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Dear all,
Here is an interesting article from 'the hindu'.
"To discern truth from whichever quarter it comes is true wisdom."
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This article is emailed to you by Sunil Mogadati ( m.sunil@barco.com )
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Source: The Hindu (http://www.the-hindu.com)

Towards religious unity

I AM grateful to the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) chief for
having asked the Indian Christians to form Swadeshi Church which
is the urgent need of the hour. Ramakrishna inspired me to
initiate efforts to integrate the cultural and moral heritage of
India with the practice of Christianity. I spent one year of
sabbatical leave (1995-96) on the indepth study of the life and
sayings of Ramakrishna by which I was completely transformed. The
devotion of Ramakrishna to Jesus Christ gave me the most
effective guidance to follow Jesus Christ in the best possible
way. In a Catholic Christian College located in the capital of an
Indian state, I gave a lecture on the ``Devotion of Ramakrishna
to Jesus Christ'' and the president of Ramakrishna Mission in the
city attended the lecture and expressed his appreciation through
a letter. In the lecture I rigorously proved that Ramakrishna
followed Jesus Christ in the best possible way, and argued for
ranking Ramakrishna above all the followers of Jesus Christ
including St. Peter and all the Popes of the Roman Catholic
Church into which I was admitted by baptism in 1946.

Irresistible desire

In November 1874 Ramakrishna, the Guru of Vivekananda, was seized
with an irresistible desire to learn the truth of the teachings
of Jesus Christ. He therefore listened to readings from the Bible
by Sambhu Charan Mallick, a gentleman of Calcutta and a devotee
of the Master. Ramakrishna was fascinated by the life and
teachings of Jesus. One day when he was seated in the parlour of
Jadu Mallick's garden house at Dakshineswar, his eyes became
fixed on a painting of Mother Mary and Infant Jesus. Intently
watching it, he became gradually overwhelmed with divine emotion.
It so appeared that the figures in the picture took on life, and
the rays of the light emanating from them entered his soul. In
dismay he cried out, ``O Mother! What are you doing to me?''
Jesus Christ possessed his soul. He did not set foot in the Kali
temple for three days. (He was the priest of the Kali temple). On
the fourth day, in the afternoon, as he was walking in the
Panchavati, he saw coming toward him a person with beautiful
eyes, serene countenance and fair skin. As the two faced each
other, a voice rang out in the depths of his soul, ``Behold the
Christ, who shed His heart's blood for the redemption of the
world, who suffered a sea of anguish for love of men. It is He,
the Master Yogi, who is in eternal union with God. It is Jesus,
Love Incarnate.''

In the history of humankind Ramakrishna is the only person who
engaged himself physically in the service of those people of
India who were dehumanised by the Rig Veda and condemned by Manu
as untouchables/sinners by birth. Those people are now called
Dalits. They were the scavengers of non-Dalit Hindus.
Ramakrishna, the Brahmana of Brahmanas, developed great
compassion for these people. He wanted to serve them physically.
These people did not allow him to go near them as they were
scared of the laws of Manu. So he got up in the dead of night and
entered their colony and cleansed their latrines with his own
hands and swept the ground with his long hair. He did this day
after day in order to erase the feeling of caste-superiority. He
firmly asserted that lovers of God do not belong to any caste. It
is the love of God that made this Brahmana of Brahmanas a
scavenger of scavengers.

We may compare this act of Ramakrishna with what Jesus Christ did
on the day of his Last Supper, Holy Thursday. He rose from table,
laid aside his garments, and taking a towel, tied it round him.
Then he poured water into a basin, and began to wash his
disciples' feet and to wipe them with the towel. When it was
Simon Peter's turn, Peter said to him, ``You, Lord, washing my
feet?'' Jesus replied. ``You do not understand now what I am
doing, but one day you will.'' Peter said, ``I will never let you
wash my feet.'' Jesus replied, ``If I do not wash you, you are
not in fellowship with me.'' ``Then, Lord,'' said Simon Peter,
``not my feet only, wash my hands and head as well.'' After
washing their feet and taking his garments again, he sat down.
``Do you understand,'' he asked, ``what I have done for you? You
call me `Master' and `Lord,' and rightly so, for that is what I
am. Then if I, your Lord and Master, have washed your feet, you
also ought to wash one another's feet. I have set you an example;
you are to do as I have done for you. In very truth I tell you, a
servant is not greater than his master, nor a messenger than the
one who sent him. If you know this, happy are you if you act upon
it.'' Pope John Paul II kisses the feet of 12 clergymen after
washing their feet on the Holy Thursday in the Easter week rite.

Rama is a great symbol of the divine virtues of honoring parents
and loving brethren. In order to honour the word of his father
(given to one of his step-mothers) Rama gave up his right to rule
the kingdom and went to forest. His brother Bharatha went to the
forest and requested Rama to come back and rule the country but
he refused. Bharatha valued the great sacrifice made by Rama for
the sake of virtuous life and kept the footwear of Rama in the
throne. People of all nations can benefit from the good example
set by Rama. We need not get upset by the findings contained in
the recently published scientific thesis of an eminent
astrophysicist who was honoured as Nehru Fellow and who was
associated with Chicago Academy of Sciences.

This astrophysicist has reconciled puranic history with
archaeological evidence and confirmed that Rama was born and
lived in Afghanistan and hence Rama's Ayodhya was in Afghanistan
and it had nothing to do with India and that the Rig Veda was
composed in Afghanistan. We all may go on pilgrimage to the true
Ayodhya in Afghanistan. Thiruvalluvar, the ancient Tamil poet who
is considered to be the founder of the common religion of the
world said, ``To discern truth from whichever quarter it comes is
true wisdom.'' This is the original Hindu culture of the mind,
the source of the great strength of Hinduism.
Absence of Varna scheme

In the ancient Indian society, Hinduism promoted pure love of God
through deep devotion to nature, the wonderful creations of God.
Ancient Tamil literature reveals that `Sivam' referred to large
hill. As hill is a big (visible) creation of God, it was
identified with God. In the ancient Indian tradition, people did
not name God because they believed that calling a person by name
affects the respect accorded to him. Even today, in the Tamil
society, there are people who do not utter the name of father,
father-in-law, husband, etc. In the Hinduism practised by Tamil
society, Neem tree is traditionally identified with God seen as
Mother and Bodhi tree with God seen as King. In Hindu temples
Bodhi and Neem trees are grown together.

In ancient India, Hindu society was not divided by any sort of
Varna scheme. Before the advent of Vedic people (who came from
Afghanistan) Indian society was classified naturally into people
of hills (Kurunchi), people of forests (Mullai), people of plains
(Marutham), people of sea-coasts (Neithal), people of deserts
(Palai) and no one was dehumanised or condemned as
untouchable/sinner/slave by birth.

Reservoir of original heritage

It is well known that Sanskrit was a language of West Asia and a
sister language of Latin. It was brought into India by the Vedic
people of Afghanistan. Dravidian languages, particularly Tamil
and Telugu, were ancient Indian languages. Tamil literature is a
permanent reservoir of the original Hindu heritage and pure
spirituality which have universal relevance and significance. Let
us unearth, and benefit from, this great Indian heritage!

The ancient Indian society was practising pure secular
spirituality. This is evident from the Tamil literature belonging
to the Sangam age. Thirukkural the most valued and sacred
scripture of Tamil society, does not mention any name of God. In
the very first chapter `In Praise of God', Thiruvalluvar (the
author of Thirukkural) performs the extraordinary feat of
devoting ten couplets exclusively to submitting oneself to God,
keeping his references to God so general that he is kept
universal and would not be identified exclusively with any
religion. The emphasis is on Universality of God, Universality of
Virtues and the value of Ahimsa. In Puram, a part of Tamil
literature of Sangam period, we find, ``All the world is my home
and all men and women are my kith and kin.''

It is very necessary that our young men and women should be well
informed on these matters so that they may not succumb to narrow-
minded parochialism of various types which are widely prevalent
in India today. When loyalties are so broad-based and when there
is so much to learn about countries, languages and cultures, why
do people restrict themselves so badly? Thiruvalluvar asks, ``For
the truly learned, every land and town on earth is their own;
when that is so, why does the process of learning not continue
till death?'' This question is very relevant when we are facing
unpleasant situations of confrontations and unreasonable violence
arising out of religious fundamentalism, linguistic fanaticism,
regional and sub-regional loyalties, and terroristic aberrations
contingent upon one or more of these developments in various
parts of India.

I want to make it very clear that I have great respect for
Brahmins (the Vedic people) and Sanskrit (the fine language they
brought into India). I am ever grateful to the Brahmin Professor
(who was the chief trustee of the Perumal Temple in my native
place) who guided me so excellently in my choice of discipline
for higher studies. It is only because of his kind and honest
advice that I could specialise in a new discipline and make
contributions that were highly appreciated by the World Health
Organisation, Harvard University, Tokyo University, World Bank,
etc. ``World Development Report 1993: Investing in Health''
prominently used (as a ``classic example'') the applied research
I completed in the collaborative study I organised at Harvard
University (U.S.) under an International Japanese award.

Great strength

The spirit of understanding and tolerance has been a
characterising feature of the original Indian Hinduism. This is
evident from the fact that Sanskrit language and Rama of
Afghanistan were well accepted by the Hindus. The right
understanding of the original Indian Hinduism is very essential
for preserving the virtue of tolerance, the great strength of
Hinduism. True Hindus of India continue to possess this virtue of
tolerance and hence they do not hate Islam or Christianity. Many
true Hindus go to churches and mosques for worshipping God even
today.

E. MAX

Copyrights: 2000 The Hindu  & Tribeca Internet Initiatives Inc.

Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly
prohibited without the consent of The Hindu & Tribeca Internet Initiatives
Inc.


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