Bishops Conference - Asansol

God experience: As joy to be shared in our multi-faith context

Revered Father Thomas DSouza, Archbishop & Metropolitan of Calcutta, Revered Bishops of the
six Dioceses of Bengal and Sikkim, Revered Provincials and Sisters, a very good morning to all of you. I
thank Sr Anna Maria for introducing me in detail. I come from Ramakrishna Mission, Belur Math. I run a
Polytechnic College and two Skill Development Centers there.

I deal mainly with students and teachers. A couple of months ago, when Sr Anna Maria came to me in
Belur Math and said that I would have to speak in a program in Asansol, I said Yes. I agreed because,
Sister is Principal of a famous school in Chandan Nagar, and I conveniently assumed that it would be a
program either for students or teachers. That is the only audience I am comfortable speaking to. Two days
ago, I had some email correspondence with Sister where I asked her the composition of this audience, just
to confirm my assumption. I was shocked when she wrote back that the audience would be Bishops,
Provincials and Sisters of Bengal and Sikkim, and that there would be no students or teachers at all! I
almost decided that I wouldnt go. But then I thought, if I did that, Sister Anna Maria would be in a soup;
where would she go for a speaker at the last minute! That is the only reason I am here today.

I do not presume I can teach anything here to an audience such as yours. Nor can I speak to you all
about anything that you all dont already know. While introducing me, Sr Anna Maria said that I had
experienced God and that I would share the joy of my God experience with you all. I must tell you that I
havent yet experienced God. I am on the path. I consider you all as my fellow travelers. I have learned
some lessons along the path from my teachers. If I stand here today, it is only as a student, reporting back
to his teachers all that he had learnt with their help.

Sister Anna Maria asked me to speak for two hours! I believe that will be a torture for both you and
me, if I speak non-stop. So what I am going to do is something like this:

Scheme of todays program:

08.30am 9.15am : Lecture on Comparative Religion
09.15am 9.30am : Break
09.30am 10.30am : Lecture on spirituality
10.30am 11.00am : Tea break
11.00am 11.45am : GD & reflection
11.45am 12.30pm : Feedback

Comparative Study of Religion

I will begin by speaking for about 45 minutes on an important topic Comparative Study of Religion.
We shall begin by defining the term God. Of course, it is meaningless to define God. I cannot be so
presumptuous. But, we ought to be clear about the meaning of this term God. All of us use this word.
But do we mean the same thing?

Religion & God: Boon or bane?

Religion has a very interesting feature. Is religion a boon or a curse on us? The jury seems to be still
out on that! The greatest good on humanity has come from religion. The worst experiences of humanity
too have come from religion. Ask anyone to name 10 of the greatest persons to have walked on Earth and
they will tell you the names of 10 Holy men. Ask them again to name the worst persons to walk on Earth

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and again, they will tell the names of the followers of these 10 greatest Holy men! Such is the bipolar
nature of Religion.

The great radical thinker and stand-up comedian George Carlin put it very graphically. He says:
Religion is the greatest blessing on mankind. It is also unfortunately the worst curse on mankind! More
blood has been shed in the name of religion than for any other reason. History tells us that. More people
have died because of giving the wrong answer to the God question in this world.

Do you believe in God?

No. Boom!
Do you believe in God?
Yes.
Do you believe in my God?
No. Boom!!

That is how it is, really! You and I can be very good friends. Then I realize you dont subscribe to
my version of God. And that revelation instantly awakens hatred in me for you! All the deep friendship I
had for you vanishes into thin air. Now it is a question of imposing my version of God on you. Or the
other way out. So, we need to fight it out. The survivors version of God reigns supreme! That is the
general history of all religion, everywhere, for you. I know, some people will say that they have never
hurt anyone in the name of religion. Hindus and Jews are famous for saying that. But let us face facts. The
blood is on all of us. All of us are equally guilty. All religions have persecuted non-believers of their
version of God. All of us are guilty of having tried overtly or covertly to undermine and destroy religions
other than our own. All of us are guilty of having destroyed places of worship of other religions. All of us
are guilty of maligning the religious traditions, religious beliefs, and religious leaders of other religions.

Two aspects of Religion

It is against this background that comparative study of religion becomes so important for all of us. It
is a new field of study; it began some 200 years ago; we found out that we can apply the rules of logic to
religions and study them. Comparative Study of Religions is an intellectual exercise. We shall try to
understand religions that we dont belong to. We shall try to understand the others. Some may argue
we dont know ourselves well, and why would we want to understand others? It is urgently required.
There is too much energy being wasted in hating the others. Supposing we dont know something; that
ignorance happens to be the root of much mischief in our lives. Knowledge is redeeming. The others
that we hate, that we denigrate, will then turn out to be just like us. No difference; same as us. Right now,
it doesnt look so. But with some understanding, we shall see that is so.

We had a revered monk called Swami Subodhananda in Ramakrishna Mission. He would tell a
beautiful story from his childhood. He and his many brothers and sisters were playing at home one day.
They were making a lot of noise. Suddenly, the door opened and in came a person with a tigers mask.
That scene petrified the young boy Subodhananda. When the kids had all become silent, the mask came
off and his own mother stood there smiling! The Swami would say later, Ever since, I realized that we
should unmask the source of our fear, and we shall see our very own standing there!

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A comparative study of religions reveals that all religions have two aspects to them. One is the
cultural aspect. The other is the spiritual aspect. Masses always follow the cultural aspects of religion.
This is the popular version of the religion. It consists of certain rituals peculiar to that religion. It consists
of rules and regulations about food, clothing, festivals, language and mythology. In this aspect, every
religion will differ from every other religion. In fact, the differentiating aspect of religions is the cultural
aspect. Hatred is the outcome of comparing the cultural aspects of religions. No, not just comparing;
hatred arises when one person tries to judge the cultural aspects of another persons religion; hatred arises
when one person attempts to impose the cultural aspects of his own religion on another person from some
other religion.

The other aspect, the spiritual aspect, is common to all religions. The strange part, the unfortunate
part is that this aspect of religion appeals only to a handful, at any given point of time, in any given
geography. The masses do not even recognize this aspect of religion, much less aspire for it. But, every
religion has a rare few who manifest, who follow, who realize, and who personify this spiritual aspect of
religion. Without an exception, every religion has such rare persons. And they all speak the same
language, irrespective of which religion they originally belonged to. Listening to them, it is difficult to
say which religion they belong to.

The famous Sufi saint Rabia was once asked by some people if she loved the Lord. She replied,
Yes; I love our Lord with all my heart and all my soul. Then they asked her if she hated the Devil. Her
famous reply signifies this spiritual aspect of religion, My love for the Lord leaves me no time to hate
the Devil. Just look at this answer Rabia gave! How often do we base our self-identity on what we hate
rather than on what we love!

Leo Tolstoy, the famous Russian writer and philosopher wrote a beautiful book called Twenty-three
tales. That book has an amazing story called The Three Hermits. All of you must have surely read that
amazing story. A bishop and several pilgrims are travelling on a fishing boat from Archangel to
the Solovetsk Monastery. During the voyage, the bishop engages the fishermen in conversation after
overhearing them discuss a remote island nearby their course where three old hermits lived a Spartan
existence focused on seeking salvation for their souls. Several of the fisherman claim to have seen them
once. The bishop then informs the captain that he wishes to visit the island. The captain attempts to
dissuade him by saying the old men are not worth your pains. I have heard say that they are foolish old
fellows, who understand nothing, and never speak a word. But the bishop insists, and the Captain steers
the ship toward the island and subsequently sets off in a rowboat to visit where he is met ashore by the
three hermits. The bishop informs the hermits that he has heard of them and of their seeking salvation. He
inquires how they are seeking salvation and serving God, but the hermits say they do not know how, only
that they pray, simply: Three are ye, three are we, have mercy upon us. Subsequently, the bishop
acknowledges that they have a little knowledge but are ignorant of the true meaning of the doctrine and
how properly to pray. He tells them that he will teach them not a way of my own, but the way in which
God in the Holy Scriptures has commanded all men to pray to Him and proceeds to explain the doctrines
of the incarnation and the Trinity. He attempts to teach them the Lord's Prayer, the Our Father, but the
simple hermits blunder and cannot remember the words which compels the bishop to repeat the lesson
late into the night. After he became satisfied that they had memorized the prayer, the bishop departed
from the island leaving the hermits with the firm instruction to pray as he had taught them. The bishop
then returned by the rowboat to the fisherman's vessel anchored offshore to continue the voyage. While

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on board, the bishop notices that their vessel is being followed at first thinking a boat was behind them
but soon realizing that the three hermits had been running across the surface of the water as though it
were dry land. The hermits catch up to the vessel as the captain stops the boat, and inform the bishop:
We have forgotten your teaching, servant of God. As long as we kept repeating it we remembered, but
when we stopped saying it for a time, a word dropped out, and now it has all gone to pieces. We can
remember nothing of it. Teach us again. The bishop was humbled and replied to the hermits: Your own
prayer will reach the Lord, men of God. It is not for me to teach you. Pray for us sinners. After which the
hermits turned around and walked back to their island.

This is the spiritual aspect of religion. It is common to all religions of the world.

Cultural aspect of religion a necessary evil

Why cant we just stick to the spiritual aspect of religion? Since it is common to all religions, we all
can agree to follow that aspect of religion only. It is so easy to ask questions. Answering them is next to
impossible, sometimes!

When we engage in comparative study of religions, this is one question that comes up very quickly
in most of us. But, the fun is we simply cannot jump out of our own skin! It is impossible to renounce
the cultural aspects of our religion. There seems to be personal preferences at play here. We all have
common spiritual goals. We all also have our own preferences in how to reach that common goal. That
reaching is the cultural aspect. Goal can be common; in fact, goal is common. But is there a common
path to that goal? That is the main question here. The innumerable nuances of the path, the infinite variety
in the practices, the minute things of food, clothes, buildings, books, language, idols, articles of faith,
mythology these are what defines our religion. How can we renounce it? I like it this way. I like it this
way. Why should I renounce it?

But the question arises, which is the correct path? Is mine the correct path? Or is yours the correct
one? Ah! A million dollar question! There is no universal correct path in religion. It is personal preference
that defines which path is meant for you, and which is meant for me. It is not even hereditary. My fathers
path need not appeal to me at all!

As long as we all follow our own preferred paths sincerely, things are fine. There is a great job being
performed by the cultural aspect of religion. It is the life, the heart, the engine, the motive power of
religion. Beginners in any religion cannot afford to leave these cultural aspects. They are like the fences
around the small plant. They protect the plant. Later on, when the plant grows into a huge tree, the fences
have no meaning. Premature catholicity in religion is dangerous. Growth gets stunted, even stopped. In
the beginning, we have to doggedly, fanatically, stick to our peculiarities of religion. Very soon, we are
expected to grow out of these cultural aspects. The sad part is all our lives we stick to the basic portions
of religion. All cultural aspects of religion are supposed to catapult us to the common ground of
spirituality. It is not happening. That is the crux of the problem. Anyway, we will deal with this idea later.

The problem arises when I try to impose my practices on you. What problem arises? You have
perhaps not yet matured enough to let go of your fences. Before you have matured, I might try to
transplant you! Your very existence seems threatened! You fight back.

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I ask myself often, when one person imposes his religious practices on another, what are the possible
scenarios? I can think of only two possible scenarios: Acceptance or Resistance. I am not dealing with
indifference here, the atheists. They dont have any problem. With the believers, there arise these
problems, I have been explaining, upon imposing my view of God and religion on them. Suppose, the
other guy accepts my view, no problem; all of us can live happily ever after. Problem comes when he
resists my imposition. Then, we might have to fight; and the winners view prevails on everyone. (I
assume we didnt fight to death!)

A much more basic question: why do I feel the need to impose my version of religion on you? I
think it is a very natural human tendency. Suppose I discover this wonderful restaurant which serves
divine coffee. Wont I drag all my friends there, one by one, and get them also to enjoy the wonderful
taste of that coffee? Isnt it natural to wish to share my joy with others? But, am I concerned that my
friend likes tea and not coffee? Further, if I do take a friend to the restaurant, get him the coffee, and he
passes a light-hearted or derogatory comment on the coffee, and subsequently on my taste; what would be
my reaction? What would be the future course of our friendship? I will start feeling that basic
assumptions in my life are being questioned. Isnt my liking correct? Isnt there a universal standard of
taste? If my taste is correct, how can an opposite taste be also correct?

Yet another fundamental question: which version of God and religion is the correct one? Where
indeed do we get our version of God and religion? From the Book; every religion has one. The Christians
have their Bible. The Muslims have their Koran. The Jews have their Talmud. The Hindus are yet to
come to a consensus on which is their The Book, but the Bhagavad Gita and Upanishads are hot
contenders! And so on and so forth, the list goes. Every religion uses the definite article The while
talking about their holy scripture. All these books have their own copyrighted, patented, peculiar versions
of God, creation, man, and the goal of human life. In every case, these The Book are accompanied by
many auxiliary books which prescribe the path that leads to the goal mentioned in those The Book. As
long as you stick to one religion, there is a wonderful consistency in all of these. Trouble arises when you
compare the ideas of one with the ideas of others.

So, associated with the comparative study of religions is another very interesting field called
Hermeneutics, which deals with translation. It is not language translation. It is holistic. It is no use
translating terms or words. Ideas have to be translated. There is the word, there is the meaning of that
word, and there is the actual thing that the word tries to depict. Translations are required with respect to
all three.

The great Sufi saint Jamaluddin Rumi mentions an amazing story in his book Masnavi. A merchant
was walking on a road. He came across four gentlemen quarrelling. They were furiously arguing about
something. He inquired what it was about. The situation was indeed very interesting. They were four
businessmen, each from a different country Persia, Arabia, Turkey and Greece. They had all partnered
in a successful business deal and had made some profit. Now, they were arguing about how that money
ought to be spent. The Persian wanted to buy some Angur with that money. The Arab insisted that unless
some Inab was purchased with that money, he would be getting very angry. The Turk would kill anyone
who didnt want to buy some Uzum with that money. And the Greek petulantly insisted that some ripe
Stafil be purchased with that money. They had reached a stalemate! That was when the merchant came
across them. He was intrigued by the situation that had developed. You see, all these four persons, from

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different nations, from different cultural backgrounds, had sufficient translation powers to deal with one
another and make some business profit. But, their translation powers were indeed very shallow. For, this
merchant knew all four languages. And he understood that all of them were indicating the same thing,
using four different words! All the words Angur, Inab, Uzum and Stafil mean Grapes!1

Please observe one more interesting fact. We have now given the valuable information to the
Persian, the Arab, the Turk and the Greek that grapes is what they want, no matter what word they use for
it. Fine; but, when the Greek eats, he will still eat only Stafil, and not grapes or Angur or Inab or Uzum.
Personal preferences are hard-wired into us. Suppose we insist on the Greek that he has to eat grapes and
not Stafil, we will be robbing him of the joy of enjoying Stafil!

History tells us that many nations have en-masse adopted various religions at various times. For
instance, take Europe. Before St. Peter went to Rome and preached Christianity, Europe did have religion.
Where is it today? We dont even know all the details of the Greek and Roman religion that preceded St.
Peter in Europe. But the cultural aspects of Christianity took deep roots in Europe. We must always
remember that Christianity was an oriental religion. It is easier for an Asian to adopt the cultural aspects
of Christianity than it is for a European to do so. Yet, it struck deep, very deep roots in Europe. Later on,
Islam spread to Europe. At one time, except for small pockets in Central Europe, the major portion of
Europe had become Islamic. But, Islam did not strike roots there. Hence it was dislodged, again, later on
by Christianity.

Take again the case of South-East Asia. At one point of time, a large portion of Thailand, Malaysia,
Indonesia, Vietnam, Cambodia, Burma and Laos were Hindu. Then, they renounced Hinduism and
adopted Buddhism, Islam or Christianity.

In all such cases, we find remnants of the deposed religions rituals, festivals, and social customs
prevailing in the communities of that region. For instance, the concept of the Patron Saint in European
Christianity is a remnant of the Roman religion prevalent in that region prior to the adoption of
Christianity. The rituals associated with monarchy in Thailand are even today Hindu rituals.

A region may adopt a particular religion for any number of reasons. One such compelling reason is
brute force, the power of the military. Another equally compelling reason is social and economic prestige.
It is seen that the masses in a region decide that following a particular religion confers upon them social
prestige and economic advantage. En-masse conversion occurs. Such conversions lead to important
political outcomes only. However, in many such cases, the imposition of the cultural aspects of a religion
did not lead to a flowering of the spiritual aspect of that religion in that region. We do not find holy men
coming out of such communities. The cultural aspect of religion did not mature into blossoming of the
spiritual aspect of that religion in that region. Can you name even one Islamic saint from Europe? Islam
reigned supreme in Europe for several centuries! Can you name even one Hindu saint from South-east
Asia? Not one!

The present usage of the word God invariably leads to contradictions and confusion among us, as
we have seen. I mean by that word, perhaps Mahadev Shiva, and you mean by that same word Jehovah.
Now, these comparative religion guys seem to hint that my Mahadev Shiva and your Jehovah are the

1
This story is taken from Caravan of Dreams by Idries Shah: Page 167

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same! Somehow, that doesnt satisfy me. I dont know about you. Its the same grapes and Stafil case all
over again! How can Shiva and Jehovah be the same? Going further, even Allah and Ahura Mazda and
the Buddha are the same as my Shiva and your Jehovah! What exactly do these guys mean when they say
these are all the same? Somehow, this concept of divine equality seems to be counterintuitive.

The different meanings attached to the word God fall under a continuum. There is a gradation in
the meaning of that word. Let us collect all the different meanings of the word God and study them. We
then discover a pattern, a hierarchy, a gradation in the evolution of the meanings. One of the very first
usages of this term referred to the incredible forces of Nature. We were awed by the sheer power of those
forces. We called them God. Soon, we started asking ourselves, if these forces exist, surely there must
be someone who wields these powers. This gave rise to the concept of an owner of these incredible
forces of Nature. First we had the zoomorphic God, which quickly graduated into an anthropomorphic
God. Once we had the anthropomorphic God, we started considering him as the protector of our tribe or
community. Higher than this, comes the conception of a Creator God. Once we had the Creator God, we
soon climbed onto a Creator-Preserver-Destroyer God. Logic started entering into our conception in a big
way now. We started asking how God can create this world out of nothing. Thus we came up with a
conception of God as the efficient and material cause of this world. Up to this stage, the evolution of the
conception of God seems to be logical. Suddenly we had a paradigm altering conception of God full of
Love! This is paradigm altering because it is a revelation and not a logical outgrowth of the ideas we have
been dealing with. The God Love is a Presence. And this revelation was given by a human being, just like
us, and he was called variously as an Incarnation, Avatara, Prophet, Messenger or Messiah. Once we had
this quantum jump in ideas, very soon we started conceiving of the Divine Presence in the heart of man.
The final word in this wonderful framework of ideas was the conception of Unity of God and Man.

Take any religion. You will find this gradation of ideas concerning God. Even the pinnacle of this
gradation is present in all religions. I and my Father are one; Aham Brahmasmi; An al haq; I am
the Buddha.

Lateral thinking

You may have heard of a thinker called Edward De Bono. He has written some very good books on
how man thinks. He identifies a technique called lateral thinking. Suppose you have four dots and you
need to connect them with three lines. If you are allowed to use four lines, anyone can connect the dots.
But, if we are to use only three lines, how do we connect the four dots? If we can extend ourselves
beyond the four dots, not confining ourselves to only the four dots, then, using only three lines, we can
indeed connect the four dots.

With regard to religion too, we need to use this technique. All of us have our four dots. We need to
connect them in such a way that our four dots remain connected, but we restrict ourselves to preserving
other peoples freedom too. We need to stretch our ideas a bit for this accommodation to take place. You
must live. I too must live. We need not kill each other; neither at the idea level, nor at the physical level.

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Respect diversity, but recognize the underlying unity

Let me come back to a question I raised sometime back in our deliberations: Why cant we just stick
to the spiritual aspect of religion? Why not divest our religions of all the cultural aspects all together?
After all, these aspects divide us. Why not do away with them?

You know, we may not exactly divest ourselves of all the cultural aspects, but, most religions have a
strange habit of adapting to other cultures. We have seen that in history. Take the example of the Second
Vatican Council. Right from Pope Pius X, followed by Pope Pius XII to Pope Paul VI, there has been a
steady transition from the Latin liturgy to liturgy in vernaculars. The motive behind this idea is indeed
grand. The common man in different countries must feel identified with the Christian rites. But, at what
cost? Just look at the experiment conducted by Father Monchanin and Father Henri Le Seux. The latter
even went up to the ridiculous stage of taking monastic vows as per Hindu tradition and assumed the
name Swami Abhishiktananda. And he didnt set up an Abbey; he set up an Ashrama! In that Ashrama,
he instituted Arati for Jesus Christ, just as you have in Hindu Temples. Now, it is not that people don't
come to his Ashrama. They do come. But, what about their self-identity? Are they Christians or Hindus?
No psalms or Gregorian chants in the Ashirvanam Ashrama; instead they have Bhajans, typical South
Indian style! The dividing line between Christianity and Hinduism has worn so thin in that Ashrama, the
followers associated there will certainly experience an identity crisis! We may have to avoid these
experiments. We will be dealing with forces we do not fully understand, which may end up destroying us.
I tell you this because, that is exactly what happened with Buddhism in India. India is the land of birth of
this religion. In an effort to adapt itself to Hinduism, Buddhism made so many changes that in the end it
lost all individuality and was finally absorbed into Hinduism! The Hindus made Buddha into one of their
innumerable incarnations of God and that was the end of Buddhism! Later on, the Buddhists realized
what had happened. Many attempts were made to revive that religion in India. But, Buddhism never
really regained its life force in India.

Hence, it is most essential that we hold on firmly to the cultural aspects of our own religion. Else, in a
few generations, we will end up losing our religion. But, we need not impose our views of religion on
others. Please appreciate the dynamics at play here. When we try to impose our views on others, there
will be resistance. So, we try to interpret our views as but a minor, but important variation of others
religions. Thus starts a dangerous process of adaptation, of acculturation; a process described by the
Buddha as Upaya Kaushala. Where does it lead to? Did the Buddha want that his religion should
become extinct in the very land of its birth?

In a lighter vein, please read the following comic piece regarding cultural adaptation and how it
leads to loss of identity:

The European Commission has announced (of course, this was before Brexit!) an agreement
that English will be the official language of the EU rather than German. As part of the negotiations,
Her Majesty's Government conceded that English Spelling had some room for improvement, and has
accepted a 5-year phase-in of new rules which would apply to the language and reclassify it as Euro-
English.
The agreed plan is as follows:
In year 1, the soft 'c' would replaced by the 's'.

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Sertainly, this will make the sivil servants jump with joy. The hard 'c' will be replaced by 'k'. This
should klear up konfusion and keyboards kan now have one less letter.
There will be growing publik enthusiasm in the sekond year, when the troublesome 'ph' is
replaced by 'f'. This will reduse 'fotograf' by 20%.
In the 3d year, publik akseptanse of the new spelling kan be expekted to reach the stage where
more komplikated changes are possible.
Governments will enkourage the removal of double letters, which have always ben a deterent to
akurate speling. Also, al wil agre that the horible mes of the silent 'e's in the language is disgrasful
and they should eliminat them.
By year 4, peopl wil be reseptiv to lingwistik korektions such as replasing 'th' with 'z' and 'w' with
'v' (saving mor keyboard spas).
During ze fifz year, ze unesesary 'o' kan be dropd from vords kontaining 'ou' and similar changes
vud of kors be applied to ozer kombinations of leters.
After zis fifz year, ve vil have a reli sensibil riten styl. Zer vil be no more trubls or difikultis and
evrirum vil find it ezi to understand ech ozer.
Actually, never mind: that would be German after all!!!

Stay away from politics

Just as important as this issue of cultural adaptation, is another issue stay away from politics. Do not
mix religion and politics. If we mix the two, the resultant is too powerful a force, and none of us are
capable of handling it. Please pardon me for saying this, but I believe that Jesus Christ died on the Cross,
not just for redeeming man from his original sin as you all believe, but also to educate his children not to
mix religion and politics. If Jesus Christ had continued his spiritual ministrations without giving an idea
that he was King in the political sense of the term, I believe the Romans would have left him free. I
believe, somehow the language Jesus Christ used, the complex political situation of that region during
that period, the public perception of his message, all added up to give the idea that he was out to
overthrow the Roman political power. And the end result was that the Romans ended up crucifying him.
The Lord suffered this gruesome punishment to show us that even the Lord Incarnate cannot manage to
mix politics and religion!

Let me tell you an interesting anecdote. It was Dec 1992. The Babri Masjid had been demolished by
the VHP Kar Sevaks. Sri L K Advani and Sri Murli Manohar Joshi wanted to come to Belur Math and
meet our President Maharaj. Revered Swami Bhuteshanandaji Maharaj was the President then. Both of
them came. They did pranams to Rev Maharaj and said, Maharaj, we have demolished the Babri Masjid.
All the Hindu organizations have appreciated it. Ramakrishna Mission is the premier Hindu organization.
We request you to give a statement in favor of this act; that will clinch the issue. Revered Maharaj said,
Before I say anything in that connection, I want to ask you one question. This issue you have placed
before me, is it a political issue or a spiritual matter? Both Sri Advani and Sri Joshi did not say a single
word! They just got up and went away!

Please appreciate the answer given by our Revered President Maharaj. You see, if it is a political
issue, we have no say in the matter. We are spiritual people; we ought to stick to our spiritual life. We
dont know politics. How can we make any comment in that matter? If it is a spiritual issue, then it is
wrong. Religion does not ask anyone to breaking down places of worship, for whatever reason. People
may be quoting religious texts for killing and destruction. All religions do that, some more, some less.
But, go back to the roots of any religion. It is all about love for God. No killing, no destruction anywhere!

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Man-centric conception of God

So, by stretching our own ideas of God and religion, we all need to evolve a Man-centric conception
of God and religion. This is urgently needed. Else, we will destroy ourselves. Especially, we, the
custodians of religion will have to do it as quickly as possible. If we continue the way we live and work
and feel, we will end up frustrated with ourselves. We have given up our entire life to a search for God;
but we are stuck with fighting others on trivial issues. If we do this for long, we will become hypocrites.
Outwardly, we will have the strappings of a religious person, but inwardly we will start doubting the
efficacy of God and religion. Imagine the validity of a God or a religion that cannot defend itself! Imagine
the strength of a God or religion that requires me to survive!

So, a Man-centric conception of God is urgently required. It is already available in all religions. We
need to popularize it, thats all. What is this conception?

Religion expounds powerful ideas of God, creation, the world, its future, and about man. The focus is
generally the conception of God. We need to focus on the conception of Man. You see, we can neither be
sure of God, nor religion, nor philosophy. But we are all sure of our own existence. Why dont we start
with this wonderful fact? We ourselves that is the starting point of our religion. I shall attempt to
know myself. This leads to an amazing development within me. The more I know who I am, the more I
am able to understand you, my fellow human being, my neighbor, my brother. No, not just these, I
gradually start to see that there was no you; it was all along me that I saw out there as you. This is
the outcome of divesting religion of its temporal aspects, and emphasizing the human-centric aspects.

Implications of this view

Blessed are the pure of heart, for they shall see God. This is Jesus Christs promise to mankind. 2 We
come across this incredible statement in the Beatitudes of the Sermon on the Mount. Please note the use
of the word see. Jesus doesnt say that the pure of heart will believe in God; no; they will see God. It is
a most palpable experience, visceral. Our effort must therefore be, not just to believe in God, but to see
God. It wont do to say that I believe in the existence of God, or that I believe so-&-so is God. I must see
God. That is the goal. If I havent seen God, nothing else is of any value, none of my theories, none of my
thoughts, none of my beliefs, none of my actions. Let us not complicate things by trying to interpret this
seeing using our sophistry. That was the word Jesus Christ used. He came for simplifying religion. Let
us not complicate it.

For as long as we havent yet seen God, let us be peaceful amongst others in this world. That is the
reason Jesus Christ adds the following beatitude Blessed are the peace-makers, for they shall be called
the children of God. You see, Mother Teresa used to ask, Do you know why we fight so much? Then
she would herself give the answer, It is because we do not recognize that we belong to one another.
These are terrific words, really. Take for instance our hand. Would anyone here want to cut-off ones own
hand? No. Why not? Because my hand belongs to me. Why would I damage something that belongs to
me? Whereas that fellow over there, he doesnt belong to me. I dont see why I shouldnt kill him!

2
Cf: New Testament: Matt 5:8

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So many flowering plants are there in this world, which is Gods garden. Why would we want to kill
any of those plants? Each plant gives a different flower. But all of them are beautiful and serve one
purpose of the other. Let us learn to enjoy this variety.

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Spirituality

Like I said before, religion is seeing God. Religion is realization. Unless we see God, there is no
question of experiencing God. Thoughts, beliefs, doctrines, dogmas, theories and feelings are not
experience when it comes to God and religion!

I wish to explain the prevalent conceptions of Man in the world religions today before we go further
on with our main subject of sharing God experience. There are mainly two different conceptions of Man
in this world. One is the oriental view; the other is the occidental view. The occidental view is called the
Dichotomous view of man, while the oriental view is called the Trichotomous view of man. The
European and American view of man says man is composed of two components the body and the mind.
The Asian view of man says man is composed of three components the body, the mind, and
consciousness, that illumines both body and mind. The former view holds that consciousness is an
outcome of the activities of the mind. These two views are not compatible. The philosophy of the New
Testament is purely oriental. Jesus Christ was from Asia. Naturally he subscribed to the trichotomous
view of man. It is present in his utterances. He deals with pure consciousness in many places. The word
used is Spirit. The reason I raised this issue now is because our conception of God is closely connected
to our conception of man. If we can conceive of man as Spirit, we can then conceive of God also as Spirit.
Recall how Jesus Christ exhorts us to worship the Spirit by the Spirit in John 4:24.

Without meddling with unnecessary things, if we are sincere in our spiritual practices, as prescribed
by our religion, we can indeed reach the supra-cultural realm of true spirituality. Sister Nivedita used to
speak of an old lady who would pray in the Chapel every day, year after year. Then one day, when she
was praying, the Verger of the Church awoke her from her prayer and said that it was time to go home.
When she looked at that Verger, suddenly she saw that it was Jesus Christ himself that had spoken to her!
That is seeing. Ever since she saw that every person was none other than Jesus Christ. All these years,
she had mistaken people for people; from now on, she saw that there was only one person and that was
Jesus Christ.

Monopoly on the Spirit

Which religion has a monopoly on spirituality? Hindus, Jews, Buddhists, Jains, Christians, Muslims
who? All of them have produced people who have seen God. Even if one such person has come out of a
religion, that religion is true and has a valid reason to exist. Innumerable are the types of minds in this
world. There is no meaning in saying my religion alone is true. Religion has only one reason for existing
can it produce a saint? If it does, it is valid.

Sometime back I raised the question of universality of spiritual practices. I said that there can be no
universal spiritual practice. Each path to God will have its peculiarity, distinguishing it from all other
paths. Each such path becomes a religion. There is however one component of spiritual practice that is
common to all religions. That component is renunciation of the senses. The soul has to beat a retreat
from the senses, no matter what religion it follows. Recall Jesus Christs clarion call: He who follows me
can never walk in darkness (John 8:21) I personally love this statement of Jesus Christ. I remember this
statement so well because it forms the opening sentence of that great book The imitation of Christ by
Thomas Kempis.

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All religions prescribe this renunciation as a sine-qua-non for spiritual life. Hence, we need to go
back to the roots of our spiritual practices. Poverty, Chastity and Obedience; no sooner do we become lax
on this front do we start facing problems in our lives. Please listen to a story:

The Pope wanted a good monk to train his novices, a genuine, devout and learned monk who could
look after his Pontifical Seminary in the Vatican. He wrote to the Grand Patriarch of the Eastern Orthodox
Church. When the Papal Bull arrived, the Grand Patriarch called all his sagely Cardinals and showed
them the letter. Do you see? The Pope wants someone to train his monks. We shall send him what he
wants, wont we, Holy Fathers? As you decree, and as our Dear God the Lord wishes, Your Holiness
said the Cardinals in unison. The Grand Patriarch selected four young, promising, devout and learned
monks and sent them to the Vatican, instructing them that they would report to the Pope, telling him that
Mar Thoma, the Grand Patriarch of the Eastern Orthodox Church had sent them. The other Cardinals all
felt that when the Pope had asked for just one monk, why was their Grand Patriarch sending four? They
couldnt understand it and finally decided that old age was catching up finally on him and that he had
missed that detail and by mistake he had sent four while only one would have sufficed. Meanwhile, the
party of the four monks trudged along the long and arduous path from Constantinople to Vatican. On the
way lay a thick forest. They saw some Bushmen hiding among the trees, peering intently at them. Holy
Brothers, look at them. They are men like us, but, not having heard about our Savior, they have sold
themselves to the Devil. Let me stay among them and bring back their lost souls back to Christ said one
of them and urged all the others to move on. After some days, the party of three monks reached a village
and took shelter in the house of the Chieftain. After dinner, the Chieftain wailed, Holy Fathers, our
Pastor passed away a few days ago and we are all sheep without a shepherd. Cant one of you stay with us
and guide our souls? this speech touched the heart of one of the three monks and he stayed on tending
that village church, urging the others to carry on. After some more days, the two monks reached the Tiber
River. Beyond the bridge lay the Vatican. Just as they both crossed the Tiber Bridge, perhaps overcome
by the cumulative exhaustion of the long journey, one of the monks collapsed and died. The monk who
reached the Vatican was welcomed by the Pope and very soon endeared himself to the Pope due to his
piety and wisdom. The Pope wrote a fine letter thanking the Grand Patriarch for sparing such a fine monk.
When that thanks letter arrived, all the Cardinals were called and the Grand Patriarch announced, Do you
see? The Pope speaks of only one monk! Do you see now why I sent four when the Pope had asked for
only one? Many of us embark on lifes journey, only to be sidetracked here and there, losing sight of our
goal, getting shunted before reaching our destiny.3

Help thyself first

One of the main reasons for religious bigotry and religious unrest is the extreme urge that immature
people in religion have for spreading their faith. Does faith need to be spread? Indeed, it must. But who
should do it? Do we have the requisite understanding for performing this greatest of all jobs? Just because
we have a few fine feelings for God and have studied a couple of religious books, are we qualified to lead
other souls on the Godward journey?

I quote an illuminating passage that I read some time ago. I am not sure of the author, but I think it
was W Somerset Maugham: I was once going down the riverside, looking for a place to sit down for
fishing. Fishing, you know, is really relaxing. Apart from listening to music, and taking long walks, it is

3
This story is taken from https://www.scribd.com/document/82805747/Food-for-Thought

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fishing that I recommend for relaxation, although not necessarily in that order. So, here I was taking a
long walk along the river side, looking for a suitable place to sit down and throw my bait, when I saw a
man lifting a fish from the waters and placing it on a tree. I asked him, What are you doing? Why place
it on a tree? Why dont you carry a basket with you to collect your catches? His reply, still ringing in my
ears, was, Catch? What do you mean? This stupid fish was drowning in the rapid currents of the river. I
was passing by when I saw it. I just saved that fish from drowning! I hope our uncontrollable urge to
serve others doesnt end up like this idiots efforts!

Religion deals primarily with our own inner development. We miss the point when we make a social
cause out of religion. Father Antony De Mello mentions a beautiful story in this regard: The hero had just
returned from the deep Amazon forests. His lectures were all recorded and his journeys were mapped
meticulously. All the flowers he saw were reproduced on paper, drawings made of the wild animals he
encountered and the entire river was charted on a cartographers table. A group of young men approached
him once to hear directly from him about the Amazon. He said, Indeed I have tried my best to describe it
all as clearly as I could. But how can I convey to you the intense joy, the exhilaration, the strange feelings
that flooded my heart when I saw those exotic flowers & heard those night sounds in the forests & sensed
the danger of being close to those wild animals & of paddling in those treacherous rapids! Go out and find
out for yourselves, young men. Those young fellows understood. They went out, found the master map,
framed it, and using the pioneers lectures and drawings, became experts in interpreting the Amazon map.

Father De Mello mentions another amazing story: The discovery of fire. After many year of labor, an
inventor discovered the art of making fire. He took his tool to the snow-clad northern regions and initiated
a tribe into the art and the advantages of making fire. The people became so absorbed in this novelty
that it did not occur to them to thank the inventor who one day quietly slipped away. Being one of those
rare human beings endowed with greatness, he had no desire to be remembered or revered; all he sought
was the satisfaction of knowing that someone had benefitted from his discovery. The next tribe he went to
was just as eager to learn as the first. But the local priests, jealous of the strangers hold on the people,
had him assassinated. To allay any suspicion of the crime, they had a portrait of the Great inventor
enthroned upon the main altar of the temple; and a liturgy designed so that his name would be revered and
his memory kept alive. The greatest care was taken that not a single rubric of the liturgy was altered or
omitted. The tools for making fire were enshrined in a casket and were said to bring healing to all who
laid their hands on them with faith. The High Priest himself undertook the task of compiling a life of the
Inventor. This became the Holy Book in which his loving kindness was offered as an example for all to
emulate. His glorious deeds were eulogized, his superhuman nature made an article of faith. The priests
saw to it that the Book was handed down to future generations, while they authoritatively interpreted the
meaning of his words and the significance of his holy life and death. And they ruthlessly punished with
death or excommunication anyone who deviated from their doctrine. Caught up as they were in their
religious tasks, the people completely forgot the art of making fire.4

Our spiritual life ought to be based on facts. The sooner it becomes so, the better for all of us. You
know, a Professor once asked his class what was the length of the room in which the class was being held.
One fellow said, 20 feet. Wrong. Another said, 19 feet. Wrong. Yet another said, 21 feet. Wrong
again. You see, when we look at a room, we get a rough feel of its length. Then we start guessing. The

4
This story is from Prayer of the Frog Part 1 by Antony De Mello

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number must be around 20 feet. When the Professor rejected all the answers, the students asked him what
the actual length was. Do you know the Professors answer? He said, I dont know. Guess against guess
creates the entire disturbance in the world. Speak of what you know from personal experience and
everyone will listen and agree.5

It is a life of dedicated spiritual practice that is the need of the hour in religion. You know, when we
joined as novices in Ramakrishna Mission, we were all made to study a small book compulsorily;
Practice of the presence of God by Br Lawrence. One of the most powerful books I have ever read. Br
Lawrence says in that book, I never found any difference between the work I did and praying in the
chapel.

I will end todays long lecture by telling you four stories, which throw wonderful light on spiritual
life.

A love-struck youth pressed his suit unsuccessfully, but relentlessly. He applied himself for months,
but each time met with atrocious rejection. Finally, his sweetheart yielded. She said that she would meet
him alone in such & such a place, on such & such a day, at such & such time. There, they sat, next to each
other. The youth had brought all the letters he had written her. Burning words of love, he read them all
aloud to her. The ludicrous youth was lost in his letters of longing love for the girl of his heart who now
sat next to him! We need structure, we need formal procedures. But, these are only means to attain the
goal. We must recognize them for what they are worth.6

A bald man was once crossing a river by boat. There was a prankster on the same boat. He saw the
shining bald head too tempting and couldnt resist giving it a resounding smack. The bald man got up to
beat him into pulp. The prankster stopped him and asked him, Wait! Answer my question first: Did your
bald head produce the loud sound, or was it my hand? The bald man growled, You answer your stupid
question yourself at leisure. You dont feel the pain I feel now. I cant theorize!7 This pain of having not
yet seen God is the only safeguard we have against getting lost in the thick of thin things in religion.

A question was once asked How do you tell when the night has ended and the day has begun? Many
answers were given. When you see an animal from some distance and can tell whether it is a cow or a
horse. When you look at a tree from some distance and can tell if it is a neem tree or mango tree. Etc.
All were rejected as wrong. When pressed for what was the right answer, they were told, When you look
into the face of any man and recognize your brother in him; when you look into the face of a woman and
recognize in her your sister. If you cannot do this, no matter what time it is, it is still night!8 Kindly recall
Mother Teresas statement I quoted a little while ago.

The story concerns a monastery that had fallen upon hard times. Once a great order, as a result of
waves of anti-monastic persecution in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries and the rise of secularism
in the nineteenth, all its branch houses were lost and it had become decimated to the extent that there were
only five monks left in the decaying mother house: the abbot and four others, all over seventy in age.
Clearly it was a dying order. In the deep woods surrounding the monastery there was a little hut that a

5
This story is taken from https://www.scribd.com/document/82805747/Food-for-Thought
6
This story is taken from https://www.scribd.com/document/82805747/Food-for-Thought
7
Ibid
8
I have taken this story from How shall I be?, value-education textbook for Class-VIII by Ramakrishna Mission, Belur Math

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rabbi from a nearby town occasionally used for a hermitage. Through their many years of prayer and
contemplation the old monks had become a bit psychic, so they could always sense when the rabbi was in
his hermitage. The rabbi is in the woods, the rabbi is in the woods again they would whisper to each
other. As he agonized over the imminent death of his order, it occurred to the abbot at one such time to
visit the hermitage and ask the rabbi if by some possible chance he could offer any advice that might save
the monastery. The rabbi welcomed the abbot at his hut. But when the abbot explained the purpose of his
visit, the rabbi could only commiserate with him. I know how it is, he exclaimed. The spirit has gone
out of the people. It is the same in my town. Almost no one comes to the synagogue anymore. So the old
abbot and the old rabbi wept together. Then they read parts of the Torah and quietly spoke of deep things.
The time came when the abbot had to leave. They embraced each other. It has been a wonderful thing
that we should meet after all these years, the abbot said, but I have still failed in my purpose for coming
here. Is there nothing you can tell me, no piece of advice you can give me that would help me save my
dying order? No, I am sorry, the rabbi responded. I have no advice to give. The only thing I can tell
you is that the Messiah is one of you. When the abbot returned to the monastery his fellow monks
gathered around him to ask, Well what did the rabbi say? He couldn't help, the abbot answered. We
just wept and read the Torah together. The only thing he did say, just as I was leaving --it was something
cryptic-- was that the Messiah is one of us. I don't know what he meant. In the days and weeks and
months that followed, the old monks pondered this and wondered whether there was any possible
significance to the rabbi's words. The Messiah is one of us? Could he possibly have meant one of us
monks here at the monastery? If that's the case, which one? Do you suppose he meant the abbot? Yes, if
he meant anyone, he probably meant Father Abbot. He has been our leader for more than a generation. On
the other hand, he might have meant Brother Thomas. Certainly Brother Thomas is a holy man. Everyone
knows that Thomas is a man of light. Certainly he could not have meant Brother Elred! Elred gets
crotchety at times. But come to think of it, even though he is a thorn in people's sides, when you look
back on it, Elred is virtually always right. Often very right. Maybe the rabbi did mean Brother Elred. But
surely not Brother Phillip. Phillip is so passive, a real nobody. But then, almost mysteriously, he has a gift
for somehow always being there when you need him. He just magically appears by your side. Maybe
Phillip is the Messiah. Of course the rabbi didn't mean me. He couldn't possibly have meant me. I'm just
an ordinary person. Yet supposing he did? Suppose I am the Messiah? O God, not me. I couldn't be that
much for You, could I? As they contemplated in this manner, the old monks began to treat each other
with extraordinary respect on the off chance that one among them might be the Messiah. And on the off
chance that each monk himself might be the Messiah, they began to treat themselves with extraordinary
respect. Because the forest in which it was situated was beautiful, it so happened that people still
occasionally came to visit the monastery to picnic on its tiny lawn, to wander along some of its paths,
even now and then to go into the dilapidated chapel to meditate. As they did so, without even being
conscious of it, they sensed the aura of extraordinary respect that now began to surround the five old
monks and seemed to radiate out from them and permeate the atmosphere of the place. There was
something strangely attractive, even compelling, about it. Hardly knowing why, they began to come back
to the monastery more frequently to picnic, to play, to pray. They began to bring their friends to show
them this special place. And their friends brought their friends. Then it happened that some of the younger
men who came to visit the monastery started to talk more and more with the old monks. After a while one
asked if he could join them. Then another. And another. So within a few years the monastery had once

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again become a thriving order and, thanks to the rabbi's gift, a vibrant center of light and spirituality in the
realm.9

We need to urgently intensify our focus on our inner life. When we do that correctly, we will find that
the quality of our community life too improves. If we dont do that, the result of leading a so-called
spiritual life is a sham. We would be going through the motions, but the end result would be zero!

A person was walking on a road and saw two people working. One of them was digging a hole in the
ground. Another came behind him and put all the dug up mud back and closed the hole. Again and again
these two people were doing this. This observer saw for a long time and tried to figure out what was
happening. When he couldnt understand it at all, he went up to them and asked what they were doing.
One of them replied, Sir, we are doing a Govt project here on afforestation. I dig a hole in the ground.
Another person comes and puts in a sapling. A third person comes after that and fills up the hole with
mud. Today, the second guy is absent!

We all have our monasteries, churches, temples, mosques, monks, followers, God, rituals, and yet, we
lack peace! Neither do we experience peace, nor are we capable of giving peace to others around us. So
much is there, but the one essential thing is missing. Why? It is because the second guy is absent from
our lives. Renunciation actually means love of God. Do we love God? How can we be interested then in
anything of this world? As Thomas Kempis famously said, Ours is a jealous God! Either we give our
whole attention to God or He wont take it! There is no half-way house here.

I once again thank Archbishop Father Thomas DSouza, Sr Anita Braganza and Sr Anna Maria for
having invited me to this holy gathering.

Thank you once again.

****************

9
Different versions of this story are available. I have taken this version from the book Different Drum by M Scott Peck. It is
also available in the book The road less travelled by the same author.

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