MERRY CHRISTMAS TO YOU

[Guest guest]

[My friends belong to Christian faith, working in the Indian Embassy, have

invited me to give a lecture, as a part of Christmas celebrations.

Following is my talk, I have removed some jokes and other stuff, edited to

share with you. Your comments are most welcome. MERRY CHRISTMAS TO YOU.

Thank you.]

 

Merry Christmas to you all my friends:

 

We celebrate the birth day of a saint, who has shown a brilliant path to the

world. When ever I watch his paintings, my eyes always stare at the sacred

heart. The heart that is so purified with love, with emotion towards the

Father in heaven. His vision is always upwards, head held high, yet!

during the last supper he washed the feet of his twelve disciples. A man,

who could proclaim the divinity to the world, who could proclaim his faith

towards The father in heaven, has lived a very humble life.. In deed, each

and every act of Christ proclaims divinity, washing the feet of his twelve

disciples, allowing a woman --- said to be of deprived character, to kiss

his feet... We should try to understand the significance behind all these

acts. It was an act of utter devotion, an act of humility, an act of

surrendering the ego to the higher reality. That is what made him a Prophet

of times, a Prophet of peace. Understand his actions, each and every act of

him can stand as an example of devotion.

 

A few minutes back a friend has asked me, how can you, being a Hindu, give

lecture on Christ! My reply was that A true Hindu always holds high every

prophet in his heart. As you know we have a sacred book called Bhagawad

Gita, in the twelth chapter it says "yOna hRushati na dvEShTi na SOcati na

kAMkshati, subhAsubha parityAgee bhaktimAn ya samEpriyaH", Christ never

wanted anything in return from his disciples except faith (na kAMkshati),

Christ never felt excited that he got many followers (na hrushyati)... Above

all, Christ washed the feet of the same disciple who sold him off, In spite

of knowing that he sold him for a few coins. Also while he was being

punished bestially by the soldiers, Christ forgave them and begged the

father in the heaven "Father forgive them for they know not what they are

doing".... (na dvEshTi) Christ did not hesitate to carry the burden of the

cross towards the crucifixion (Subha Asubha parityAgi). No wonder, in our

Holy Gita, God proclaimed that such a person is very dear to him. (bhaktimAn

yassmE priyaH)... My friends, I could give a complete lecture on our

BhagawadGita chapter twelve just by taking examples of our beloved Christ's

life... For any true Hindu he is one of the best examples of devotion, and

such act is considered noble for Hindus. In our Rigveda it says "anO bhadrO

kratavO yaMtu visvataH" Let noble thoughts come from all sides. Christ set

a noble example of life, and we should, no doubt, take it as another

example...

 

I would like to tell you on what exactly strikes me when I read the noble

life led by Christ. He has a noble heart, a heart that is full of love. In

my opinion, Love is spontaneous ---- it is impromptu. Look at any child,

the way a baby expresses its love towards her father. After a strenuous day

you go home and the moment you open the door, your daughter comes running to

hug you, to be lifted by you, I am sure that it would be a wonderful moment

to you. For a second you hug your baby and you forget everything in the

world! That is love impromptu! Now, I wonder who taught the child to

express the love in that way! It happens naturally. Love can never be

taught! Only a noble heart can express its love, children have noble

hearts. Gradually when they grow, they start recognizing the dualities in

the world. They start recognizing a friend and a foe, a fool and a wise...

Then they get called as Adults....

 

Christ has loved everyone equally, he told that he never disliked anyone!

That is a love that a child can only posses! And he truely behaved as a

Son of God. His heart is said to be sacred. In sanskrit we call it as

"Hrudaya" it is not the heart that pumps the blood to the physical body, but

the heart where we identify ourselves as so and so... When I say "I am

Madhava", 'I' the first person singular is referring to the "Heart" which in

Sanskrit is called as Hrudayam. When I would like to tell a statement

like --- "believe me", I point out my finger towards my heart, mind you, I

don't point my finger towards my head or to my thigh or legs.... When ever I

refer to myself I always point my finger to my chest, where the Sacred heart

is hidden. We need to understand this "I" the heart of all. Once the

awareness comes of the "I", we will become aware of the "I" that is in all.

Like I have a head, everyone else also have heads... Like I have two arms

and two legs and a body designed as human, everyone else also designed the

same way. Physically though we look the same, though we eat the plants that

came out of the same earth, we behave differently! We call this as

creation... Though the universe is the same --- and the human body shape is

the same, everybody behaves differently... This is a creation of unity with

multiplicity...

 

Christ understood the fact that all that is here is because of his grace.

He understood the fact of causation. The cause that which has created the

universe and he identified it as Father in Heaven. Once he got the

universal vision, he started behaving like a child and shown endless love.

Through love --- sprung forth the ocean of compassion. He understood that

life means something higher than discriminating people by their Age, Gender

and ethnic background. His message was universal love, universal

compassion, tolerance towards your fellow humans. His message was

forgiveness. He forgave the people who crucified him. The world has

changed now, new ideology is taking its shape, now a days people say "Eye

to an eye"... "if you slap me once I shall slap you twice in reply" is the

message that is spreading like virus now a days. Definitely the world is

changing because of the lack of understanding, people fight with each other

only to confirm that they are separate. They do not realize that all are

nothing but Children of God. Hatred is a dark breed springs forth from

ignorance... Ignorance towards higher reality of life, turns a human into a

beast. We have a choice not to become a beast. When we celebrate the birth

day of Jesus Christ, we should not merely stop by cutting the cake and

hugging each other. We should understand Christ's message to the world ----

with utmost care and respect. Then only a Christian can become a True

Christian... Thank you.

 

 

Regards,

Madhava