocent, I did not do it, the system is wrong, I am not talented as the other, I am still a learner, it’s my weakness… 

Our hiding and blame game not only paralyses our own self, but also the society. Sin is rampant in our society. Our news portals reveal the dark side of effect of sin, affecting individuals and society, which we need not elaborate. Human achievements are so often flawed; we can build our towers to the heavens but they become Babel of confusion and races. 

What hope is there then for us? How long we can hide and blame others? 

We need to set our priorities right, put our Christian-ness on a steady track. Yes, we fail at times, have made mistakes knowingly or unknowingly. But can we accept it unconditionally and begin a life afresh? If yes, then we shall be able to come out from our hiding place. 

Fr. Raju Felix Crasta

Jesus Cried Aloud and Died: Appropriating the Sacrifice of Jesus for Today

And they crucified Him...

The forty days of Lenten observance culminates into the Passion Week. The Passion Week starts with the Palm Sunday where Jesus’s triumphant entry to Jerusalem is celebrated and then follows the commemoration of the Suffering, Death and Resurrection of Jesus, called the Paschal Mysteries. 

The Palm Sunday is an important event to celebrate Easter. On this day, Jesus makes a solemn entry riding on a donkey to Jerusalem. People out of joy welcomed him shouting ‘Hosanna’ with olive branches and spreading their clothes on the road. The exuberance of people was because of a kind of perception they had about Jesus. They thought that Jesus would be their new ruler or king: a king who would rule the people with justice and peace, who would be a humble king, who would protect from their enemies, would eradicate poverty and would provide surplus food, etc. But their joy was only short-lived till the entry to the city of Jerusalem. What was never expected became the reality. They never expected that their hero who healed the sicknesses like the deaf, dumb, mute, paralytic, haemorrhage, leprosy, skin diseases, and fever; who freed people from the demonic possessions, social ostracism, political gimmick; who taught like ‘never-before-any-teacher’ with authority, content, style and wisdom; who lived a simple, humble, loving, cheerful, accommodating life; who hailed from the Davidic dynasty will be awarded a punishment deserved only for criminals, that too within a week instead of awarding the glorious throne of the Kingdom. Neither the perpetrators understood what they were doing, nor did the followers understand the depth of Jesus’ glorious entry to Jerusalem and his passion and death. The things became clear only at the Easter Morning, at the resurrection of Jesus. 

Why did Jesus die? St. John, the beloved Apostle of Jesus says, “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16). St. Paul reiterates this again that Christ died to prove how much God loves us. He says, “God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Rom 5:8). The Old Testament is full of God’s loving acts towards His chosen people. Whenever people failed to recognize God and whenever they failed to keep the commandments (Decalogue), He sent judges, kings, prophets and leaders to guide them. And yet people failed. Therefore, time and again God reminds of His promise. “I will not leave you” (2 Kings 4:30); “He will be with you; he will not leave you or forsake you” (Deuteronomy 31:8). God fulfills His word through Jesus, His only beloved Son. Secondly, Jesus died for the expiation of our sins. The sin of humanity was so much that God had to become human, live like any one of us and take upon Himself the sins of humanity. St. Paul in his letter to Philippians says, “Jesus emptied Himself, taking the form of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to death—even death on a cross” (Philippians 2:7-8). 

Jesus was accused of blasphemy and sedition and was awarded the death penalty by hanging on the Cross, a death which only criminals and anti-nationals were given. The whole passion of Jesus can be found in all the four Gospels in the Bible: Mark 14:26–15:47; Matthew 26:30–27:66; Luke 22:39–23:56; and John 18:1–19:42. Four things can be reflected from the above four passion narratives. 

1. The Suffering of Jesus

St. Mark gives us the depth of the suffering of Jesus. Jesus was tragically rejected, unfairly condemned, viciously beaten, horribly insulted, and cruelly mistreated by multiple groups. How much suffering Jesus went through! From the beginning of His public ministry onwards, there were several people rejected Him. It is our own experience, that whenever we do good there are hundreds of people condemn the good we perform. Several people feel jealous of our achievements. At times we become objects of mockery. People insult us and treat us as third-class citizens. Often, rejection comes from our own people, whom we trust and believe to be with us. The words of Martin Luther are very much true, “Betrayal comes after trust.” 

2. The Kingship of Jesus 

St. Matthew tells us about the Kingship of Jesus, how the de-facto ruling powers, especially Pilate and Caiphas conspired to get rid of someone they saw as a political threat. Jesus came to establish the Kingdom of God, a kingdom of peace, justice and equality. But people painted Jesus as a political figure and confined His ideals to the political dynasty. Jesus’ kingdom is beyond boundaries. It is the spiritual kingdom that He wants to establish. The King is a shepherd who takes care of his sheep. The shepherd must be simple and humble. Throughout His life, Jesus showed great leadership quality. A leader is one who serves. He said, “I came to serve and not to be served, and to give his life as a ransom for many” (Matthew 20:28). A leader must have the quality of humility. But today, our socio-political and religious leadership does not depict servant leadership, but rather a ‘bossy or domineering leadership.’ Often times, leaders expect that they should be treated like kings and people must salute them in public. Being meek and servant is construed as a sign of weakness and not as strength. They think that people are their servants. How wrong they are! 

3. The Innocence of Jesus 

St. Luke stresses the innocence of Jesus. Pilate said Jesus did not deserve death (Matthew 27:24). Even people like Herod Antipas, centurion and repentant thief also recognized His innocence. How often innocent people are killed in our country! This is the paradox we live in where the innocent suffer and the criminals walk scot-free! 

4. The Exaltation of Jesus 

St. John portrays the exaltation of Jesus, how He remains in charge, driving the all action, completing the will of the Father, and being glorified as he is lifted up. Jesus was fully aware of the things unfolding throughout His passion and death. He was totally in control of the situation, yet he focused himself in executing the plan of the Father. Even at the time of his execution, he showed mercy and compassion. When one of Jesus’ disciples cut off the ear of Malchus, the high priest’s slave (John18:10), Jesus healed him immediately. When women were weeping on his way to Calvary, Jesus consoled them, “Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for me; weep for yourselves and for your children” (Luke: 23:28). His aim was to reach out the needy even at the time of his agony. The compassion and love reaches the zenith when Jesus forgave the people who crucified him, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing” (Luke 23:34). This is the highest point of being divine. This is one of the unique features of Christ which becomes the symbol of Christianity. 

Jesus is Crucified Even Today 

The people responsible for Jesus’ death were not the people who devoutly followed Him. But the accusers were the people who were very much aware of his work and mission. They were the religious leaders, the chief priests, elders, scribes and the governing people of the time like Pilate. Jesus was the pricking thorn in the flesh of their self-righteousness. This is not uncommon even today. 

Today Jesus is represented by all those incidents and events of mercy, peace, brotherhood, harmony, equality, service, charity, humanness, justice and peace. Jesus is also represented by those people who serve selflessly for the last, the least and the lost. 

Today, Jesus is being crucified every day and everywhere, socially, religiously, economically, culturally, politically, ideologically, theologically, and so on. When the self-righteous, selfish and idiosyncratic people do not recognize the rights and duties of the weaker sections of the society, Jesus is crucified in them. When the democratically elected government fails to recognize the plight of the common people and when it closes its eyes to the basic needs, Jesus is crucified. When the common man is unable to avail the basic needs like water, food, house, health care facilities, when he is dictated what to eat and what not to eat, where to go and where not to go, what to do and what not to do, Jesus is crucified. Government has lots of schemes for the ordinary people – like free education, free medical facilities, free ambulance facilities, free of cost delivery care for the pregnant women, girl-child welfare schemes, subsidies for the farmers, stipends for the widows, widowers, retired teachers and soldiers. But the rampant corruption, grabbing mentality, unhealthy bureaucratic rigmarole, red-tapism and materialistic life crucifies Jesus. Human dignity has become the word of the past. Rivers and animals are given human status, but humans are left to fend for themselves.

While rich industrialists and business people draw loans after loans from the government and escape to foreign countries for shelter without paying it, the poorest of poor farmers unable to pay the paltry sum they have taken from the bank is committing suicide. While the tribals protect the forest and natural resources, the government is not sparing a chance to sell it off to rich industrialists and business people without even giving an inch of land to live. Jesus is being crucified even today 

The innocent people are made scapegoats for the sake of development in various parts of the country. The mother earth cries for care and returns to the roots. The original inhabitants of the land who cared for and loved from the very beginning are deprived of their right. The land is alienated or mortgaged to build factories, ‘fly-overs’, ‘hospitals’, ‘welfare’. Who are the beneficiaries? ‘Only the rich and powerful!’ What a paradox. The development is only for the ‘developed’. It’s my land, my money, my sweat and my people, but I am taxed for it. While the real beneficiaries look for few crumbs, the so-called custodians enjoy the fruit of the labour. The best example is the food price and menu available to the ministers in the Parliament canteen, or their shooting salaries. Yes, Jesus is crucified today. 

Religions who are supposed to be the guarantor of one of the meaningful life systems of faith, morality and devotions have become the centres of marketing institutions. Higher the tower, magnificent the building, greater the amount of silver and gold statues, bigger the collection boxes, louder the noise is understood to be the best religion. Preaching the Word of God has become a money-making business. They have enough and more money to invest in the shares and mutual funds but not to the one who is begging in its porch. Is not Jesus crucified? 

Jesus is crucified even in our own communities and culture. The blood of caste and creed is very thick in our blood. Somehow, we are not able to come out of it, be it Christians or in any other religions. Jesus did not make any distinction between sex and creed. He only propagated egalitarian society and annihilated differences. He tried to cross the boundaries of the dissention. Yet, he was accused. People are suffocating due to this sickness in our communities. Are we not crucifying Jesus again? 

We are in need of Jesus’ resurrection today. The society is in very much in need of resuscitation. Jesus’s incarnation was to put an end to the physical, moral, psychological and spiritual suffering and thus to establish the Kingdom of God, a kingdom of peace and harmony. Where there is really a growth, where there is a brotherhood and there is Jesus. The distance between the Good Friday and Easter is not a big one, just ‘three days’. This means, darkens, sin, our negative attitudes will not last long, nor should they persist. Jesus the light and life of humanity (John 9:5; 8:12; 12:46) will be triumphant irrespective of our co-operation or non-cooperation. It’s my firm conviction and belief that whenever chaos reaches to its zenith, the re-incarnation of God takes place in some form or the other, in the form of righteous people or the events. When one human being recognizes the other fellow human being as ‘brother, sister, mother, father’, Jesus becomes alive. This is the day of resurrection which I am longing for. 

Dr. Fr. Raju Felix Crasta 

Fast and Abstinence: Being in Touch with the Reality

The concept, ‘fast’ is common for every culture, religion and tradition. Even the science does approve ‘fasting’ as a diet for a healthy living. Ordinarily, ‘fast’ means “abstaining from food.” Both the Germanic root word “fæste” and the Old English “fæst” means “to hold firmly,” or “to have firm control of oneself.” The word used in Sanskrit language is “upavāsa,” which is the combination of two words: upa and vāsa. ‘Upa’ means near, the proximity and ‘vāsa’ means dwelling, staying or abode. Thus, the word upavāsa or fast means, firmly staying near or firmly dwelling near.

Phenomenologically speaking, one is asked to stay near when one has gone far away or at least there is a tendency to go away from the desired place. In a religious sense, it is staying in the divine abode. During the time of fast one needs to be rooted firmly in the presence of the Lord or firmly follow the precepts of the Lord in letter and spirit. It may be either one is far away from the Lord or the person has a repeated tendency to go away from the Lord. To stay near the Lord, one needs to be worthy of it. Worthiness comes from one’s purification. The purity comes by abstaining that which does not suit the very being of the person or from the impure life lived. This means, it is not only abstaining from food, but also from those things which malign the very divine nature of the creation, in particular the human being.

Why do we fast? The traditional religious answer is to keep the ‘cosmic harmony’ (ṛta)–of self and nature. Every self is a miniature cosmos (microcosm) and it has a deeper relationship with the macrocosm. The well-being of the individual is the well-being of the cosmos, that is, the harmony of the self is the harmony of the other. Therefore, to keep the macrocosm in order, the harmony of microcosm is crucial. The cosmic degradation that we see today is due to the unhealthy behaviour of certain individuals and structures. It is not possible to undo all the harm that is caused so far, but a further danger can be averted or lessened by performing a certain a divine ritual called the ‘upavāsa.’ The same thing applies to a religious life also.  

In the Bhagavad Gītā Krishna tells Arjuna, “do not work looking for the fruit.” Fruit will certainly follow depending on the work performed (chapter 2, verse 47), rather work for the ‘lokasaṁgraha’ (chapter 3, verse 20, 25), the welfare of the worlds. The word ‘worlds’ refers to both transcendental and material world. In other words, it is the welfare of whole cosmos. Fast should be performed for the well-being (‘kalyāṇakāri’). During the Indian freedom struggle, Gandhiji performed several ‘upavāsa satyāgrahas’ for the welfare of the country. This kind of fast is an inspiration from the Gītā. Fast, thus becomes ‘kalyāṇakāri.’ Religiously, fast can be ‘kalyāṇakāri’ provided it is done in the spirit of ‘upavāsa.’ Then it becomes an emancipatory act or a spiritual act.

Pope Francis speaks about the things one need to fast, and inculcate the certain practices that makes someone ‘humane.’ In his words:

Fast from HURTING WORDS and say KIND WORDS

Fast from SADNESS and be filled with GRATITUDE

Fast from ANGER and be filled with PATIENCE

Fast from PESSIMISM and be filled with HOPE

Fast from worries and TRUST IN GOD

Fast from COMPLAINTS and contemplate SIMPLICITY

Fast from PRESSURES and PRAYERFUL

Fast from BITTERNESS and fill you heart with JOY

Fast from SELFISHNESS and be COMPASSIONATE to others

Fast from GRUDGES and be RECONCILED

Fast from WORDS and be SILENT so that you can listen.

Thus, fast, true to its etymology, is not just restricting a kind of food intake, but practicing more of human values that create a just and humane world to live by. Of course, the prime aspect of fast is giving up of food and luxuries. But it is not just giving up of these things for a day or certain duration, but what has been saved by doing such noble task is to be dispensed for the welfare–the good of the last, the least and the lost. If not, any amount of fast and abstinence will not bring ‘kalyāṇa.’

For the Christians, the official Church instructs fasting on two special occasions: the ‘Ash Wednesday’ and the ‘Good Friday’ (the Code of Canon Law, nos. 1249-1253). At the same time, the Church also recommends fast on all the Fridays of the Lent and even other ordinary Fridays, but it is not obligatory. However, the Church strongly recommends abstinence from several luxurious and pompous practices during the Lenten time. The money thus saved is collected and used against the world hunger and disease. Several individuals too perform acts of charity according to their capacity. Islam religion also performs such acts with utmost devotion and care during their period of fast. 

Fasting is not done for the sake of doing an act of charity. The act of charity is the reparation for the harm done due to one’s sins of commission and omission. Sin of commission is the sin incurred by the willfully committed wrong act. On the other hand, sin of omission is the sin incurred by not doing what is supposed to have done. In this way, one has gone away from the divine or willfully has chosen not to be part of the cosmic unity. To exist in the world, there is no other way but to exist in relationship and that too necessarily with nature, God and human beings. One is doing a greater harm if does not take care of the other.  Not taking care is not assisting in the welfare. This amounts to the sin of omission. We have been receiving a lot of love and care from the world, nature, God and humans. In fact, we are indebted to them. Therefore, the reparation is must for every individual, be it religious or non-religious.

What makes us to realize this truth during the fast? As it is said in the beginning, fast is ‘staying near the Lord’. Just as a drowning person experiences the need for breathing air, so too, the person in fast experiences the hunger. Only when one is deprived of the luxury one is living with experiences the contrary. The person who has not experienced the poverty can never understand the plight of the poor. Most of the welfare schemes go unaddressed due to this fact. Therefore, such people need a humbling experience which fasting can provide.

There is ample time to reflect, meditate and pray during the Lenten season. Bible says, “When you pray, go into your inner room, shut your door, and pray to your Father, who is unseen. And your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you” (Matthew 6:6). It is also said, “When you fast, do not look gloomy like the hypocrites, for they disfigure their faces that their fasting may be seen by others” (Matthew 6:16). Therefore, prayer and fasting–as two sides of a coin–is to be done with utmost devotion and love. The fast finds its conclusion at the performance of a noble deed. Therefore, upav­āsa can be called a ‘bhakti-karma-samuccaya’–a combination of devotion and action in equal proportion leading to the liberation.

Fasting can be much more than associating with food, evil thoughts and bad habits. It can be saying a categorical “NO” to injustice, and a categorical “YES” to an act of selfless service to the needy. An act of omission is more dangerous than an act of commission. Often we keep quiet or do not act or speak when injustice is done to an innocent person. By not raising voice against the injustice, we are actually committing injustice. We come across several occasions to ‘fast’ against injustice and ‘celebrate’ justice by means of our ‘Yes’ to justice. This is nothing but staying near (upa-vāsa) to the ‘truth.’

While performing the self-evaluation, one will find the areas and causes of one’s own alienation from the Reality. The alienation is due to the pollution, the pollution from within and without. The within pollution is due to our lust, anger, envy, jealousy, indifference, pride, greed, gluttony, wrath and sloth. These result in our external alienation from the reality causing environmental degradation, destruction of the forest and minerals, air pollution, radiation pollution, etc. Greed for ‘having more’ instead of ‘being more’ caring is destroying the cosmic unity. Anger and pride are resulting in war-like situations in the society. At times our culture and education instead of uniting the people is becoming the cause of divisions. We find humanity is at stake. Therefore, we need to reconcile both with humanity and world. Only a heart-felt reconciliation can heal the opened wounds and build a livable world. This is the upavāsa ritual that the entire humanity must perform time and again. Therefore, to be worthy, the devotee must reconcile those unbecoming areas of life and begin anew with renewed vigour, as Jesus said, “leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled to them; then come and offer your gift” (Matthew 5:24).

Fr. Raju Felix Crasta

Statues and Statutes: Critique of a Propaganda

Years ago, I attended a psycho-spiritual integration seminar. Every day the seminar began with a meditation at the dawn, followed by what they called ‘processing,’ a special technique of knowing one’s own inner self. One of the meditations that shook my entire person was, “The Statue Meditation.” The meditation was very simple: falling into the meditation as usual, imagining that one is a statue, becoming one with it, and finally coming out of it. At the processing, one is asked to draw in a sheet of white paper with crayon pencils in the non-dominant hand the picture of the statue that we became with all the background and structure. Certain questions were asked by the guide and we just answered them in the same sheet. This opened our inner being. I am not further going to describe what the image I became or how I portrayed ‘my-self.’ What I want to critique is the recent phenomena of statue desecration in India.

The phenomena of erecting statues have been an age old tradition to immortalize a certain ideology. It is not seen just in one particular tradition, culture or ideology, but a world-wide phenomenon. The kind of statue one erects portrays the kind of philosophy it upholds. For example, the statue of Jesus the Crucified points out that one should love unto the last drop of blood for the good of the other without condemning anyone, even the one who wants to destroy you; Buddha’s mediation statue of shows his serene mind and invites us to be peaceful in all the circumstances; Tīrthankara Gomaṭeśvara or Bahubali’s statue teaches us not to have any attachment, even to the clothes, and face all the difficulties with courage and one-pointed devotion (ekāgracitta bhakti); Ambedkar’s statue with a book reminds us of the Holy Constitution of the Republic India and its significance for each citizen of the country; the statue of Gandhiji with a spinning wheel inspires us to be self-sufficient and self-reliant with things that we own, and so on. Thus, statues remind us what they boldly stood for something earlier.

Statue and busts of Vladimir Lenin, EVR Ramasamy or Periyar and Syama Prasad Mookerjee

But the recent phenomenon of destruction and desecration of existing statues in the democratic country is an undemocratic act. It is a condemnable act. The unceremonious demolition of the statue of the communist leader Vladimir Illych Lenin in Tripura after the landmark victory of BJP, the desecration of Periyar statue in Tamil Nadu, statue of Shyama Prasad Mukherjee in Kolkata, Ambedkar Statue in MP, and some reported and unreported cases about Christian religious statues elsewhere in the country speak much about the new trends of statue vandalism in the country.

However, this trend is not something new to this time. In the olden days the kings after winning the war, the victorious king either desecrated or destroyed the chief deity of the rival kingdom. Partly because of the treasure they contained like gold and silver, and partly as a sign of defeat of the morality of the enemies. When the deity is destroyed, the identity of a particular kingdom associated with it is also understood to be destroyed.

What do these vandalized statues stand for? Lenin (1870-1924), the Russian communist revolutionary, politician and political theorist who unified the Soviet Union stands for the “Marxist ideology.” Though Marxism is not the philosophy of India, the Indians are very much influenced by the philosophy of ‘classless socialist society.’ We do not find ‘class struggle’ like that of Russia in India, but we do find struggle for equality, struggle for social status and such issues which force people to accept this ideology. Erode Venkata Ramasamy, was commonly known as Periyar (1879-1973) is a Dravidian pride of Tamil Nadu who launched movements against casteism. Being oppressed by the Brahminism, launched a political party to uphold the voice of the voiceless. Today, irrespective of Dravidian parities, he is hailed as a savior figure. Shyama Prasad Mukherjee (1901-1953) was an Indian politician, barrister and academician, who served as the Minister for Industry and Supply in Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru's cabinet. After falling out with Nehru, Mukherjee quit the Indian National Congress and founded the right wing nationalist Bharatiya Jana Sangh, a predecessor to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), in 1951. He was also the president of Akhil Bharatiya Hindu Mahasabha from 1943 to 1946. Mukherjee strongly had opposed the Article 370 of the Indian Constitution that gives autonomous status to the state of Jammu and Kashmir. Thus, Mukherjee stands for ‘one nation, one constitution, one chief and one symbol’ theory. This theory was also reiterated by L.K. Advani latter.  Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar (1891–1956), popularly known as Baba Saheb, was an Indian jurist, architect of the Constitution of India, economist, politician and social reformer who inspired the Dalit Buddhist Movement and campaigned against social discrimination against Dalits, while supported the rights of women and labour. He is the face of Indian democracy, and justice and equality.  

The present vandalism seems to be an attempt to replace the constitutional statutes with ideological statutes of the perpetrators. The demolition of statues obviously is a violation of democratic statutes. The democracy gives ample space for individual and community rights. It upholds the freedom of speech. Diversity is the culture of the democracy. Singularity is alien to the democracy. In a democratic country like India, people have the right to form parties, social institutions, follow the creed of their choice, and practice and  propagate the faith one adheres to. Debarring this and attempting to follow one culture and one tradition is not the philosophy of Indian Constitution.

Often, Marxism is understood to be an atheistic tradition. But, in India this is not so. Indians are very much theistic and so too are the people who profess the Marxian ideology. Secondly, Marxian ideology is a socialistic one, which respects every tradition and culture. The pulling down of Lenin statute in Tripura amidst “Bharat mata ki Jai” slogans cannot be justified by any means. What Tripura Governor Mr. Tathagata Roy said, “A democratically elected government can undo what the previous government has done” is nothing but equaling apples with oranges. Does this statement approves such acts or at least condemns it? First of all, going against the sentiments of people even if they are minority, is morally wrong. Secondly, one cannot destroy other’s property, be it of an individual, or organization or of the public. Thirdly, in the democratic situation, even renaming a road, a heritage site or any other places has a process. Taking law upon oneself as a right to do anything is not freedom.

A sudden outburst of anger or destruction in any psychological situation is understood to be an ‘unconscious act’ of the person. Unconscious never errs. What we infer from the vandalism of the Lenin statue therefore, is the eruption of lava of fundamental ideology of the perpetrators and the people who poisoned their minds. The fascist forces were on work ever since CPM ruled the state. The only way they could make their presence felt was to divide the community, and spill the seeds of vengeance and hatred. It is often said, a repeated lie can make a person believe it to be true. Similarly, a repeated hatred towards someone can make people accept the other to be an enemy. But, I strongly believe, that the truth has the ability to withstand any communal or psychological aberrations. Only the truth will set the world free.

The vandalism that we saw could be an expression of cumulative anger over a dissatisfaction of a fraction of society. The dissatisfaction could be towards the previous regime, or caused by an indoctrination, or a fundamentalist weltanschauung. Cumulative anger could also due to unfulfilled promises of the past or the failure in keeping with the pace of the total growth. A group of people think that this way is the only available alternative and there is no other alternative ways. This way of thinking is not only wrong politically, but also morally.

History reveals us that those acts of felling the memorials are not pleasant to the ears. Though the statue of Saddam Hussein was toppled on 9 April 2003 in Bagdad, the memory of the dictator is still alive with people in various forms. Though the Taliban militants dynamited the world renowned 1700 year old Buddha’s statue in Afghanistan, the memories still linger on. This kind of vandalism only proclaims the type of philosophy such people are propagating. No civilized culture of accommodation can approve this. Indian culture, which we proudly say as “sanātana” was known for accommodation. It welcomed every culture, tradition and philosophy. It has no dogmas or heresies like any other religions. It can accommodate both theistic philosophies (like Nyāya-Vaiśeṣika) and atheistic philosophies (like Sānkhya) without any tension. From the kind of unbecoming wave that is being witnessed today, we cannot but affirm the death of Indian values and culture in the near future.

Could this be a strategy to re-write Indian History? Looking at the vandalism of statues of Periyar and Ambedkar, it seems to be so. These two figures symbolize equality and justice. The thing to be suspected here is the rewriting of the Constitution and the history of India in favour of Hindutva to make the country a “Hindu Rashtra.” This re-writing is possible only then when these saviour figures are systematically established as anti-saviours. The Reuters reports, “The government of Hindu nationalist Prime Minister Narendra Modi had quietly appointed the committee of scholars about six months earlier.” The idea is to make a “holistic study” of the evolution of 1200 years of Indian culture, though the government has vehemently denied about the re-writing of history. RSS spokesman Manmohan Vaidya said in an interview, “The true colour of Indian history is saffron and to bring about cultural changes we have to rewrite history.”  If this happens, no doubt, the democracy will be a thing of the past.

India was a country of accommodation and it should be maintained by all means today and tomorrow for the good of our new generation. For this we need rationalists and thinkers, socialists and activists, educationists and scientists. Integrity and peace come before religious ethos.  Above all, being human and teaching others to be so, is to be divine. Let us strive for this.  

Raju Felix Crasta

Professor of Philosophy and Religion

Picture source: 

http://www.sirfnews.com/communist-monstrosity-larger-than-their-fallen-statues-governments/

https://www.ndtv.com/india-news/on-vandalism-of-statues-home-ministry-asks-states-to-check-such-incidents-1820589

Lent: A Time to Walk-the-Vāk

This is a story from a Buddhist tradition. There lived a family: Dhanadāsa, his wife Sumati, and the son Lakṣmīdāsa. They were all living like pagans. Lakṣmidasa had married to a girl who was converted to dhamma some twenty years ago upon a discourse by a bhikṣu. After the marriage his wife tried to bring the members of the family to dhamma. After five years of her strenuous effort her mother-in-law, Sumati got convinced of the way and accepted her path. They had a son, and he embraced dhamma at the age of five. Just two years ago, her husband too followed the way of dhamma. One day a young bhikṣu came to his house for alms. While giving alms the daughter-in-law began interacting with the Bhikṣu. “Oh Bhikṣu, what is your name?” The Bhikṣu replied, “I am not with a name. I go beyond name and forms.” “You seem to be very young. How old are you?” “I am beyond time. I was born before time.” “How did you choose this path?” “I have understood the passing of this life. I have experienced the divine presence. And I have surrendered everything to Buddha and ready for my salvation. By the way, how old are you?” She replied, “I am twenty years old.” “How old is your mother in law?” “She is fifteen years old.” “How old is your son?” “He is five years old.” “How old is your husband?” “He is two years old.” How old is your father-in-law?” “He is not yet born.” 

It is not when one is born that matters, but how well one lives the life. Jesus tells Nicodemus, “No one can enter the kingdom of God unless they are born of water and the Spirit” (Jn 3:1-21). Being born again is to born in faith and in communion with the Lord. Communion with the Lord is nothing but a long lasting encounter with the divine. 

Every religion has a truth to live by, has a message to communicate and values to propagate. There is something unique in every culture and creed. The question I need to reflect here is this: “What is that unique thing in my religion that I have encountered/experienced in my life?” My experience of this uniqueness of my religion paves the foundation for my journey of faith and defines my personality. That convinces me of my vocation and leads me to live that conviction. If I lack this experience I cannot be a ‘religious’ in a stricter sense. Being ‘born again’ is an invitation to experience this unique salvific event of my life. Therefore, I need to be born again. 

The real journey begins once I experience the uniqueness of my faith. This is nothing but realizing my mission and beginning to live a life of total dedication to the task I have undertaken. In this sense, one can ask oneself, “How old am I?” It is not an easy task to answer. The answer will vary from the person to person. One may have dedicated oneself to a religious way of life, but not necessary that one is grown enough in that life. One may have dedicated oneself to be a house-holder (gṛhasthaśrama dharma), but may not be a good husband, father, son, mother, wife, mother-in-law, daughter-in-law, daughter and so on. One may have started a religious center or runs a huge religious renewal programme to cater the divine appetite of people, but may not be a religious person at all. According to the story narrated above, they may not have ‘born at all,’ or may still remain to be ‘infants,’ or ‘children,’ or ‘teenagers,’ though one is at the doorsill of physical old-age. Seldom we have seen ‘adults’ who are fit to be in such positions. This is a reality in every tradition and culture. 

I pose two questions here: “what determines the age for your present way of life? What stage of spiritual life you have reached so far?” 

We believe in what we are convinced of, and our conviction begins from our experience. Once we are convinced, need to walk the talk–live and act what is experienced and convinced of. The ‘talk’ is the ‘Word of God’ or ‘Vāk’ incarnated in our very being, that is, the life lived according to the revelation we have received. Reflecting in this sense, are we yet to be born, just born (infants), children, teenagers or adults? Depending on our age, we need to grow/mature. If not, we call it the ‘abnormal growth’ or the ‘stunted growth.’ The way one talks, relates, speaks, takes decision in life, behaves in the public, initiatives one takes, the content of the public speech, the selection of words one makes in the speech, etc. tell us how the person is growing. You cannot expect a child to take a mature decision, nor an adult to act like a child. At the same time, a ‘child’ can be the ‘father’ of a ‘just born child’ or a ‘not yet born child.’ Each stage of growth has its own dynamics. At the same time, every stage has a particular vocabulary and way of life. For example, it does not suit the person of holding a highest position in an institution to use reproachful and disparaging words. That is not only demeaning the person oneself, but also to the position one holds on. Such people, per se, are ‘not yet born’ and therefore, have no moral right to hold on to such position. 

What are the yardsticks to test ourselves? There can be several pointers which can gage our growth in life, or tell us how old we are. At the end of the day, it is not to accuse ourselves whether we are right or wrong, but whether we are in the right direction or not. It is not whether we have achieved our goals (to be adults) or not, but in what rigor/pace we are moving ahead. It is to see the Self through our own selves (paśyati ātmanam ātmāna says the Mahābhārata 12.242.10). This is our own Spiritual Quotient (SQ). 

Some of the yardsticks are: the emotional life, the self-acceptance, the self-image or the self-esteem, the inter-personal or the community life, my dedication to the work entrusted, being true to myself, etc. One may be an excellent preacher or gives an excellent satsang or known to be a spiritual guide, but may not be true to himself/herself. Mother Teresa, Baba Amte, Gandhiji could be some of the excellent examples for ‘Walking-the-Vāk.’ 

To conclude, what is the age of our religious gurus, politicians, doctors, bureaucrats, social workers, etc.? What is my age? Lenten season is a season to look back and see the foot-prints we have walked; to look down and see our own gait and begin afresh with renewed vigour; and to look ahead with hope in the Lord to experience the Easter event, the Resurrection. Let us listen, meditate and contemplate. 

Fr. Raju Felix Crasta

Originally Published in http://thewriter.in/ on 14 February 2018, in the following link http://thewriter.in/lent-time-walk-vak/.